Madras Interim City Administrator lays out a path for his replacement

MADRAS, Ore. (KTVZ) -- David Clyne, interim city administrator for Madras, is prioritizing clear financial preparation and up-to-date budgets in time for a new, permanent city administrator.

Clyne, who serves as interim city administrator for the city of Madras, has nearly 40 years of combined experience acting as a city administrator or manager in Oregon and Colorado He has been contracted by Madras to serve in this capacity until October.

In an interview with KTVZ, he expressed optimism about the city's fiscal health, despite the city being behind on preparing for upcoming audits and budgets.

Regarding the city's financial standing, Clyne said, "I'm pretty confident we're not where people thought we were. I think people were using the, you know, the 'bankruptcy' word that was getting tossed around here. That's not the case."

"Oregon has a really tough situation with measures five and 50 that were passed in the 90s." Said Clyne, referring to legislation which capped property taxes. He also cited Oregon's absence of a sales tax as another potential revenue stream the city didn't have access to. "So we're severely limited on the typical public revenues that are available in a lot of other places."

Clyne also aims to inspire the next city administrator to develop a unified, long-term plan for Madras. He believes this vision should be shared between the city and the community, rather than being a simple list of projects. In previous roles in other cities, Clyne often met with the public to ensure their goals aligned with community needs.

Another pressing issue for Clyne is the strain being placed on the Madras police department. He expressed a need for a permeant police chief, and hiring more officers. The search for a new police chief is on pause till the city recruits a city administrator

Clyne was also impressed by the warm welcome he’s received in Madras. He expressed an appreciation for the natural beauty in the area, saying “The climate's incredible, but it's also a city that is really postured itself in a way that it can really do something very special going forward.”

Currently, the city is considering pre-finalists for the permanent city administrator position.

Next week, the city will select finalists for interviews. Officials hope to hire the permanent city administrator by June 9.