Longtime St Helens City Administrator Disappears in Columbia River

Sheriff and police now on a “recovery mission” to find John Walsh

St Helens City Administrator John Walsh (Source: St Helens Facebook)

The Columbia River city of St. Helens, Oregon, appears to have lost its longtime city administrator overnight.

John Walsh, who had been the city government’s top boss for more than a decade, slipped and fell off of city docks around 10 p.m. Saturday night and remains missing, according to multiple sources.

Former St. Helens city mayor Rick Scholl told The Western Edge that he assisted in search efforts on Sunday morning and called it a “recovery mission now.”

“It’s just so sad. His kids, his wife. It’s just tragic. That Columbia is so dangerous,” Scholl said when reached by phone on Sunday.

Scholl said he knew a potential tragedy was playing out Saturday night around 10:15 pm when he was smoking a cigarette on his porch and saw rescue vehicles speed toward the city docks. Scholl ventured downtown and saw a crowd gathered around, as well as many other boaters on the docks. They told him a man had fallen in the Columbia River while getting off a friend’s boat and was quickly swept down river.

The next morning, Scholl received a text message from Walsh’s wife, Jolene, asking if he’d join the search.

“It’s a tragic accident,” Scholl said. “One thing I can say about John is that he was a very decent person. I can’t remember one time he was ever aggressive or belittled another person.”

Scholl said by Sunday morning, the U.S. Coast Guard had called off helicopter operations to locate Walsh.

St. Helens city officials, the St. Helens Police Department and the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment by The Western Edge.

The city did release a statement Saturday, noting the sheriff’s office is using a drone to look for Walsh and the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office is sending an underwater remote-operated vehicle to assist.

The council and mayor also called an emergency meeting Sunday afternoon to appoint an interim city manager. Massey, in tears, called the meeting to order at 1 pm. Walsh’s typical seat, to the left of Massey, was empty and his nameplate had been removed.

The mayor and council appointed St Helens Finance Director Gloria Butsch to the job for two weeks.

“I hate that we have to do this so quickly,” councillor Brandon Sundeen said.

“Yeah, it feels wrong,” Massey said.

“It’s painful,” councillor Jessica Chilton said.

River conditions can be particularly dangerous in the Northwest in early summer months, as warm air temperatures heat up the body but water temperatures remain extremely cold due to mountain snow melting. The Columbia Riverkeeper has cautioned swimmers to “beware of fast currents and steep dropoffs” when swimming in the river.

Northwest cities frequently see lives lost in such conditions due to cold shock that can make swimming difficult. On Saturday, The Oregonian reported that a teenager died while jet-skiing near Meldrum Bar Park, near the confluence of the Willamette and Clackamas Rivers. In 2024, internationally-lauded Portland chef Naomi Pomeroy drowned while floating the Willamette River.

Walsh has had a long career working for city governments around the Northwest. He was hired as city administrator of St Helens in 2012 — outcompeting 70 other candidates for the job, according to reports at that time. He previously served as the city administrator in Myrtle Point, a small city in southwestern Oregon and, prior to that, worked in public works and community development positions in both Centralia and Pacific, Washington.

Walsh is a graduate of Western Washington University, where he received a bachelor’s degree in geography and urban planning.

At the time of his hiring, he told The Columbia County Chronicle & Chief that he was excited to live in St Helens “because of its proximity to the Columbia River.”

In a 2022 Facebook post, the City of St Helens celebrated Walsh’s 10th year on the job, noting he was “a steady leader and someone who has charted a forward-looking course for our growing city while keeping the mission of providing quality, effective, and efficient service to our citizens at the center of everything that we do.”

Walsh played integral roles in developing St. Helens’ trademark Halloweentown festival and transforming the city’s waterfront from former industrial land to a burgeoning business park and recreational area.

John and Jolene Walsh raised three children together, according to Scholl.

“He was a really good dad and loved his family very very much,” the former mayor stated. “He was respected by his peers. Of course, we can critique anyone’s work. But as a human being, he was one of the good ones. We lost a good one.”

This is a breaking news story, and will be updated.