Correspondence between Salem city councilor Julie Hoy and the city manager’s office about a 2017 contract for the city’s fleet vehicle tires ended with City Manager Keith Stahley reminding her that councilors and the mayor are prohibited from attempting to influence the manager regarding issues related to contracts.
In email records obtained by the Statesman Journal through a public records request, Hoy questioned why the city switched its contract from Cascade Tire Pros to a state contract. She also asked what could be done to bring business back to the local company.
City officials replied to Hoy that the city chose to move its business from Cascade Tire to a State of Oregon contract for a variety of reasons. The city spends more than $300,000 a year on tires, an amount that requires them to use a competitive process when selecting a vendor.
“This is about transparency and fairness and our local economy,” Hoy, who represents Ward 6 and is running for mayor, said Thursday. She said she didn’t understand why the contract was changed and why it couldn’t change again back to a local business.
She said she raised the questions after being approached by a small business in town that felt unheard.
“I’ve been asking some tough questions about what to do,” Hoy said. “I was simply trying to help a local business, a constituent in the city, a citizen.”
Stahley told the Statesman Journal that staff considers a variety of factors, including cost, service and access to different brands. Piggybacking on the state’s contracts also acts as a time- and cost-saving measure, he said.
“The city has very well-established procurement procedures,” he said. “We follow those to a T. We have recently been audited in regards to those procedures. They are the best way to prevent us from any sort of appeared or actual violation of state procurement process or any sort of ethics violation.”
The questions Hoy asked about the tire contract
In emails, from Feb. 26 to Feb. 29, Hoy inquired why the city couldn’t switch tire contracts to save money.
“If we can support a local, family-owned, Salem business… why wouldn’t we?” she asked.
The city provided a vendor summary to Hoy and the owner of Cascade Tire Pros, which outlined “the fair and diligent selection process for tire vendors facilitated through their partnership with NAPA IBS.”
What city staff told Hoy
Fleet services assistant director Jim Schmidt said in the vendor summary that the city maintains a competitive and transparent process for selecting tires that align with the city’s needs.
The fleet uses products from several local vendors including Cascade Tire Pros, Superior Tires and Les Schwab Tires.
According to city records, Cascade Tire was paid $43,982 in the budget year that ended June 30, 2023, and $70,675 so far in the current budget year. The owner of the company did not immediately respond to follow-up questions from the Statesman Journal.
“Our approach prioritizes efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and long-term value, ultimately contributing to the uninterrupted operation of essential city services,” Schmidt said in the summary.
Hoy submits additional questions
Hoy submitted additional questions from herself and Ryan Hazelbaker, the owner of Cascade Tire, to Deputy City Manager Krishna Namburi.
The questions entailed inquiries on the data used to support the vendor selection, cost-per-mile studies and reviewing invoices from other businesses.
“Your response, Krishna, feels driven by Jim Schmidt,” Hoy said in the email. “I may be pretty new to this … and if he is the roadblock to better business … we deserve better.”
Ethics rules bar attempts to influence city manager decisions
The ensuing city correspondence indicated a concern over ethical rules being stretched.
City Chief Finance Officer Josh Eggleston said to Stahley that he was concerned about Rule 14 and Section 23 of the city charter being violated.
“There is a council rule and charter clause that deal very directly with your inquiry,” Stahley said in an email to Hoy.
Newly elected city councilors participate in a series of orientation meetings with staff from the time they are typically elected in May to when they take office in January. New council members receive information regarding all city departments and their operations, as well as guidance on Council Rules, the Salem Charter, and state and city ethics requirements. Hoy went through that orientation process in 2022.
Rule 14 maintains any councilor request requiring more than one hour of staff time be approved by city council beforehand.
Section 23 states that except in council meetings, no council member may directly or indirectly, attempt to influence the city manager in decisions regarding city property or contacts.
“The City Charter prohibits the Mayor and Councilors from attempting to influence the manager regarding issues related to contracts,” Stahley said in the email to Hoy. “Matters relating to contracting are best discussed in an open council meeting.”
Stahley said in the email to Hoy that he considered the matter closed. No formal reprimand or action was taken.
He sent an email on Feb. 29 to counselors reminding them of the rules.
Hoy told the Statesman Journal she had no intention of breaking rules with her questions.
She said she does not plan to bring the issue before council and said she is focusing on the budget discussions. The city’s budget committee is currently meeting to address the looming deficit and potential budget cuts. Possible cuts could include cutting police, fire and library positions and eliminating homelessness services.
For questions, comments and news tips, email reporter Whitney Woodworth at wmwoodworth@statesmanjournal.com, call 503-910-6616 or follow on Twitter at @wmwoodworth