Grants Pass Mayor Sara Bristol, in office since 2021, survived an attempt to recall her Tuesday, when city voters by a 2-1 margin voted to keep her on the job, which is unpaid.

Grants Pass Mayor Sara Bristol says she’s stronger now than before opponents attempted and failed to recall her from office.

City voters by a nearly 2-1 margin Tuesday rejected an attempt to recall her over issues that included concerns about camping in city parks.

“The vote shows we need to work on solutions instead of being divisive,” Bristol said Wednesday. “I feel like I’m in a stronger position. The community does support the city taking action on establishing a shelter to help move people out of the parks. It’s time for the City Council to get serious about this.”

The vote was 5,455 against the recall and 3,032 in favor, or 64% against and 36% in favor. Bristol has been mayor since January of 2021, and she faces reelection in 2024.

Chief petitioner Suzanne Barber of Grants Pass did not immediately reply to a request for comment. In an official statement filed with the city recorder’s office, Barber in April wrote that Bristol “does not represent the conservative principles of the majority of her constituents.”

The Josephine County Republican Party, which had urged city residents to vote yes on the recall and offered to provide yard signs upon request, posted on its social media page in the days before the election that Bristol “advocates for a low-barrier shelter with minimal rules, burdening the public with an ongoing expense.” The party also noted that Bristol had proclaimed June as gay pride month.

In her formal response to the recall petition, Bristol pointed out that the mayor position is unpaid and nonpartisan, and that she does not vote at council meetings except to break a tie. She also may veto council decisions, although her veto is subject to override.

“I believe this recall effort is a misleading, highly partisan attempt to scapegoat someone for a crisis that has been years in the making and was the subject of a federal lawsuit the city lost before I even took office,” she wrote. “Like you, I want our parks back, and I will continue to advocate for solutions.”

In a related matter, Bristol said she had just received word that $800,000 in emergency state funding would be forthcoming toward a shelter in Cave Junction, and that $1.2 million in similar funding would go to the nonprofit organization United Community Action Network for “rapid rehousing” in Josephine County. Grants Pass also applied for some of the funding but was denied.

Past proposals to site an urban campground in Grants Pass similar to one in Medford have met with some support but strong opposition.

A federal court decision rendered before Bristol took office resulted in a stipulated injunction requiring the city to allow camping in its parks during certain hours, but subsequent state legislation requiring the city to give 72 hours notice before removing campers who violate those hours resulted in the nearly constant presence of campers in many city parks, including the city’s signature Riverside Park, located along the Rogue River on the south side of the historic Caveman Bridge.