JULY 24, 2015, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A9
Manager leaves Town Amphitheater project funded
& Country Lanes after
reader board incident
By CRAIG MURPHY
Of the Keizertimes
The fallout over a recent
billboard message at Town &
Country Lanes continued last
week as manager Mardi Smith
quit.
Smith had been at Keizer’s
bowling alley for 10 years and
had been manager since 2010.
Don Lebold has owned Town
& Country for 47 years.
On July 2, Lebold posted a
message about the recent Su-
preme Court decision allow-
ing same sex marriages: “Judg-
es making decisions contrary
to the word of God will they
themselves be judged.”
Things were quiet for a few
days, but word of the mes-
sage went viral on July 7. By
the next day, the message was
making national headlines.
Smith posted on the bowling
alley’s Facebook page the mes-
sage was solely Lebold’s and
did not refl ect any other em-
ployees at the business. There
were immediately dozens of
responses, most highly critical
of the bowling alley. The post
was eventually removed, but
soon the page was fi lled with
negative one-star reviews. By
the end of last week, the Face-
book page was taken down.
On July 15, Smith an-
nounced on her Facebook
page she would be leaving her
job.
“I regret that I now an-
nounce that I must separate
myself from the leadership
of Town & Country Lanes,”
Smith wrote. “I am giving my
reluctant resignation effec-
tive July 29 to pursue available
business opportunities within
our community with the same
fervor and enthusiasm with
which I have built relation-
ships, programs and business
collaborations with so many of
you during my work at Town
& Country. I look forward to
new opportunities and thank
each and everyone who sup-
ported me during this service.”
By July 17, however, Smith
had already left.
Lebold said last Friday he
talked with Smith the day be-
fore about the sign board inci-
dent and the fallout for the fi rst
time, though Smith refuted
that account and said there had
been “many discussions” prior
to July 16, the day she quit.
“I told her how unhappy I
was with her for putting that
message up on Facebook,”
Lebold said. “She really threw
me under the bus. I was up-
set with her for not support-
ing me. I told her this all never
would have happened if she
had called me. What I said on
the board was interpreted far
differently from what I ex-
pected. I’m sorry my message
was wrongly interpreted. God’s
word is my standard. I love
people of all races and beliefs.
I’ve never been accused of be-
ing discriminatory in my 47
years here.”
Lebold noted he’s had a les-
bian manager in the past and
currently has two African-
American employees and a bi-
sexual employee.
“The bible is God’s word,”
he said. “The bible makes it
clear marriage is between a
man and a woman. The bible
also says you will be persecuted
for your beliefs. That’s exactly
what is happening now. I’m
being made out to be a bad
guy. It shows how intolerant
they are.”
Lebold said he had received
many cards and letters in sup-
port since the incident began,
plus had 20 phone calls and 15
people stopping by to see him.
“There’s never been one
negative person that stopped
by to talk with me,” he said.
“It’s all been positive. There
have been negative phone calls
in the morning when I haven’t
been here, but I’m getting a
lot of support from various
pastors and others. I’ve been
overwhelmed by the support.
Almost all of the negative has
been on the internet.”
Smith on Tuesday had no
regrets about her decision to
leave.
“I will miss serving and
interacting with the city,” she
said. “I enjoyed the last 10 years
of business development and
community collaboration. It’s
like the day you wake up and
realize that your jeans don’t fi t.
You can choose to be uncom-
fortable or wear something
else.”
By CRAIG MURPHY
Of the Keizertimes
Jerry Nuttbrock’s project
lost its funding, but got it back.
Nuttbrock, a key player in
the original construction of the
Keizer Rapids Park amphithe-
ater several years ago, has laid
out a four-phase project to add
amenities to the amphitheater.
The fi rst phase is a 2,400 square
foot concrete patio.
In May, members of the
Keizer Parks and Recreation
Advisory Board approved
$5,000 in funding from its
matching grant program to
help pay for the project. Nutt-
brock’s plan was to have the
project done in June, also the
end of the 2014-15 fi scal year.
A couple of factors – includ-
ing the Big Toy project taking
a week longer than anticipated
– meant that didn’t happen, so
Nuttbrock temporarily lost his
funding support. At last week’s
Parks Board meeting, he got
the $5,000 back.
“I am back with a grant
proposal to replace my former
grant proposal we didn’t take
advantage of,” Nuttbrock told
Parks Board members. “It’s an
issue of timing. I had a win-
dow in late June to get it done.
That was my intention. It was a
squeeze because we had to wait
until the Big Toy was done. It
gave me a couple of weeks. But
it was during that hot weather.
I can’t pour when it’s more
than 90 degrees; it threatens the
quality of the concrete.”
Nuttbrock said another un-
expected change took place.
“The city told me to sub-
mit receipts but the work it-
self didn’t have to be done by
the end of June,” he said. “That
changed, so that I did have to
be done by the end of June.
That’s where we are. I’m back
asking for $5,000.”
The overall project costs
were different from what
Nuttbrock had estimated in
the spring. The total value is
now $25,305 which includes
$13,000 in corporate sponsor-
ship, $6,615 in labor, the $5,000
from the matching grant and
$690 in private cash or material
donations.
“These numbers represent
the reality,” said Nuttbrock,
who refers to the amphitheater
as Keizer’s living room. “I’m al-
ready so far in, I know where
we’re at and what I expect it
traffi c court
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Exit 263 off I5 – between Woodburn and Salem
to take to fi nish this project.
On the numbers before, I was
guessing. It is way beyond the
50 percent match.”
Public Works Director Bill
Lawyer said the project not be-
ing done – or funded – last fi s-
cal year meant there was a bal-
ance of $5,000 left over in the
matching grant program.
“Staff has proposed going to
city council soon and request a
budget adjustment, where the
$5,000 unspent is allocated di-
rectly into the matching grant
program for this year,” Lawyer
said. “So for 2015-16 the total
allocation would be $20,000,
which is the $15,000 plus the
$5,000 carried over.”
Lawyer noted the hope is to
get maximum use out of the
project this summer with the
free weekly concerts.
“The idea is so it can be en-
joyed this summer for the con-
cert series,” Lawyer said. “This
is the best overall approach.”
Nuttbrock told Parks Board
members he would be pouring
the concrete when the weather
cools a bit, which should mean
this week.
Parks Board members unan-
imously approved the request.
503.393.2875
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