Brief special meeting sees new Parker council member sworn in

Jason Webber takes the oath of office during a special Parker City Council meeting on Wednesday. (Roger Sims/Linn County Journal)

PARKER – The Parker City Clerk Carrie Sewell administered the oath of office to new council member Jason Webber in a brief meeting in the Parker Senior Center parking lot on Wednesday, Sept. 22.

The special meeting was called on Wednesday after the regular meeting on Sept. 8 was canceled after a quorum of the four council members was unable to attend the meeting. It was the second time over the last few months that the Parker council meeting was called because it lacked a quorum.

Webber, who has been a council member in the past, was appointed to replace Ashley Balthazor on the council. Balthazor, the former president of the council, automatically became mayor when former mayor Cody Adams resigned the post in August, citing a conflict with his work that kept him from giving his full attention to the city’s business.

With its newest member on board, the council voted 4-0 to add Balthazor to the list of people on the bank’s signature card and remove the names of Adams as well as former city clerk, Cherry Buckley. Shortly after that motion passed, the meeting adjourned.

While the council usually meets inside the center, there is little to no cell phone reception inside the metal building, and the council initially had council member Jody Bloodgood on the phone while she was at work to insure a quorum. However, when the other three council members – Gary Earley, Kandice Higgins, and Jerry Summers – representing a quorum were present, Bloodgood hung up.