3 Pocatello City Council members will resign
POCATELLO, Idaho (KIFI) - Three Pocatello City Council members, Claudia Ortega, Christine Stevens and Roger Bray, have announced they intend to resign from the council.
All three members made the announcement during a press conference on Friday afternoon at Caldwell Park.
During the press conference, Ortega, Stevens and Bray all outlined a number of reasons why they are leaving, most notably from an incident during a council meeting that led to Ortega leaving the meeting.
"This council and in particular the Mayor has shouted at me a number of times when I use the analogy of an equation, which is that the city employees are half the equation and the taxpayers are half the equation," Stevens said.
"I'm tired of being treated like a third-class citizen at City Hall," Ortega said. "I've been publicly humiliated. I've experienced sexist comments on the part of Rick Cheatum and the Mayor. I'm obstructed at every turn."
"I don't want to be the only person on there that is raising the issue of fiscal responsibility," Bray said. "And when the two of them decided they needed to leave, I felt like it was important for me to honor what they'd been through."
Both Stevens and Ortega say they are moving from the area and have purchased homes out-of-state.
Bray says he will be retiring and does not know what's next.
The City of Pocatello released the following statement Friday evening.
"We are aware of the resignations of Council Members Christine Stevens, Claudia Ortega, and Roger Bray. Due to the simultaneous resignations of three council members, we will be working with the Governor’s Office to reestablish a quorum in order to conduct business."
