Jordan Valley is looking for a new mayor.
Voters this month elected Sheila Quintero to be that mayor.
But in an announcement, Quintero told city officials last week she wasn’t going to accept the volunteer post.
“It is a surprise to everybody,” Quintero said.
She has served on the Jordan Valley City Council for eight years and ran to succeed Mayor Lee Ann Conro, who is retiring after one four-year term.
Quintero got 49 votes to 36 for Larry Arnall, according to unofficial results from Malheur County Clerk Gayle Trotter.
She said she reconsidered her decision to run earlier this year, but found it was too late in September to remove her name from the ballot.
Quintero announced her decision at a council meeting last week.
“I love my community and I love serving,” Quintero said in an interview. “I think it’s best for my health and mental wellness to remain on the council and support the community through what I do there.”
She is a licensed massage therapist and realized service as mayor would take more time than she could provide.
“I did not want to give up my clients,” she said. She has two more years in her current term on the council.
Jordan Valley, a city of 130 incorporated in 1911, is facing challenges, according to Conro.
A big one is maintaining an aging sewer and water system. The city raised rates recently by 65% “just to try to bring us up where we weren’t going in the hole all the time” with repairs, payroll and increasing costs, she said.
The city’s main tank needs to be relined and other piping systems need attention. The city’s only employee, its public works director, plans to retire in May, Conro said.
She said city leaders are hoping to qualify for grants to update the utility system. To do so, they need evidence that much of the community’s population has poverty-level incomes.
The Ford Family Foundation awarded a grant to survey residents to determine that. Conro said the survey needs to include at least 85% of the city’s population.
To save money on polling, “the council’s going to go to door to door” in December, she said.
“It is of the utmost importance that our local citizens take part in this,” Conro said. “All data collected from households is kept strictly confidential.”
She also said the community needs more businesses.
“We have lots that are shuttered,” she said.
With constant traffic on U.S. 95 through town, there is opportunity, she said.
“If you were young and had a lot of ambition, you could make a million dollars,” she said.
For now, though, the city is opening the process to select a new mayor.
The decision will be left to the council after three seats are filled by new members replacing those who decided not to seek reelection. Chris Elsner and Marcia Thompson won two seats in a contested race and Mary Skinner was unopposed for the third seat.
Conro said the competition for city slots was “unprecedented” and likely triggered by the rate increase.
“Suddenly, Jordan Valley’s notorious apathy was gone.”
Conro said those interested in becoming mayor have to live within the city limits and be registered voters. Those applying can send an email to the city at [email protected], mail to (PO Box 187, Jordan Valley 97910) or drop it at city hall.
Conro said a short statement would do: “I am interested in being mayor.”
News tip? Send your information to [email protected].
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