NE W S
>>> CONTINUED FROM P. 6
BRO’s strategy in the short term is hyper local. “Our
position is that we’re not looking to the courts to win the
freedom to marry,” Buchert says. “We’re doing the work
that we need to do: the grassroots organizing and hav-
ing the conversations we need to have with our friends
and family about why marriage matters in Oregon.”
— Shannon Finnell
FORMER COUNTY
ATTORNEY FILES
WHISTLEBLOWER SUIT
A former county attorney has fi led an intent to sue Lane
County for wrongful termination, retaliation for the exer-
cise of First Amendment rights for speaking out on matters
of public concern and for whistleblowing. A tort claim no-
tice letter that was hand-delivered to County Counsel (and
District Attorney) Alex Gardner Oct. 29 says that Marc
Kardell was fi red after he raised concerns about misuse
of county funds and the actions of County Administrator
Liane Richardson that were causing “a multitude of prob-
lems” within the county.
Kardell, whose cases for the county as part of the Land
Management Division (LMD) included representing it
against controversial Parvin Butte miner Greg Demers,
also fi led a complaint on Nov. 14 against the county in
Lane County Circuit Court for not responding to a public
records request and failure to respond to a request for a
personnel record in a timely manner.
Kardell’s tort claim notice says that when he raised
concerns about the way Richardson and others were con-
ducting county business, “particularly the multiple inves-
tigations that lacked legitimate bases and were costing the
taxpayers actual dollars as well as lost productivity and
loss of county personnel, he was summarily escorted out
the door with no notice under the guise of a ‘layoff.’”
Richardson spent at least $24,000 in investigations
against progressive commissioners Pete Sorenson and Rob
Handy. Her allegations against the commissioners, which
included voting against her, talking to the media and in
Handy’s case, having negative body language and facial
expressions, were deemed unfounded by an outside inves-
tigator.
The tort claim notice letter from Kardell’s attorney
Margaret Wilson says that on April 6, 2012, Richardson
chastised him for offering to contribute to a gift for the de-
parting county information offi cer, Amber Fossen. County
EARLY
DEADLINES
8
emails obtained by EW support this allegation. Also around
April 6, Kardell emailed the county board chair, per county
policy, about an “inappropriate comment” made to him by
one of Richardson’s staff members.
On April 11, Gardner informed Kardell that the county
would be investigating him for reasons including Richard-
son no longer wanting him “to perform work for her offi ce.”
Gardner himself is also implicated in the document.
The letter says that at one point Gardner intervened and
prevented Kardell from refusing a 5 percent step increase
in pay. The letter says Kardell refused the increase because
of the county’s fi nancial diffi culties. The refusal was ap-
proved by Human Resources, but Gardner blocked it
“opining that Mr. Kardell simply wanted to ‘look good’
in front of the Board of Commissioners.” Kardell then do-
nated what he estimated would be the net pay raise, $3,100,
to the county.
The letter also addresses Kardell’s communication to
the county board and Gardner in regard to budget issues
surrounding the employment of another attorney in the
offi ce, Stephen Vorhes. Kardell’s email, written from his
private account and on a day off work, expressed concern
over cuts in LMD and asked the board to wait on a six-
month review of the department before changing the status
of “valuable members of the offi ce.” Vorhes, who in the
past had served as acting county counsel, was apparently
asked to retire. Attorneys and members of the public wrote
the county opposing the cuts.
The public records suit is requesting documentation
from the county supporting the reasons for Kardell’s lay
off. Kardell has been asking for the records since early
September, the suit says.
When asked for comment on the case, the county re-
sponded, “It’s Lane County’s long-standing practice
not to discuss either litigation that has been fi led, po-
tential litigation that may be fi led or personnel matters.
Any response by county will be as part of legal proceed-
ings or the appropriate personnel hearing or arbitration.”
— Camilla Mortensen
IS THE LTD BUS
WATCHING US?
Smile: You’re on camera all over Eugene these days.
Do a Google search for “Eugene webcam” and you’ll fi nd
cameras fi lming public spaces from the UO to the Owen
Rose Garden. A recent revelation that Lane Transit District
(LTD) had looked into not just videoing but also audio re-
cording individual conversations on Eugene-area buses has
local defenders of civil liberties concerned.
A Dec. 10 story on The Daily that was picked up by
Wired.com revealed that LTD had send out a request for
proposals that sought “microphones capable of distilling
clear conversations from the background noise of other
voices, wind, traffi c, windshields wipers and engines.”
According to the story, LTD requested a minimum of fi ve
audio channels spread across each bus, and “each audio
channel shall be paired with one or more camera images
and recorded synchronously with the video for simultane-
ous playback.”
Andy Vobora, LTD spokesman, says that the story cited
a request that was not fulfi lled, and the buses still only have
two mics, not fi ve — one for the driver and one for the
rest of the bus. Vobora says LTD has been video and audio
recording for several years and has a sign at the front of the
bus announcing that. He says the reason for increasing the
mics was in order to monitor if “something going on that
violated someone’s rights” and cited examples of accusa-
tions of racism of sexual harassment that without audio
cannot be substantiated.
He says that the “vast majority of bus riders appreciate
knowing we have that [recording] capability when some-
thing comes up.”
Attorney Lauren Regan of the Civil Liberties Defense
Center is concerned about the mic request. She says, “It is
really unfortunate that people, particularly lower income
people who really have no choice but to use public trans-
portation, are basically coerced into giving up their rights
to privacy while using that resource.”
Regan says those concerned about surveillance are of-
ten told, “If you’re not doing anything wrong, then you
shouldn’t care.” But she says, “If we don’t assert our right
to privacy and right to live in a state where the government
is not constantly monitoring its people for whatever reason
then we lose those rights.”
She disputes the idea that “Big Brother” monitor-
ing people when they go out in the public domain makes
people safer, calling it Orwellian: “It’s not about keeping
us safe because nobody is live monitoring that feed.” Re-
gan says her guess is that LTD called for the mics because,
“This is something they can tell their mega-insurance com-
pany they are doing and lower insurance rates.”
That’s trading the right to privacy for the fi nancial bot-
tom line, she says.
Vobora says that in response to recently voiced con-
cerns, LTD is looking into increasing signage and putting
information into bus newsletters, particularly during times
such as the beginning of the school year when ridership
increases. — Camilla Mortensen
Christmas and New Year’s Day fall on Tuesday this year, which totally messes with our deadlines for the next two issues. We go to
press on Mondays instead of Wednesdays these weeks, though we hit the streets as usual on Thursdays. Please reserve ad space
as early as possible for our Dec. 27 and Jan. 3 issues. Questions? Call 484-0519. Thanks and happy holidays from all of us at EW.
December 20, 2012 • eugeneweekly.com