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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 21, 2016)
3A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2016 Whistleblower plans to sue lottery over alleged retaliation Procurement officer claims lottery officials forced him out By PARIS ACHEN Capital Bureau SALEM — A former employee has filed notice he intends to sue the Oregon Lot- tery for retaliating against him for blowing the whistle on the agency’s leadership for ques- tionable management practices. Trinh Tran, a former lottery procurement officer, resigned from the agency in October, several weeks after then-acting Lottery Director Barry Pack took disciplinary steps against him, according to a tort claim notice filed in December. Tran claims the disciplinary action came after he reported issues concerning Jack Rob- erts, who at the time Tran filed his report was director of the lottery. Tran alleged that Pack pur- sued disciplinary action against him despite an internal investi- gation of Tran that found “no evidence of inappropriate con- duct or violations of policy.” The investigation, initiated by Pack in May, alleged that Tran engaged in “intimidating” and “belittling” behavior toward his colleagues. “In short, any purported concern with Mr. Tran’s ‘man- agement style’ was a pre- text for an investigation that was simply and blatantly a witch hunt in retaliation for Mr. Tran’s raising and escalat- ing his concerns about official misconduct,” the tort claim states. The Oregon Lottery had no comment on the pend- ing litigation, said Joanie Ste- vens-Schwenger, a lottery spokeswoman. Tran’s allegations are sim- ilar to those of Roland Ipar- raguirre, deputy director of the Oregon State Lottery. Ipar- raguirre resigned in August on the same day the tort claim says Pack placed Tran on a dis- ciplinary plan. “Mr. Iparraguirre’s place- ment on administrative leave was a blatant act of retalia- tion for whistleblowing by for- mer Director Roberts,” wrote Loren Collins, Iparraguirre’s former attorney, in a letter to state officials. The letter requested that the state offi- cials reinstate Iparraguirre to his job. Collins said Tuesday he is no longer representing Ipar- raguirre and had no comment on Tran’s claim. Tran and Iparraguirre both played roles in the April ter- mination of Roberts, a for- mer state labor commissioner and Republican gubernatorial candidate, as lottery director. In March, Tran expressed concerns to Lottery Commis- sioner Liz Carle about “what he saw as Roberts’ “misman- agement and abuse of author- ity,” according to Tran’s tort claim. The disclosure came as Carle was reaching out to lottery employees for infor- mation about Roberts’ man- agement practices, the claim states. Roberts was at odds with Commissioners Carle and Mary Wheat over Roberts’ hiring of Farshad Allahdadi as interim assistant director for sales and retail services. Roberts requested in April that the Governor’s Office order an investigation into his claim that the commissioners were creating a hostile work environment for Allahdadi, based on his national origin. An independent inves- tigation by Kyle Abraham of Barran Liebman LLP found commissioners had expressed concerns about an anonymous email alleging that Allahdadi had engaged in questionable procure- ment and contracting prac- tices in the past. The inves- tigation found no evidence of discrimination against Allahdadi for his national origin. In April, Tran and Ipar- raguirre also went to Gov. Brown’s adviser, Heidi Moawad, to report their con- cerns about Roberts, accord- ing to an April email by Moawad. “They believe he was being punitive toward employees he could ‘prove’ were talking with (lottery) commissioners,” Moawad wrote. Roberts placed Iparragu- irre on paid administrative leave in April after Roberts claimed Iparraguirre had a verbal altercation with a sub- ordinate, Janell Simmons, a human resources director at the lottery. Brown terminated Rob- erts the following day and appointed Pack as interim director. Pack was confirmed by the state Senate this month to serve as the agency’s per- manent director. The Capital Bureau is a collaboration between EO Media Group and Pamplin Media Group. Utah is fastest-growing state as West bucks sluggish trend By LINDSAY WHITEHURST Associated Press SALT LAKE CITY — Utah is the fastest-growing state in the country, leading a cluster of Western states with populations on the upswing despite sluggish national growth, according to new numbers released by the U.S. Census Bureau Tuesday. The state that’s long had the country’s highest birth rate grew just over 2 percent from July 2015 to July 2016, followed closely by Nevada, Idaho and Florida. Washing- ton state, Oregon and Colo- rado also took top percent- age-growth spots. Oregon’s population is 4.09 million. The U.S. population, mean- while, posted one of its low- est growth rates since the late 1930s, shortly after the Great Depression, said Brookings Institution demographer Wil- liam Frey. That’s largely because baby-boomer genera- tion population declines hav- en’t been fully replaced by new births or immigration. Several Western states are bucking that trend as peo- ple are attracted by recover- ing economies and affordable housing, he said. The demographic shifts mean 24 percent of Americans live in the West... “As things start to inch up, people are finding good home values in central California, and that’s spilling out into other mountain West states,” he said, though in most places the growth doesn’t yet match pre-recession levels. Other states that have been recent growth powerhouses also flagged this year. North Dakota, for example, led the country for the past four years during an oil boom that started around 2004, but its growth slowed amid 2016’s weak crude prices. Eight states had population losses this year, including three — Pennsylvania, New York and Wyoming — that posted gains last year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Illi- nois had the biggest drop, los- ing more than 37,000 people. The demographic shifts mean 24 percent of Americans live in the West, and another 38 percent of the population is concentrated in the South, according to Census officials. In Utah, the growth was split nearly evenly between new births and in-migration of people attracted by the strong tech and financial industries, said Pam Perlich with the University of Utah’s Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute. The state is also home base for the growing Mormon church. Utah’s population passed the 3 million mark this year, a milestone for the state that’s nevertheless a far cry from the country’s most-populous states. No. 1 was California with more than 39 million, fol- lowed by Texas, with nearly 28 million people. Still, Utah’s raw-number population growth ranked No. 11 in the country as the state added more than 60,000 peo- ple, Perlich said. In Nevada, gambling-sector growth in Las Vegas has paired with gains associated with a Tesla battery manufacturing plant in the north, pushing the overall population to just under 3 million people, said state demographer Jeff Hardcastle. Give your little elf The gift of good health. Merry Christmas from CMH The caregivers at Columbia Memorial Hospital would like to wish your family Happy Holidays! We would like to thank you for your support and trust in allowing us to be your children’s healthcare provider. This Holiday Season and throughout the coming year, may you and your family be surrounded with peace, joy, good health and love. Probe of voter ‘robocalls’ suspended confused voters, there is no evidence that they con- SALEM — The Oregon tained deliberately false information. secretary of state She has said is suspending an previously that the investigation into contacts may have automated calls relied on outdated that told some vot- voter rolls. ers in the run-up In a statement, to the Novem- Atkins says in the ber election that future, political they were marked campaigns should as ‘inactive’ vot- consult with state ers in registration elections officials rolls and their vote Jeanne Atkins to make sure their might not count. voter records are Secretary of State Jeanne Atkins said up-to-date. Voters all across the state Tuesday that while the calls Associated Press received the confusing auto- mated calls in the week before the election. 2111 Exchange Street, Astoria, Oregon • (503) 325-4321 • www.columbiamemorial.org T HE D AILY A STORIAN DISTRIBUTION DEPARTMENT T HE D AILY A STORIAN ’ S C UTEST B ABY C ONTEST If your baby was born January 1st & December 31st , 2016 , between you can submit your newborn’s picture either via email at: CLASSIFIEDS @ DAILYASTORIAN . COM or drop by one of our offi ces in Astoria or Seaside and we can scan in the photo for you. Deadline to enter is Wednesday, January 25 th at 5 pm Entries will be printed in The Daily Astorian on January 31st. *Human babies only please!* Merry Christmas Jon Normandin Danielle Fisher Eric Nyman Collin Cameron Aron McGlone Corey Prichard Jonathan VanWinkle Roger Hays Rudy Gonzales
