In need of some political inspiration for 2018? Look no further than Sherwood, Oregon, where a groundswell of activism led to a successful recall, the mayor's resignation, and the preservation of the community's YMCA.

This week, the City Council unanimously approved an agreement to continue the YMCA's management of the city-owned recreational and aquatic center.

"After nearly two decades of operating our facility, it is clear that their organization has the experience, knowledge and expertise to provide the services that the City is seeking at our facility," City Manager Joe Gall wrote in his report to the council.

The vote represents a rapid course correction from August, when the council was poised to approve a management contract with private company HealthFitness. Unlike the YMCA, HealthFitness would have required the city to cover predicted operational losses at the center.

The issue mobilized the community, which didn't want tax dollars used to subsidize a private company. Residents I spoke to felt Mayor Krisanna Clark-Endicott simply wanted to oust the YMCA over a personal grudge involving child care and staffing.

Since then, the three council members who named HealthFitness their top choice to manage the facility are all gone. Councilors Sally Robinson and Jennifer Harris were recalled in October. Facing the same ouster effort, Clark-Endicott resigned and moved to be with her husband, Redmond Mayor George Endicott.

If the recall didn't make clear the community's wishes, Renee Brouse, former director of the Sherwood YMCA, won a special November election to the City Council. She beat out four other candidates for a seat that had been vacant since last summer.

Russell Griffin, who placed second in that election, and Tim Rosener, a recall supporter, were appointed in December to fill Harris and Robinson's unexpired terms.

The new council also appointed long-time community supporter and 2007 Citizen of the Year, Lee Weislogel, as mayor. He's a former city engineer, public works director and interim city manager who's served on just about every board, commission or nonprofit in the city, including the Sherwood Main Street program and Robin Hood Festival Association. One of the few titles he hasn't previously held is mayor.

Weislogel, 80, has no plans to run for the seat in March, nor is he much interested in rehashing the town's messy recall election.

"I'm not very political," he said, adding that he hoped to provide a "bridge during this interim or transition time."

But he did say the YMCA issue was a "wake-up call" for the community to get more involved in local issues.

"You don't have to apply for a (council) position to say I'm going to read articles more or I'm going to listen or go to meetings," he said.

That sentiment was echoed by Councilor Jennifer Kuiper in a piece for the October city newsletter. She encouraged residents to join advisory boards and commissions, and to register for the city's Citizen's University to learn about local government.

"All this upheaval over the past five months has been difficult for the entire community," Kuiper wrote. "However, I believe a door of opportunity has been opened. ... There is no greater ideal than a strong local government serving the needs of a well-informed and engaged voting public. It's the 'dance of democracy' and it requires both parties to learn and become proficient in its steps for it to be effective."

Under the new five-year rec center contract, the YMCA of Columbia-Willamette will absorb any operational losses and won't take a set management fee. Instead, the nonprofit will be allowed up to 15 percent of revenues the first year, and then no more than 11 percent after that, as payment. All other proceeds will be reinvested back into the Sherwood facility.

The arrangement puts the onus on the YMCA to run a profitable center. If there are no revenues, the YMCA won't be paid.

The agreement gives the city some say by limiting any future membership rate increases and requiring the YMCA to maintain at least the current level of programing offered. And it notes that the two entities will work together on co-branding and signage.

"It's a hybrid lease/operating agreement," Rosener said. "We're getting the best of both worlds. We get a contract where we have little to zero financial risk and we still get some rights of refusal."

Rosener is a long-time Sherwood resident but first-time politician. He got involved after watching then-mayor Clark-Endicott seemingly berate other city council members during a contentious public meeting about the YMCA.

"I watched that August 15th video, the infamous council meeting, and I couldn't believe it, I was just stunned," Rosener said. "It was just ridiculous."

(An interesting footnote: Eight days after resigning as mayor, Clark-Endicott's husband appointed her to Redmond's Urban Area Planning Commission. According to the minutes of her first meeting, she said her primary interest was "community building.")

Rosener volunteered with the recall campaign and, after it was successful, applied for one of the open seats.

"It's a great master class on what the public can really do if they set their mind to it," Rosener said. "A lot of people said it divided our community. I think it was quite the opposite."

Rosener is part of a group of people trying to take the energy of the recall and transition it into an ongoing community discussion. The "Sherwood Recall Info" Facebook page and website have been rebranded as Accountable Sherwood, with the stated goal of engaging public debate around local issues. The group's new website is still under construction, but its homepage prominently features a quote from Thomas Jefferson:

"Whenever the people are well informed, they can be trusted with their own government; that whenever things get so far wrong as to attract their notice, they may be relied on to set them to rights."

-- Samantha Swindler is a columnist for The Oregonian/Oregonlive

@editorswindler / 503-294-4031

sswindler@oregonian.com