Facing a recall election, Sherwood Mayor Krisanna Clark-Endicott resigned her seat Monday, saying she was moving to Redmond to be with her husband.

"It has been my great pleasure to serve the citizens of the City of Sherwood," Clark-Endicott said in a statement, adding that she worked under the belief that "you can disagree without being disagreeable."

Two other city councilors, Sally Robinson and Jennifer Harris, will face a recall election on Oct. 17, in part over their handling of a contract to manage the city-owned recreation center.

Robinson, Harris and Clark-Endicott all voted to begin negotiations with an out-of-state company, HealthFitness, over community objections to keep the center under the management of the YMCA.

Last week, Clark-Endicott called a special meeting to vote on the final contract. A city staff report released the morning of the meeting advised the council against approving the HealthFitness contract because it would leave the city liable for nearly all losses at the rec center.

"I am especially concerned about the first year of operation with the potential large exodus of current members that utilize our facility," City Manager Joe Gall wrote. "This potential exodus poses significant financial risk and, based upon the proposed contract, this financial risk would fall squarely upon the City of Sherwood to absorb in the first year of operations."

The motion to approve the contract failed in a 4-2 council vote.

Later during the same meeting, Robinson said the recall effort was "completely irresponsible" and "really unfortunate, especially because the main focus of the recall is that we're not being fiscally responsible. Well, you saw tonight we are fiscally responsible. We have turned down a contract that would have resulted in losses."

But

both

Robinson

and Harris

to approve the contract.

(Update: During the Oct. 10th city council meeting, Harris asked that the record be amended, saying she had intended to vote against the contract. This amendment was accepted.)

The recalls against Robinson and Harris claim each has "failed in her fiduciary responsibilities, behaves in an unethical manner" and "continues to move the city of Sherwood in a direction that is not in the best interest of the community." The recalls cite the rec center vote and their "written abuse/attacks (on Facebook) of Sherwood citizens."

Harris rebutted those claims in her statement for the voter's pamphlet.

"I'm fighting this recall because I know that I have served Sherwood with honor and integrity," Harris wrote. "I work hard to always be respectful and level headed when engaging on social media, even when I don't agree with someone. I believe everyone has a right to their opinion, but I also believe people re entitled to respect regardless of that opinion -- something that has been missing from the recall campaign."

In her statement, Robinson countered that "This recall is NOT about fiscal responsibility or ethical violations. It is based on a personal vendetta against 3 councilors who voted against the YMCA and its supporters... No specific charges of unethical behavior have been leveled against me, nor have I ever been cited by the Oregon Ethics Commission. As an attorney, I take pride in upholding my ethical obligations."

- Samantha Swindler

@editorswindler/ 503-294-4031

sswindler@oregonian.com