>La Grande Observer | Union and Wallowa Counties' News Leader

SUMMERVILLE — While Elgin city councilors were turning in their resignations because of ethics reporting requirements Tuesday night, councilors in Summerville were headed for the exits too.

The tiny incorporated town of 105 lost its entire city council except for Mayor Sherry Rogers. Rogers said she would have quit also, but didn’t want to leave the city completely adrift.

“I’m hoping to find two people to appoint to give me a quorum to conduct business,” Rogers said. “As it is now, I can’t even write a check to pay the power bill. We could be without street lights soon.”

Councilors Karen Starr and Richard Key turned in their resignations effective immediately. Councilors Victor Abbott and Lyle Mann and City Recorder Iris Mann made their resignations effective April 14, the day before the state-mandated reporting deadline.

Several Union County and Wallowa County cities have seen resignations of city councilors and planning commissions because of new reporting requirements included in the Oregon Ethics Law retooled by the state Legislature last year.

The amended law requires officials throughout Oregon to fill out annual Statements of Economic Interest plus quarterly reports. Before, some 97 communities and six counties were exempt from the reporting requirements.

Tuesday, six of seven Elgin city councilors quit their posts as of April 14. Earlier, the entire Elgin Planning Commission resigned.

The Enterprise Planning Commission doesn’t have enough members left for a quorum. In North Powder, three city councilors and the city recorder quit during Monday’s regular session.

Officials in all those places said they do not want to submit to the requirement that they list their family members and relatives on the form. They consider it an invasion of privacy.

They say they fear the family information will appear on the Internet in 2010 when the state implements an online ethics reporting system.

Rogers said the Summerville officials object on mostly the same grounds.

“They see it as an invasion of their privacy and possibly unconstitutional,” she said.

She said the task of finding people willing to step in is a daunting one. She said she doubts there are enough volunteers to fill all the vacant seats.

“We’re dealing with volunteer people. We only have 105 people here and it’s hard to find five who will serve,” she said.