A Baker City man has started a campaign to recall City Councilor Adam Nilsson, who pleaded guilty to criminal mischief in November after being cited at the abandoned lime plant near Huntington on Aug. 1.

Lawrence Christian has filed papers with the city allowing him to collect signatures on a recall petition.

To force a recall election, Christian, former law enforcement officer, has until June 4 to collect at least 586 valid signatures from people registered to vote in Baker City elections.

Christian said he is pursuing the recall of Nilsson, 47, because of Nilsson’s guilty plea to the criminal mischief charge.

Nilsson, who was appointed by city councilors to fill a vacancy on Feb. 14, 2017, was cited on Aug. 1, for criminal mischief and criminal trespassing at the abandoned county-owned lime plant near Huntington.

The trespassing charge was dismissed in a plea agreement with the district attorney’s office.

“I’m upset with somebody on the city council doing something as juvenile as this,” Christian said. “It just puts a black mark on the city council as far as I’m concerned. I haven’t heard him say ‘I’m sorry.’ ”

Nilsson’s term on the City Council ends Dec. 31, 2018. He was absent from Tuesday’s regular City Council meeting.

Christian said he has talked to several Baker City citizens who are appalled by Nilsson’s actions. Christian said after he found out from city officials that there had been no action by citizens to try to recall Nilsson, Christian decided to take action himself.

While Christian intends to see the petition process move forward and moving on to a recall election, he prefers another course of action.

“I personally would like to see (Nilsson) resign,” he said. “Rather than bringing something up to a special election.”

Christian said he hopes the former is the case to avoid the cost Baker City would incur for a recall election.

County Clerk Cindy Carpenter estimates the recall election would cost about $6,000 or $7,000 to mail ballots to Baker City’s 6,623 registered voters and tally the returns.

See more in the March 14, 2018, issue of the Baker City Herald.