LAKEPORT — Lakeport City Manager Jerry Gillham”s number is up. After getting a phone call three weeks ago from his commanding officer in the Oregon unit of the Army National Guard, Gillham is undergoing monthly training for what would be his second deployment to Iraq.
Gillham said it”s too soon to say whether he will go overseas on his Aug. 27, 2009 deployment date. Should he be deployed, Gillham and his unit will work to reconstruct Iraqi communities torn by war. Gillham said he will be doing the same work he did when he was deployed for 13 months in 2004.
“Keep in mind that this is two years out, and the likelihood of me going is extraordinarily slim. But we”ve been put on notice,” Gillham said.
Gillham said he doubts he will be deployed for political reasons. “Something is going to occur to the extent that we may not be sending more troops there, but that”s just my feeling,” Gillham said.
“What”s happening is that we received official notice, and the Pentagon sent people out, so I know it”s serious, and they are looking for a place for us to go,” Gillham said.
Initial orders may be substantially changed, Gillham said, including the deployment date, and where the military wants him to go.
“It may be at the Pentagon, or a staging area in Fort Dix, New Jersey, or it may be at Fort Bliss (Texas),” Gillham said.
Gillham was hired by the city less than a year ago, in May 2007. He said that as a commissioned warrant officer, his skills as a city manager will help him perform his duties in Iraq.
“We”re a non-lethal team, and what that means is that we don”t go out and look for bad guys, we go out there and fix the country. My job is to go there and essentially put Iraq back into the condition it was in before we got there,” Gillham said.
In his previous deployment, Gillham and his unit worked to assess damage, go door-to-door asking how the community had changed and creating contracts to rebuild streets, water systems and wastewater systems.
Gillham said he believes for political reasons that his work may already be done when his deployment date arrives.
In the meantime, Gillham said his goal is to get the city”s finances in good shape. He is working to correct a $1.5 million deficit the city discovered in the summer of 2007.
“Two years from now, bad, good or indifferent, we will have a balanced budget. I”m not saying it”s going to be easy or that there will be any lack of growing pains. But by then, the budget will be stable. Whether it is negative or positive, it will be stable. That”s something I can promise,” Gillham said.
As for who would fulfill his city manager duties in his absence, Gillham said that will be up to the Lakeport City Council.
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