Councilman Ed Naillon takes the oath of office in 2016 when he was appointed to fill then Councilman Jon Neals seat when he was appointed mayor. Now Naillon will be assuming the mayors position as Neal begins his term on the Okanogan County Board of Commissioners. Gary DeVon/GT File Photo

OROVILLE – City Councilman Ed Naillon was chosen by outgoing Mayor Jon Neal to be Oroville’s new mayor starting with the council’s first meeting of 2023.

Neal recommended Naillon, who currently serves as mayor pro tempore, for his spot. Neal is leaving the mayor’s position because he became Okanogan County Commissioner-elect after being successfully elected in the general election.

“Mr. Naillon is mayor pro tem, I took over with the council’s blessing… I just stepped into that role. I suggest Ed unless anyone has a problem with that. I think he’s up to the task,” said Neal, who was mayor pro tem when Mayor Chuck Spieth succumbed to health issues in 2016.

Councilman Mike Marthaler asked if Naillon felt he was up to the task.

“I’ve got to say I’d have the best council I’ve ever served with, I’d have the best office staff and the best department heads. So I think it would be just a matter of if we’d be able to do the job. We certainly could. My personal opinion is if the city needs me I’m not going to shirk away from the responsibilities that would be required of me,” said Naillon.

“So, in a ‘round about way he said ‘yes,’” said Neal.

“I’ve been involved with the city in many capacities for a number of years. I have a broad knowledge of what is going on, but does that mean I alone could figure it out? ‘No’ I would need everybody’s help for sure,” said Naillon, adding the role of a council member is significantly different than that of the mayor.

“I will have a period of transition,” said Naillon. “I would do it with council’s blessing, but I’d need to make sure I had council’s full approval. I would be honored to take it on.”

Naillon moving into the mayor’s seat will leave a vacancy on the city council which will be filled at a later date.

The new mayor has over 15 years on the city council. Before becoming a council member he served on the Oroville Planning Commission. He then served on the city council, but vacated the position for a time. He later came back to the council after Neal took over as mayor when Mayor Spieth died.

“Mayor Neal asked me to come back personally when Chuck passed to fill position #1 that Jon was vacating to take over as mayor,” said Naillon in an email to the Gazette-Tribune.

Mayor Naillon will take the oath of office at the first meeting of the year, Jan. 3, 2003 at 7 p.m. in the city council chambers.