Wednesday, December 21, 2016 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
City legal fees have piled up
By Sue Stafford
Correspondent
Over the past four years,
the amount of money bud-
geted and spent on City
legal costs has been increas-
ing significantly every year.
However, it appears that fis-
cal year 2016/17 may mark a
turnaround.
There have been a number
of prolonged lawsuits brought
against the City over that time
and several began even ear-
lier, spanning over several
City administrations.
One of the major goals
interim City Manager Rick
Allen set for himself when
he took the reins at City Hall
last spring was to have all the
pending legal cases settled
before the new permanent
city manager is hired. He is
almost finished with that goal.
City Finance Officer Joe
O’Neill provided some fig-
ures to The Nugget regarding
legal expenses.
Total legal fees for fiscal
years 2013/14 through the
first half of 2016/17 were as
follows:
2013/2014
Budgeted $47,000
Actual $64,661
$17,661 over
2014/2015
Budgeted $51,000
Actual $74,975
$23,975 over
2015/2016
Budgeted $65,000
Actual $112.007
$47,007 over
2016/2017
Budgeted $89,504
Actual $36,563 Half year
The largest legal fees
($37,631) had to do with
the departure of former City
Manager Andrew Gorayeb
in the spring of 2015. When
those legal fees are added to
Gorayeb’s severance package,
it cost the City $151,561.88
to terminate their relationship
with Gorayeb.
Legal fees surrounding
litigation involving the pro-
posed McKenzie Meadow
Village assisted-living facility
and three Land Use Board of
Appeals cases filed by Mark
Adolf of Pinnacle Alliance
Group amounted to $14,155.
O’Neill said there very well
could be more legal fees
prior to fiscal year 2015/16.
Recently MMV withdrew
their application from the
City and there are no pending
appeals.
The recently settled litiga-
tion by former City employee
Lisa Young, in which she
contended that the City of
Sisters had breached its set-
tlement agreement with her
when a partially redacted
report was made public in
which Young’s name had
not been redacted, cost the
City $3,838 in legal fees. A
settlement was agreed upon
in which Young received
$10,000 ($5,000 of which
was covered by the City’s
insurance provider). The
redaction had been performed
by then City Attorney Steve
Bryant’s office.
A suit involving prop-
erty owned by Dave and
Sandy Marlow, located to
the north of City Hall across
East Main Ave., has been
ongoing for a number of
years. The City installed a
sidewalk, which was later
removed when it was discov-
ered the City didn’t own the
land under the sidewalk. That
case has finally been settled
after going to the Court of
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Appeals, where a lower court
ruling was reversed and the
Marlows were ordered to pay
their own legal bills.
Ky Karnecki sued the
City three years ago over the
removal of his mushroom and
jerky stand when he failed
to remove it at the end of his
temporary permitted usage,
and he was levied fines in
connection with alleged code
violations. He also filed a
$2.5 million federal law-
suit against the City and 10
officials, claiming the City
has committed conspiracy
to violate his constitutional
rights, tort interference of his
business relationships, emo-
tional distress, slander, and
defamation.
“The Deschutes County
component of his suit is com-
plete, with no financial fines
imposed,” said Allen.
The federal civil rights
violation case is still pending.
“We have no other litiga-
tion or pending appeals that
I am aware of now that Lisa
Young is settled,” said Allen
(other than the Karnecki fed-
eral case).
“Nothing new has been
filed since I arrived. My goal
is to have these all cleaned up
prior to my departure,” Allen
told The Nugget.
Following Gorayeb’s
departure and the faulty
redaction of a document
related to Gorayeb’s con-
duct, the City Council ter-
minated their relationship
with long-time City Attorney
Bryant. The legal firm of
Bryant, Lovlien and Jarvis of
Bend replaced him. Attorney
David Allen of Madras,
who specializes in land-use
cases, took over all the MMV
casework.
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on at
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Groups still don’t agree
on Ochoco trail plan
BEND (AP) _ Government
agencies and environmental,
hunting, horse and off-road
vehicle groups are still at odds
over proposed trails in an
Oregon forest.
The Bulletin reports that
people attending a meeting in
Prineville found fault with the
U.S. Forest Service’s draft
decision, which calls for 137
miles of trails for summer off-
highway vehicle use at Ochoco
National Forest.
Off-highway vehicle advo-
cates say they’d like to see
trails that are accessible to
more vehicle types.
The agency says it used the
most recent data available to
predict elk calving areas, but
several people, including hunt-
ers and a state biologist, argue
that the Forest Service’s analy-
sis is flawed and could displace
elk.
Forest Service officials will
respond to the latest objections
by late January. After that, the
Ochoco Forest supervisor can
approve, modify or reject the
draft decision.
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Hawthorne Avenue, Bend, OR.
Ameriprise Financial and its affi liates do not offer tax or legal advice. Consumers should consult with their
tax advisor or attorney regarding their specifi c situation. Investment advisory products and services are
made available through Ameriprise Financial Services, Inc., a registered investment adviser. Ameriprise
Financial Services, Inc. Member FINRA and SIPC. © 2016 Ameriprise Financial, Inc. All rights reserved.