7A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2015
Facebook: Social network has nearly 1.4 billion users
Continued from Page 1A
Facebook, which has near-
ly 1.4 billion users, won’t
say how many accounts are
memorialized, though Face-
book product manager Vanes-
sa Callison-Burch said there
have been “hundreds of thou-
sands” of requests from loved
ones to do so.
Other Internet companies
also offer ways to posthu-
mously manage your accounts.
On Google, a tool called “in-
active account manager” lets
you choose to have your data
deleted after three, six or 12
months of inactivity. Or you
can choose someone, such as a
parent or a spouse, to receive
the data. The tool covers not
just email but also other Goo-
gle services such as Google
Plus, YouTube and Blogger.
Twitter, meanwhile, will
deactivate your account if
contacted by a family mem-
ber or a person authorized to
act on behalf of your estate,
after verifying not only that
you died but that the Twitter
account is yours, since many
people don’t use their full
names on the site.
AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File
A Facebook employee walks past a sign at Facebook headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif., in March 2013. Facebook is giving more options to decide
what happens to users’ accounts after they die. The world’s biggest online social network will now let users pick a trusted contact who can manage
their account or elect to have the account deleted, the company announced Feb. 12.
Port: Policy violations alleged
LQJSRVLWLRQDQGGHÀHFWHGEODPH
onto subordinates.
Browne’s and Herman’s
• Attempted to give union
complaints allege that, while staff and himself a more favor-
auditioning to be the perma- able vacation accrual provision,
nent director, Weston abused which, if approved, would have
his authority to help him cost the Port up to $156,800 in
succeed and alienated his annual personnel costs.
workforce with repeated ac-
• Gave lease discounts to
cusations of disloyalty and certain businesses connected to
threats to “get rid of” anyone individual Port commissioners,
who questioned his actions or which cost the Port $51,000 an-
reported his conduct to Port nually, to gain support in his bid
commissioners.
to be permanent director.
• Hired several employees
A bad review
without authority, against a Port
Earlier this month, the Port Commission-mandated hiring
refused a public records request freeze and without the funds
from The Daily Astorian for a necessary to pay their salary and
report done by the Local Gov- EHQH¿WV D SRWHQWLDO ORVV WR WKH
ernment Personnel Institute, Port of $350,000. Once his ac-
which looked into complaints tions were discovered, the com-
Browne and Herman made plaints add, Weston threatened
against Weston less than four to use layoffs and furloughs to
months before they were both balance the budget.
terminated. But the lawsuits
• Waived the new employ-
¿OHGE\)RVWHUGHWDLOWKHLUDOOH- ees’ probationary status to pro-
gations against Weston and the tect them from the Port’s layoff
Port.
policy.
During the initial months
• Gave himself and his new
with Weston as interim direc- “executive team” additional/
tor, Browne’s and Herman’s accelerated accrual of vacation
complaints allege, they ob- time, full medical coverage and
VHUYHG KH ZDV XQTXDOL¿HG fully employer-covered retire-
and incompetent, even on an ment contributions; guaranteed
interim basis. “He grossly mis- KLPVHOI WKH LPSURYHG EHQH¿WV
PDQDJHG WKH 3RUW¶V ¿QDQFLDO in case he didn’t become per-
affairs, causing loss or waste manent director; and asked his
of public funds, and abused (or “executive team” to keep the
attempted to abuse) his interim contracts secret from the Port
authority for personal and/or Commission and Internation-
political gain.”
al Longshore and Warehouse
The complaints allege that Union.
Weston:
• Intentionally gave the Port
• Abandoned or mismanaged Commission inaccurate or in-
continuing projects in his exist- FRPSOHWH ¿QDQFLDO LQIRUPDWLRQ
Continued from Page 1A
WRIDOVHO\LPSO\WKH3RUW¶V¿QDQ-
cial condition was improving
under his stewardship.
• Compromised the Port
Commission’s governance by
failing to fully disclose his suc-
cessful and attempted self-inter-
ested transactions and by asking
staff to stay quiet.
• Abused his authority by
threatening the job status of
any employee who opposed or
reported his actions to the Port
Commission.
• Violated the Port’s person-
nel policy by keeping secret
notes critical of certain employ-
ees without their knowledge or
an opportunity to respond.
The lawsuits said, on or
around July 17, Browne and
Herman met with Port Com-
missioner John Raichl and were
promised protection from retali-
ation by Weston in exchange for
speaking openly. The two wom-
en then disclosed the aforemen-
tioned allegations.
Browne and Herman “did
not provide written authoriza-
tion allowing the Port to dis-
close her identity to Weston,”
both complaints said. “Rather,
plaintiff wanted her identity
kept secret for fear that Weston
would use the knowledge to
retaliate against her in the work-
place — which is exactly what
happened.”
Retaliation
The complaints said Weston
publicly accused Browne and
Herman of insubordination in
meetings and emails; placed
Browne on administrative leave
Warrenton: Measure 91
doesn’t affect state’s medical
marijuana, dispensary programs
Continued from Page 1A
law enforcement concerns as
if the current version of Mea-
sure 91 is in effect.”
Last year, 146 Oregon
cities — including Warren-
ton, Gearhart, Seaside and
Cannon Beach — agreed
to moratoriums on medi-
cal marijuana dispensaries,
along with 26 counties. The
moratoriums are intended to
give local governments time
to prepare for dispensaries
but cannot extend beyond
May 1.
More than 60 cities
— including Warrenton,
Gearhart, Seaside and Can-
non Beach — opted to tax
marijuana before the Mea-
sure 91 vote. Legal experts
differ on whether taxes ad-
opted before the vote are
legal, since the measure
specifically prohibits local
taxes on the drug, but state
lawmakers are now debat-
ing whether to allow local
taxation.
City
Manager
Kurt
Fritsch suggested during the
work session that the City
Commission might consider
rescinding the local marijua-
na tax if it appears residents
are interested in a ballot ini-
tiative to restrict local sales
Aug. 18; blocked Herman, on
medical leave from workplace
injuries to her tailbone, from the
Port’s network while she worked
from home; leveled complaints
against both that mirrored their
earlier complaints against him;
and put the complaints into their
SHUVRQQHO¿OHV7KHDFWLRQVZHUH
all taken without their notice or
ability to appeal, the lawsuits
said, in violation of the Port’s
personnel policies.
%URZQH¶V ¿OLQJ VD\V VKH
complained to Raichl about
the retaliation but was told
he’d do nothing to stop it.
+HUPDQ¶V ¿OLQJ DOOHJHV IXU-
ther retaliation by Weston as
she visited work and returned
to her job in early September.
It says that Weston refused
to accommodate her doctor’s
orders regarding physical ac-
tivity, and that her condition
Daily Astorian file
Mike Weston, then interim executive director of the Port of
Astoria, described logging and fishing operations at the
Port to Upward Bound Summer Academy students during
a tour of Pier 1 in July. Weston is under fire in allegations
from lawsuits filed by to former Port employees.
was eventually changed to
disabled.
In October, the Port Com-
mission hired Knight. By early
November, Browne and Herman
ZHUHQRWL¿HGRIWKH3RUW¶VLQWHQW
WR¿UHWKHP³7KH3RUW¶VQHZH[-
ecutive director, Jim Knight, ex-
plained he was merely following
Weston’s recommendation.”
By mid-November, the two
were terminated, less than four
months after they made com-
plaints against Weston.
Bergerson
Tile & Stone
s
t
e
n
i
b
a
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d
an
Fea turing
ONSITE MEASURING
FREE QUOTES
‘It is a bucket of
monkeys, can of worms,
whatever you want to
say. And it is going to
change the landscape of
our community.’
— Matt Workman
Warrenton police chief of marijuana legalization
so as not to send conflicting
messages.
“We’ve sent one mes-
sage,” Fritsch said of the
local tax. “So if we’re going
to change message — and
that’s OK — we’d have to
consider rescinding that. Of
course it may be moot if it’s
proven to be not legal.
“But we need to think
about that with the messages
we send.”
Police Chief Matt Work-
man cautioned that the city
will have to sort through
several legal and policy is-
sues in response to marijua-
na legalization.
“It is a bucket of mon-
keys, can of worms, what-
ever you want to say. And
it is going to change the
landscape of our communi-
ty,” the police chief warned.
“Whatever we do.”
Measure 91 does not
change the state’s medical
marijuana and dispensary
programs, so cities will po-
tentially have to adapt to re-
tail outlets for recreational
use, which will be limited
based on age, and dispensa-
ries for medicinal use, which
are restricted to patients with
doctor-endorsed
medical
marijuana cards.
Speaking
personally,
Workman questioned how
marijuana can be both a rec-
reational drug and a pow-
erful medication to relieve
pain: “Last time I went to
my doctor, I couldn’t get a
prescription Budweiser.”
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