PAGE A14, KEIZERTIMES, APRIL 23, 2021
Council pursing 'corrective action'
in fallout over Eppley gun shot
By ERIC A. HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes
The Keizer City Council voted unani-
mously to consider a memo of corrective
action for Councilor Roland Herrera at a
meeting Monday, April 19.
The memo will be prepared by council-
ors Elizabeth Smith and Kyle Juran and
presented to the council for consideration
at its May 3 meeting. Smith, alongside
Mayor Cathy Clark and Councilor Dan
Kohler, signed a statement of concern ask-
ing that Herrera be investigated for possi-
bly mishandling public records, violating
the council’s social media policy and con-
ducting business out of view of the public.
An agenda and meeting packet released
on April 14, made it public that some mem-
bers of the council wanted Herrera inves-
tigated. The statement of concern cited
reasons to believe that Herrera had bro-
ken attorney-client privilege and violated
council policies.
Issuing a memo of corrective action
could be viewed as a retreat from the cen-
sure or letter of concern the statement
of concern originally posed as possible
penalties. Memos of corrective action are
traditionally used to formally notify an
employee of (1) an area of management
concern, (2) the action(s) required of that
employee to resolve the problem, and (3)
the consequences should the necessary
improvement not be accomplished.
Herrera read from a prepared state-
ment and admitted to forwarding an email
containing the incident report from the
The council moved the discussion of
former Keizer city manager after he dis- Herrera’s potential censure near the top
charged a gun in his city hall offi ce.
of the agenda and before public testimony
Herrera said he forwards emails to his was taken. Councilor Ross Day took issue
personal email account regularly so that he with any dissent from the public before
can view them on a larger monitor and the they had a chance to off er it.
forwarding of the incident report should be
“I never realized that I’d wasted 23 years
taken alongside consideration
of his need to accommodate
physical limitations.
“I need to be able to read
city documents carefully and
I forwarded it [the email]
as part of serving the city,”
Herrera said. “I am honored
to serve and will continue to
do so with pride, spirit and
optimism.”
Later in the meeting, Mayor
Cathy Clark asked why he had
not informed city staff or fel-
SEE RELATED STORY, PAGE A17
low councilors of the need for
additional accommodations.
Herrera replied that a
laptop provided by the city
stopped working during the pandemic and of my life as an attorney because someone
he reverted to personal computers, but that read something on social media and are
he was trying to keep his health struggles now experts,” Day said. “Those screaming
private.
for due process are the same ones who
City staff did send an employee to wanted us to fi re Chris Eppley without due
Herrera’s home to assist with connec- process.”
tivity issues shortly after the COVID-19
He also lambasted whoever might have
pandemic forced virtual meetings, but the had a part in making Eppley’s incident
problems persisted. Herrera mentioned report public.
the struggle on a few occasions as more to
“Whoever did that, I hope you crawl
virtual meetings were held.
back under the rock you came from. You
BUSINESS
Residents tell
council to
move on
AND
Services
denied a good man due process and what
kind of message does it send to the rest
of Keizer’s awesome employees,” Day was
nearly shouting by the time he fi nished the
statement.
The specifi c allegation in regard to mis-
handling public records involves an email
Herrera forward to a private email account.
A Keizertimes public record request
regarding a gun discharged in Eppley’s
offi ce on early March 4 included a copy
of an email Herrera forwarded the email
to his account on March 5. By forwarding
the letter, Clark, Smith and Kohler allege
Herrera violated attorney-client privilege.
The letter claims Herrera was one of
only 11 people with access to the report,
and the only one who said he had been
contacted by media organizations.
In response, Herrera asked that
the city staff produce records show-
ing that forwarding emails to his per-
sonal account is something he does
regularly. If he did so, the letter states,
he did so “knowing council rules require
councilors to use the city email in order to
comply with Oregon Public Records Law.”
Lastly, the letter accuses Herrera of
violating open meetings policy. The let-
ter states he posted to a Facebook page
during a council meeting on March 15
while the council was listening to pub-
lic testimony from residents regarding
the Eppley’s discharge of a gun. Herrera
made the post a few minutes after public
testimony had ended.
D I R E C T O R Y
2ND GENERATION
OWNERSHIP
The same
dependable
family,
working
hard to
get your
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back!
IN LOVING MEMORY OF ROB ROBERTSON
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INC.
1375 13TH ST SE – SALEM
(503) 364- 0455
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