LOGO
District feared
confusion
Continued from page A1
design elements, with
the sole exception be-
ing that below the words
“Mid-Columbia,” one says
“Firefighters” and the other
says “Fire & Rescue.”
After the district trade-
marked its version of the
logo, it demanded last June
that the union stop using
its version. When the union
didn’t, the district sued in
Wasco County Circuit Court.
The suit sought compensato-
ry damages and payment of
its legal costs.
In a press release, the dis-
trict said the matter is head-
ing to a closed-door media-
tion session on Feb. 10 before
Senior Judge Paul Crowley, a
retired circuit court judge.
Previously, another judge
granted the fire district a
temporary restraining order
barring the union from using
its logo.
In the press release, the
district said that while the
legal costs “may be protect-
ed from disclosure” under
state public records law, the
district chose to provide it
“because the public needs to
be aware of what the union’s
actions in violating the dis-
trict’s copyright has cost the
district.”
It said the union’s unwill-
ingness to stop using the logo
when the district demanded
it “has resulted in the expen-
diture of these funds.”
Hammel said when he
requested the legal expendi-
tures on Jan. 15, he got a reply
Jan. 17 telling him the infor-
mation may be exempt from
public disclosure under a
law regarding public records
pertaining to litigation.
Hammel said that law
notes public interest could be
factored in deciding wheth-
er information should be
released.
Weekend of February 1-2, 2020 A9
The Dalles Chronicle
TheDallesChronicle.com
Hammel told the Chronicle
before the meeting, “I’m
troubled with the amount
that’s being spent over a door
logo.”
He asked how often fire
districts trademark their lo-
gos. “Not very often that I’m
aware of.”
In the press release, the
fire district said it sued over
the logo because it had legal
rights to its service mark.
“When those rights are violat-
ed the district has little choice
but to act. The union’s use of
an unauthorized and con-
fusingly similar mark causes
public confusion. The public
cannot be led to believe that
the district supports all the
union’s political activities.
This action has resulted
in a temporary end to this
occurring.”
An investigation commis-
sioned by the district last
spring concluded the district
sought the logo first. The
company that created the
logo told the inquiry that its
work was done for the dis-
trict, not for the union.
The union said it created
and paid for the artwork in
the logo, and it had been
using it for some time.
Hammel told the board
that the inquiry, by Portland
HR Solutions, Inc., was
incomplete because he was
not interviewed for it and he
had a role in the logo process,
which began several years
ago.
The fire board’s press re-
lease said that Hammel told a
representative of the district
that he would not respond
to the inquiry unless he was
subpoenaed.
Hammel, in turn, said that
he did tell the fire district’s
labor attorney that he would
have to be subpoenaed in
order to testify at an unfair
labor practice matter a year
ago. That matter was settled.
Hammel said the labor
attorney asked him a ques-
tion regarding the logo “and I
gave him an answer. He was
not part of the HR Solutions
report that I am aware of.”
When he spoke at the
meeting, Hammel said the
district had spent $135,000
on legal expenses from last
July through December, the
first half of the fiscal year.
He said that was 225 per-
cent of the amount budgeted
for the full year. He later
told the Chronicle that the
six-month figure was more
than had been spent on legal
expenses in the last three
years combined.
The district is facing a
protracted union contract ne-
gotiation, which has stalled,
and is also facing an unfair
labor practice complaint,
which will be heard in The
Dalles on Feb. 20.
Hammel said in the last
two months of 2019 the dis-
trict spent just over $82,000 in
legal fees. Because there was
a hearing in Wasco County
Circuit Court with a number
of attorneys representing
the district, Hammel said he
was assuming most of that
two-month legal expense was
related to the lawsuit.
He said the $82,000 could
have paid for half of an addi-
tional firefighter.
He said it would’ve paid
about 66 percent of the cost
for a new staff vehicle to
replace the one which was
recently wrecked.
A fire district press release
said a chief officer was
responding to a fire on New
Year’s Eve that destroyed a
house, and when no off-duty
firefighters reported to the
station when extra help was
called for, he returned to the
station to get a fire tender,
which is an apparatus with a
water tank on it.
The chief officer’s vehicle
hit a bollard and fire hydrant
on the open training grounds,
shearing off the hydrant. The
2003 vehicle had a value of
about $2,500 and was bud-
geted for replacement this
fiscal year, according to the
press release.
The hydrant has not yet
been replaced.
Hammel said the $82,000
would buy about 32 sets of
ACUPUNCTURE
turnouts, 11 breathing appa-
ratus, or 19 percent of what
the district said during the
bond campaign that it should
be putting away each year
in a reserve to replace fire
apparatus.
He said the district passes
a balanced budget each year,
and the unbudgeted expen-
diture in legal fees will have
to come from somewhere.
The press release said that
if a fund adjustment is re-
quired, the money will either
be transferred from contin-
gency or from adjusting the
ending fund balance.
Hammel told the board it
was time to “step up and take
action” and “end what ap-
pears to have developed into
a personal battle between
parties.”
Asked whether Fire Chief
Bob Palmer or the board
wanted to pursue litigation
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what exactly caused the frac-
ture, and you do something
about it. A good leader is a
bridge builder, but all I see are
roadblocks.”
Union members earlier
said morale was at an all-
time low, and staff turnover
has been so high that there
have been nearly 20 new
personnel since 2012 in what
is only an 18-person union.
DePriest said, “Please
consider restoring calm, trust
and respect to the district
and its firefighters. To do this,
the only reasonable action
is to request Chief Palmer’s
resignation.”
The press release said that
Palmer had received consis-
tently high marks from the
board on his annual evalu-
ations, and the board was
not considering firing him,
“and would not do so unless
warranted.”
Mike Kilkenny
DERMATOLOGY
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over the logo, the press re-
lease said the decision to sue
was made by the board on
advice of legal counsel.
Casey DePriest, the wife
of a retired firefighter, also
spoke, asking that the district
replace Palmer.
She said she was retired
from government, and that
she’d always hated when
people told her taxpayers
paid her wages. “I hate that,
but now I get it. As an adult,
and taxpayer, every penny
counts, you’re on a fixed
income now, and how your
tax dollars are spent matters.
Those that have the power
to spend your tax dollar
matters.”
She said she realized the
district had “deeper issues”
than “this one lawsuit. I hope
when this comes to a close the
board takes a good long look
at why this has happened,
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