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Wednesday, February 1, 2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Mayorpstepspbackpfrompvoteponpforgivableploan
By Sue Stafford
Correspondent
Last week, in a letter to
the other four city councilors
and City Manager Rick Allen,
Mayor Chuck Ryan declared
a conflict of interest regarding
a planned vote by the council
having to do with the City’s
proposed forgivable loan of
$51,000 to Laird Superfood.
The letter stated:
“One of the agenda items
for tonight was to review and
approve the draft forgivable
loan agreement with Laird
Superfood that the attorneys
had prepared for submittal
to Laird. Regardless of my
absence (Ryan was ill), I had
planned to abstain from vot-
ing on the Laird loan as I have
been in contact with Laird
over the last week-and-a-half
and potentially will help them
with some financial consult-
ing, as you know I do on a
part-time basis. I’ve not for-
mally agreed to or signed any-
thing at this point but I’m in
active discussions to provide
such support. Therefore, I’m
declaring a conflict of inter-
est in regard to the Laird loan
agreement and will abstain
from any future decisions or
voting in that regard.”
Allen provided some back-
ground on the situation for
the council. He reported that
after the ethics training pro-
vided for council on January
18, Ryan voluntarily came
to Allen and said he might
have a conflict of interest.
He wanted Allen to know he
might go to work for Laird
but he hadn’t done so yet.
Exercising caution on
behalf of the City, Allen held
a conference call with Ryan
and Jeremy Greene, City
attorney, to address what was
best for the City. It was deter-
mined that, because in a spe-
cial meeting last December
the council had already held
the discussion regarding the
Laird loan, and Ryan was
part of the review (both as a
councilor and as a member
of the EDCO Due Diligence
Committee that vetted Laird),
that the issue would be
brought back to the council to
discuss the loan again and get
approval with Ryan’s conflict
on the record. Had he been at
the January 26 meeting, Ryan
would not have voted. The
council basically duplicated
what they had already done,
this time without Ryan’s
involvement.
Ryan told The Nugget,
“Laird approached me mid-
January relative to their desire
for local financial analysis
support. This is what I do for
a living on a part-time basis
and am engaged with one
other local client currently.
I am very proud and excited
about helping local emerging
businesses succeed.”
He went on to say,
“Frankly, there is a lack of this
type of expertise in Central
Oregon and I really enjoy
being able to lend that knowl-
edge so they may become key
contributors to local employ-
ment and the economy.
Live Au
ction
Live Mu
sic
I’m declaring a conflict
of interest in regard to
the Laird loan agreement
and will abstain from
any future decisions or
voting in that regard.
— Mayor Chuck Ryan
At last Thursday’s council
meeting, from which Ryan
was absent due to illness, the
four councilors voted unani-
mously to approve a City of
Sisters forgivable loan appli-
cation for Laird Superfood.
Sisters EDCO representa-
tive, Caprielle Foote-Lewis,
indicated Laird initially
plans for 17 employees, with
the possibility of eventually
employing 40-50 employ-
ees locally. Their plan is to
make Sisters their corporate
headquarters with some small
amount of manufacturing
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done here. The majority of
their manufacturing is done in
larger plants in other parts of
the country.
The local EDCO Due
Diligence Committee, com-
prised of Bill Kuhn, vice pres-
ident of Bank of the Cascades,
Sisters resident and retired
corporate quality assurance
and process engineer Bill
Hall, and City mayor and
retired corporate CFO Ryan,
vetted Laird and determined
that the loan could amount
to $51,000 based on $3,000
per employee, assuming 17
employees. The committee
determined that the projected
return on investment to the
City and the taxpayers war-
ranted approving the loan.
To qualify for the loan
program, the Laird jobs
must offer a salary of at least
$40,707, which is the median
wage in Deschutes County.
The loan will be forgiven
if those original 17 jobs are
retained for three years. If
not, the loan plus interest
must be repaid to the City.
The loan funds will come
from the Forgivable Loan
Reserve Fund set aside for
such purposes.
Ryan stated that no con-
versations or negotiations
regarding his being retained
by Laird for financial consult-
ing had taken place during
the time the Due Diligence
Committee was performing
its duties.
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right in making the loan.
At this point in time, Ryan
reports that he has not con-
sulted with his own legal
counsel or the State Ethics
Commission.
“But I have used the recent
ethics training to guide me to
be totally transparent and fully
declare any potential conflicts
of interest,” Ryan said.
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“Being a volunteer coun-
cilman is a demanding posi-
tion, but what it doesn’t
demand is that I cannot con-
tinue in my chosen profes-
sion. Otherwise, I would not
have run for council. Laird
is also happy that they can
potentially get this support
locally and efficiently,” Ryan
concluded.
Ryan indicated that his
position would be that of a
temporary consultant, with
his compensation not yet
fully determined. At this time,
there is no signed agreement
between Ryan and Laird.
The City attorney does not
represent Ryan as an individ-
ual. According to Alan Dale
of Greene’s firm, “The best
interests of the City are repre-
sented by the City attorney.”
As far as the State Ethics
Commission, it is Ryan’s per-
sonal responsibility for this
conflict of interest, so the City
attorney has no role in advis-
ing Ryan on what to do as an
individual. In the conference
call, Greene simply identified
the issues and laid it out for
the City.
Allen concurred, “The City
attorney’s job is to protect the
City and the councilors by
being sure we’re meeting all
the laws and rules.”
Wanting to err on the side
of caution, the Laird issue
was brought back before the
council last Thursday to make
sure the City is doing things
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