July 27, 2021 4:20 a.m.

The Roseburg City Council heard from several residents, addressing a controversy that followed recent comments from Council President Bob Cotterell, at its meeting Monday night.

The issue began on June 28th when councilors were preparing for a council meeting on Zoom. While the meeting hadn’t officially started, viewers could already be logged on and heard Cotterell make what was termed as a gender identity joke. After being reminded by City Recorder Amy Sowa that the audio feed could be heard, a short period of silence followed before the meeting began.

Comments criticizing Cotterell have followed in various forums.

At the start of Monday’s meeting, Mayor Larry Rich read a statement apologizing for the remarks, calling them “offensive and hurtful”. He said the council is committed to serving the entire community. Rich had contemplated going deeper into the issue in an upcoming Executive Session but Cotterell asked that any discussion be made in the public portion of the meeting. That has been scheduled for the next council session, which will be held on August 9th.

Seven residents spoke to the council with some sharing their journey as a transgender or non-binary person, while others saying they were there to support that community. One speaker called for Cotterell to resign while Mark Lenihan, president of the PFLAG chapter in Roseburg said he wasn’t calling for Cotterell’s removal but asked that Cotterell learn from what took place.

Also, at the meeting councilors approved a grant request from the Umpqua Valley Winegrowers Association, asking for $10,000 in hotel/motel tax funds to help pay for a large-scale social media campaign to promote tourism and the local wine industry. The question passed on a unanimous vote.