Cornelius City Council Work Session and Regular Meeting (May 15, 2026)
Cornelius City Council Work Session and Regular Meeting – May 15, 2026
Note: The provided meeting date is 2026-05-15, but the transcript begins with "Monday, May 18th, 2026." This summary uses the date from the instruction while noting the discrepancy.
The meeting began with a work session at 6:00 p.m. to interview six candidates for a city council vacancy, followed by a regular session at 7:30 p.m. The regular session included a presentation on Clean Water Services rates, deliberation on the council appointment, and council reports.
Public Comments & Testimony
- No members of the public provided testimony during the regular session.
Discussion Items
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City Council Candidate Interviews (Work Session)
- Six candidates were interviewed: Andrew Broess, Brenda Gonzalez Pacheco, Douglas Benson (absent), Dylan Sutherland, Edgar Baker, and John Colgan. Each answered five prepared questions.
- Andrew Broess expressed interest in serving after prior involvement in the economic development committee and police advisory board. His vision for Cornelius included expanded pedestrian crossings, bike infrastructure, and “big idea” projects like the library.
- Brenda Gonzalez Pacheco emphasized giving back to the community, advocating for youth programs, supporting local businesses, and increasing community engagement.
- Dylan Sutherland focused on keeping Cornelius a small town while managing growth, creating family-friendly spaces, and revitalizing downtown.
- Edgar Baker, a current planning commission member, highlighted protecting residents from gentrification and achieving community goals through the Cornelius 2045 plan, including more businesses and third places.
- John Colgan, a former councilor, applied out of a sense of duty and expressed concern about losing the city’s identity. He noted the urban renewal work is still in its early stages.
- During the candidate Q&A, John Colgan asked the council whether they were comfortable with the precedent set by his forced resignation in September 2025, calling it a “capitulation” to public pressure. Council members responded: Councilor Lopez acknowledged learning from the event and apologized; Councilor Vaughn said the council was too quick to decide; Council President Godinez Valencia noted the unprecedented threats of violence and that Colgan’s resignation provided pressure relief; Mayor Delane stated the outcome was not what anyone wanted and that the council had learned to pause before acting.
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Clean Water Services Rate Presentation (Regular Session)
- Staff member Ms. Jones presented a detailed breakdown of sewer and stormwater fees, clarifying that the regional and local portions are combined on bills. For a 6,000-gallon user, total sewer charges are $71.80 and stormwater $16.30 monthly. The local portion stays with the city but is insufficient to cover costs.
- Clean Water Services proposed a 21% increase for local sewer and 5% for local stormwater. The city instead proposes a 4% increase across sewer and storm fees, a 2% increase for water, a $0.50 increase in the general services fee, and no increase to the city storm fee. The total average bill increase would be about 3.2%.
- Councilor Vaughn expressed concern about the 21% proposal and questioned the efficiency of Clean Water Services. Mayor Delane advocated for restructuring the Clean Water Services board to be composed of city representatives rather than the county board.
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Appointment Deliberation and Vote (Regular Session)
- Council members discussed their top candidates. Councilor Lopez favored Edgar Baker and Brenda Gonzalez Pacheco; Councilor Vaughn had Andrew and Brenda; Council President Godinez Valencia had Brenda, Edgar, and John; Councilor Lopez noted the strength of all candidates. After deliberation, nominations were made for Edgar Baker (moved by Councilor Lopez, seconded by Councilor Vaughn) and Brenda Gonzalez Pacheco (moved by Council President Godinez Valencia, seconded by Councilor Lopez).
- The vote was 3–1 in favor of Edgar Baker (Councilors Lopez, Vaughn, and Godinez Valencia voted for Baker; Councilor Lopez voted for Gonzalez Pacheco). The council then unanimously approved Resolution 2026-30 appointing Edgar Baker to fill the vacancy until December 31, 2026.
Key Outcomes
- Edgar Baker was appointed to the Cornelius City Council to serve the remainder of the unexpired term ending December 31, 2026.
- The council will consider proposed utility rate increases (2% water, 4% sewer/storm, $0.50 general services fee) at the June 1, 2026 meeting.
- Council members expressed support for reviewing Clean Water Services governance, with Mayor Delane advocating for a city-led board.
Meeting Transcript
to the city council meeting for Monday, May 18th, 2026. Affectionately been referring to it as Mount St. Helens Day. The city is committed to providing equal access for public meetings. Request for accommodations can be submitted to City Recorder at least 48 hours before the meeting at CityRecorder at Cornelius OR dot G O V or call 50357112. Work session, 6 p.m. Before we begin the interviews, I will briefly go over the process for tonight. At the last city council meeting the council received and reviewed all completed applications and selected applicants to interview this evening. To help keep the process fair and consistent for everyone the interviews will be conducted in a round robin format with each candidate being asked the same set of questions. The questions were provided to the applicants ahead of time. Each applicant will have two to three minutes to answer each question. After the interviews are complete the council will reconvene during the regular meeting to deliberate and vote on the appointment. Are there any questions about the interview process from the council? Seeing none. Are there any questions about the interview process from the applicants? Oh council applicants sorry applicants still none. Okay. Let's begin tonight's City Council interviews. We have Andrew Michael Broess. I'm sure I'll get corrected I'm I'm sure I'm doing some of these wrong oh no microphones for them. They'll have to come to the DIAS introduce themselves and okay. Brenda Gonzalez Pacheco Douglas Benson Dylan Sutherland Edgar Baker and John Colgan. Erica Drew self withdrawal and I'm trying to remember which okay so um get that thing out of here okay get the rest of this organized here. It's okay I was able to read through the rest of the stuff. I'm sorry which who's being who's late did you mention somebody's going to be late Douglas Benson so this will proceed on barring anything else were you ready to start questions? Council? You know which ones are yours based on the highlights okay I get the first one what draws you to serve on the Cornelius City Council and what is your vision for the city over the next five years. First up Mr Broaz Yeah just quick mic check got to get a sense of how far away to keep this thing. Alright yeah last name is Bros rhymes with cross think of it that way. So yeah city council is something that's been on my mind for um oh a little while now back before COVID I was on the um economic development committee and uh the police advisory board and so I had some visibility to the city council at that time and I reached out to a member at the time and kind of just discussed you know what does it entail you know what's your experience like that kind of thing. But then COVID happened and everything just fell apart right the those two uh things that I mentioned that I was involved with those both just um kind of uh disappeared for a little while and uh on the tail end of COVID I got into um a career change and so that's been my priority for a uh a while now and here I am so coming back around to it again um as far as like the next five years vision for Cornelius um I think just seeing the city continue to um prioritize the things that it's already doing well um expansion of things like high visibility pedestrian crossings right uh walking paths uh making things bike friendly um the the general idea of accessibility I think um the library is a great example of like a a big idea project that um I think is paid off big for the city right and I would hope to see more big idea projects like that kind of come to light um I have some idea of of the uh 2040 I think plan that was mentioned in uh one of the last sessions the the state of the city address that you did um but there's a lot that I'm sure I don't have visibility to that may or may not be in the works um but yeah I think just in general things that would make uh life easier for people here in terms of like accessibility right I think there's a lot of people who live here And I would hope to see more big idea projects like that kind of come to light. Um I have some idea of of the uh 2040, I think, plan that was mentioned in uh one of the last sessions, the the state of the city address that you did. Um but there's a lot that I'm sure I don't have visibility to that may or may not be in the works. Um but yeah, I think just in general, things that would make uh life easier for people here in terms of like accessibility, right? I think there's a lot of people who live here who commute to work, so not having to commute all the time in your city for things uh would probably be a big plus for a lot of people. So yeah, I think that's where my mind is at for now, but I'm sure you know you get more visibility to how things are are working and what's going on. You start to get an idea of what's really possible. So Ms. Ms. Pacheck Pacheco. Correct me if I'm getting that wrong. No, that's correct. Yeah, Gonzalez, Gonzalez Pacheco. Consultants Pacheco. Okay. Yes. Um so I can go ahead and answer. Yes. Okay.
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