Oakridge mayor resigns amid possible recall effort

OAKRIDGE, Ore. (AP) – Oakridge Mayor Jim Coey has resigned rather than face a possible recall effort.

Coey told The Register-Guard in a phone interview Monday that “life’s too short” to deal with what’s going on.

Two Oakridge residents who sit on the city’s planning commission began gathering signatures earlier this year to recall Coey. They said he had held a private meeting with two other councilors to ask City Administrator Louis Gomez to resign, potentially in violation of Oregon’s public meetings law for elected officials.

Coey couldn’t run for re-election because of term limits, and had only a few months left in office.

Oakridge has a population of about 3,250. It’s located southeast of Eugene.

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Information from: The Register-Guard, http://www.registerguard.com