Residents, seniors and pastors urge council to retain City Manager Chris Swanson

During a 40-minute public-comment period at the Aug. 5 special meeting, multiple residents and community leaders urged the council to reverse course and retain City Manager Chris Swanson.

Monica Stoner praised Swanson's expertise and warned that "Tax dollars are at risk in battleground, and people are paying attention," and several speakers, including a pastor and the president of the Battle Ground Seniors, described specific examples of Swanson's responsiveness to seniors and her prior public-service record. Jessica Cole told the council, "I oppose terminating city manager Chris Swanson without cause," and other commenters asked for a clear accounting of the financial implications and the reasons for the action.

Speakers repeatedly called for transparency; LaDonna Kirkpatrick asked the council to "be specific on the financial impact of the manager's termination for the taxpayers," and Gary Obermeyer read language from Resolution 26-06 and pressed for the criteria and timeline used to reach the decision. Several commenters cited possible severance costs of "over $300,000" and warned those funds could be better spent on local improvements and infrastructure.

Provenance: Public-comment remarks are recorded across the transcript starting with Monica Stoner (SEG 132) and continuing through Gary Obermeyer (SEG 672); the article summarizes those on-the-record comments and quotes verbatim where the speaker identified themselves.