7A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, AUGUST 14, 2017
Turmoil: Assessment
revealed serious
challenges at Astoria
911 Dispatch
Continued from Page 1A
Frustration and
disappointment
The city disclosed the con-
clusions of the independent
assessment and the investiga-
tion — both dated Wednesday
— to The Daily Astorian. The
newspaper had pressed the city
for records to help explain to
the public why Johnston, who
had been Astoria’s second in
command, unexpectedly left his
high-profile job.
Over the past several
months, the newspaper doc-
umented the strain that staff
shortages have left on the police
department. But the assessment,
based on two days of inter-
views with police employees,
unearthed frustration, disap-
pointment and deep-seated low
morale that had evolved and
escalated over several years.
Asked what one word best
described the Astoria Police,
police employees used terms
like “broken,” “dysfunctional,”
“disarray,”
“unravelling,”
“lost” and “exhausted.” The
assessment found that the pri-
mary cause of the low morale
and other problems rested with
Johnston and his “leadership
style, actions and inactions.”
Police employees told the
assessment team that their
complaints to City Hall were
ignored or minimized and often
handed back to Johnston, who
had the dual roles of police
chief and assistant city man-
ager. In a post on Facebook in
July when Johnston announced
he was resigning as assistant
city manager, he called the two
jobs exhausting for him and the
police department. “The mem-
bers of my department could
not trust that I had their best
interest in a primary position
at all times,” he wrote. “That
is not a healthy position to put
them in.”
At the same time, though,
police employees also described
their pride in the police depart-
ment, their dedication to the
work and their loyalty to each
other. Deputy Chief Eric Halv-
erson, who took over Johnston’s
duties when the former chief
retired, earned overwhelming
appreciation and respect from
his colleagues and was singled
out as a clear leader.
‘Not sustainable’
The assessment revealed
serious challenges at Astoria
911 Dispatch, which was super-
vised by Johnston yet received
“little or no leadership direc-
tion, mentorship, or responsive-
ness from him.”
Dispatchers, according to
the assessment, have worked
between 30 and 100 additional
hours of overtime a month over
the past year. “This causes burn-
out, agitation and decreased
desire to come to work,” the
assessment found. “It is not sus-
tainable in any 911 center.”
The City Council last week
approved the hiring of an oper-
ations supervisor who will
focus on day-to-day functions
at the dispatch center and allow
Emergency Communications
Manager Jeff Rusiecki to con-
centrate on technology, budget
and subscriber relations.
The assessment recom-
mended that the city re-evaluate
the management, supervision
and governance responsibilities
of the dispatch center.
The assessment team was
led by Blitz and included Kelly
Dutra, the executive director of
the Washington County Con-
solidated
Communications
Agency; Stuart Roberts, the
police chief in Pendleton; and
Peter Spirup, the police chief in
Gervais.
Estes said he was impressed
by the commitment of police
officers and dispatchers and
their sense of pride in their
work.
“I would like to emphasize
there is a great team over at
APD,” the city manager said in
an email. “I believe in them as
do the city councilors. The APD
staff are extremely committed
to their work. The department
has and will continue to provide
excellent service to the citizens
of Astoria. This assessment pro-
vides direction how the depart-
ment can continue to excel
while we address issues which
have arisen.”
Astoria Mayor Arline
LaMear said the findings of the
assessment were a surprise. The
mayor said she had not realized
the depth of the police depart-
ment staff’s frustration with
Johnston.
“I’m sorry it got to the point
where people were feeling so
frustrated and I’m assuming
that’s the reason why some of
them did leave,” LaMear said.
“It sounds like we’ll have to
keep a closer look on the police
department from now on,” she
said. “I think this was kind of an
omen that we better make sure
we know what’s going on in
the police department and that
we have someone who the staff
and the officers can communi-
cate with and collaborate with.”
City Councilor Bruce Jones,
a former commander of U.S.
Coast Guard Sector Columbia
River, said he has confidence in
the city’s interim chief — for-
mer Beaverton Police Chief
Geoff Spalding — and Estes’
outreach with the police depart-
ment and City Council.
“There seems to be a good
sense that the police department
is moving in the right direc-
tion,” Jones said. “So I don’t
have any immediate concerns
for public safety in the commu-
nity, because of the fact that Mr.
Estes has got a good handle on
things and this new police chief
seems very capable of coming
in and listening to the police
officers, hearing their con-
cerns, and making good recom-
mendations to Mr. Estes and to
the City Council through Mr.
Estes.”
Travel and ethics
The ethics allegation that
Blitz investigated stemmed
from Johnston’s travel to a
National Center for Missing
and Exploited Children training
course in Washington, D.C., in
late May.
Johnston, in an email state-
ment in June, explained that he
left from and returned to Red-
mond because he planned a trip
to see former Astoria Police
Chief Rob DeuPree over the
Memorial Day weekend. He
said he personally paid for the
airfare between Redmond and
Portland for his flight to and
from Washington.
Johnston said his return
flight from Washington to Port-
land was delayed by thunder-
storms, so he missed the con-
nection to Redmond. He said
he chose to rent a car on the
city’s account — at a cost of
$92.90 — and drive to Red-
mond because he was traveling
on city business.
Blitz, however, found that
Johnston was not entitled to
claim reimbursement for the
rental car, use a city credit card
for the rental, or seek a govern-
ment rate from the rental car
company because it was a per-
sonal expense.
Blitz found that the former
police chief violated city travel
and ethics policies.
Complicating the situa-
tion was the fact that Johnston
had faced previous tax conse-
quences for using his police
vehicle for personal reasons
and family travel in central
Oregon and Washington state.
Blitz, who conducted an inves-
tigation into that matter in 2016,
determined that Johnston did
not violate city policy or state
law but made “unfortunate mis-
takes which must be corrected.”
Provides cause
Given the two incidents,
Blitz reported that the city had
cause if it wished to fire John-
ston. “Chief Johnston’s choices
demonstrate inadequate judg-
ment; they raise questions
about his integrity, demon-
strated disregard for rules, pol-
icy and law, and trustworthi-
ness,” the attorney informed the
city. “These are among essen-
tial qualifications of every chief
law enforcement executive.”
Had Johnston chosen to
remain as police chief, he
would have had to answer to
Estes, and, likely, to the City
Council, for the independent
assessment of the police depart-
ment and the city travel and eth-
ics violations.
“It appears clear that there’s
an issue there,” Estes said.
Spalding: Will serve until city finds new chief
Continued from Page 1A
City Manager Brett Estes
announced Saturday that Spal-
ding will temporarily replace
former chief Brad Johnston,
who retired suddenly this
month after 25 years with the
department. Deputy Chief
Eric Halverson took over
Johnston’s duties and will con-
tinue in this role until Spalding
arrives.
Though Halverson has not
worked with Spalding before,
he said he has attended classes
Spalding facilitated and the
retired chief’s demeanor, per-
sonality and competence
impressed him.
“I think it’s going to be
a positive thing,” Halverson
said. He added, “Of course,
it’s the unknown of, ‘Here’s
my new boss.’ But he’s already
reached out to me. He’s very
interested in getting to know
all our people. He intends to
spend one-on-one time with
all of our employees.”
Halverson was not inter-
ested in becoming the city’s
interim chief. There is still
much he feels he needs to
learn, he said, and he thinks
Spalding will be a good
mentor.
“We’re in a place right now
where we need somebody
with the level of experience
that Chief Spalding has.”
City Councilor Bruce
Jones, a former commander
of U.S. Coast Guard Sector
Columbia River, said Spald-
ing has a great reputation and
is highly respected.
“I think Mr. Estes is just
doing a great job handling this
situation,” Jones said.
The city tapped the Oregon
Association Chiefs of Police
interim leadership assistance
program to help find Spalding.
Known as the linebacker pro-
gram, it helps cities fill short-
term vacancies with seasoned
leaders.
Spalding is not expected
to apply for the police chief’s
position.
The city plans to cast a
wide net to recruit a new chief.
Estes also intends to look
closely at the job description
and recruitment materials to
see if there are “specific func-
tions, specific qualities, spe-
cific characteristics that we
really need to find the appro-
priate person.” It is a pro-
cess he expects will take time,
possibly up to six months or
longer.
“I believe Geoff will be a
great fit for the department and
in our community,” Estes said
in a statement. “His 39 years
of law enforcement experi-
ence and relationship-building
skills will be invaluable during
this time of transition for the
Astoria Police Department.”
Spalding will serve as
interim chief until the city
finds a new chief. He will
receive a monthly salary of
$8,639 — or $103,668 annu-
ally. He will also receive a
housing stipend. Johnston was
paid a base salary of around
$103,000.
In addition to overseeing
regular police matters, Spal-
ding will also take the first
steps to address concerns
highlighted in an indepen-
dent assessment of the Asto-
ria Police Department that
Estes had requested earlier this
year. The assessment uncov-
ered long-held frustrations,
low morale and organizational
concerns at the under-staffed
department during Johnston’s
tenure as chief.
Estes hopes whoever he
hires as the next police chief
will develop a strategic plan to
address these issues. However,
Estes said Spalding can begin
to undertake pieces of that
process, such as working with
staff to determine what quali-
ties they desire in a new chief.
“This is not something
that’s going to go on the back
burner until we have a new
chief in place,” Estes said.
Spalding started his law
enforcement career in 1976
and worked his way up
through the ranks. He has
managed the field training
officer program, was a patrol
watch commander, detective
division commander and uni-
form division commander
responsible for patrol and traf-
fic personnel as well as the
North County SWAT team. He
created the first bilingual out-
reach coordinator position for
the Beaverton Police Depart-
ment while chief there.
Spalding is also past pres-
ident of the Oregon Associa-
tion Chiefs of Police and is a
member of the Oregon Task
Force on School Safety.
“I’m looking forward to
working with the men and
women of the Astoria Police
Department, an agency that
is well-respected in the com-
munity,” Spalding said in a
statement.
He and his wife, Diane,
say they have always enjoyed
Astoria, and Spalding said
they are excited to spend time
in the community.
Regatta: Fewer floats in this year’s parade
Continued from Page 1A
in this year’s celebration.
Another staple is the Astoria
Scandinavian Heritage Asso-
ciation, whose float took the
parade as an opportunity to
advocate for the City Council
to support building a Scandi-
navian heritage monument at
Peoples Park downtown,
One difference, how-
ever, was the lower num-
ber of entries in this year’s
parade, especially the num-
ber of floats compared to
previous years, past Regatta
president Dan Arnoth said.
This year, Arnoth said there
were 95 entries and about
3,000 people registered,
when on average he usually
sees around 110 entries. Of
those, only a handful were
floats.
“I think people are just
getting busier than they used
to be,” Arnoth said.
For some involved in the
parade, Regatta is less of a
festival and more like a tra-
dition. Before the parade,
Regatta past president Nancy
Kennell was retaping stream-
ers to a wheelbarrow with a
cardboard smokestack com-
ing out the back, adorned
with the sign “Admiral Liam
2050.”
“Liam is my grandson,
and he’ll be fourth-genera-
tion Regatta. You have got
to get a head start on get-
ting them involved,” Kennell
said. The 5-year-old Liam
was the star of the float which
won first place in the Junior
Parade Thursday, earning
Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
A participant in the Astoria Regatta Grand Land Parade hands out candy to children on
Saturday. Find more photos from the Grand Land Parade online at DailyAstorian.com
a place in the big parade on
Saturday.
Kennell
remembers
Regatta entering her life early
in her childhood, walking in
the Junior Parade and tag-
ging along with her mother,
Betty Cunningham, who has
been involved for the past
30 years in the Anchor Club.
She remembers the fund-
raisers her mom would help
put on for the Regatta Court,
and the adrenaline of com-
ing up with float ideas for the
parade. That passion carried
Kennell to serve as president
in 2005, and passed down
to Kennell’s daughter, who
became a Regatta princess.
“(Regatta) is a part of
your heart and soul. It’s cele-
brating such a special history
and tradition of this place and
inspires an incredible cama-
raderie in the community,”
she said.
But with the impor-
tance of tradition comes the
responsibility of evolving to
engage as many people as
possible in this festival, Ken-
nell said. Lower participation
numbers are not new, and
she said she could not over-
state the importance of for-
mer Regatta Court members
coming back to bring young
blood into the program.
“Evolution is important.
Even in small things, like
being able to wear khaki’s
instead of white pants,” Ken-
nell laughed. “But mostly it
is important to be as inclu-
sive as possible.”
But 123 years later, peo-
ple from all over the region,
like Monica Rush from
Clatskanie, are still excited to
come out to celebrate Asto-
ria’s history.
“This is our first time
here. We always loved Asto-
ria, and our tiny towns don’t
have stuff like this,” Rush
said. For Rush’s daughter,
Riley, this was the first time
she had experienced any-
thing like the Regatta.
Six-year-old Riley, how-
ever, was less excited about
the history and eagerly await-
ing the candy.
“Also I’m excited it’s not
raining,” she said.
Flag: ‘Please do not let our oversight reflect negatively on Astoria’
Continued from Page 1A
Confederate flag on one of the
many vehicles in the winning
entry in this year’s land parade
and the offense it caused to so
many attendees,” the associa-
tion said in a statement. “We
stated earlier that the flag was
not flown during judging. Yet,
it appears that the flag may in
fact have been in place. How-
ever, the vehicles were never
part of the judging. The judg-
ing was for the memorial float
portion of this entry only.
“It was a further over-
sight we missed Confederate
flag stickers on the float itself
during judging. We deeply
regret the impression caused
that Regatta in any way sup-
ports or condones the dis-
play of the Confederate flag.
Moving forward, we will seek
legal counsel to determine
what limitations we may place
on displays in the future.
“Please do not let our
oversight reflect negatively
on Astoria, or the many, many
volunteers who give thou-
sands of hours to create a pos-
itive community event each
year. The Astoria Regatta
Association will learn from
this incident and continue
working to create safe, posi-
Carlos Anaya/The Daily Astorian
A Regatta parade float by Sons of Beaches featured U.S.
and military flags, along with a Confederate flag decal
on the trailer.
tive community experiences
for all.”
Sons of Beaches, an off-
road enthusiast group that
also participates in com-
munity charity events and
parades, constructed the float
for the parade. Jay Pitman,
the group’s leader, said the
float featured several bumper
sticker-sized decals with Con-
federate logos as it had for the
past several years. A red truck
also followed behind with a
Confederate flag.
Pitman said the float
included several battle flags
from throughout Ameri-
can history and that they
were intended to honor war
veterans.
“We don’t fly our flag with
disrespect,” Pitman said. “We
fly it with respect to all of our
veterans. We do not allow
any personal political issues
or personal agendas. We are
non-biased, non-racist. We
are about Americanism and
supporting local law enforce-
ment and first responders.”
The timing of the dis-
play in Astoria was sensitive
because of the violence in
Charlottesville, Virginia, on
Saturday after demonstrations
by white nationalists protest-
ing the planned removal of a
statue of Confederate general
Robert E. Lee. Confederate
flags were flown by several
demonstrators in Virginia.
Pitman said he was not
aware of the act of domestic
terrorism in Charlottesville
before or during the parade.
He said the group is now con-
sidering removing the flag
from future parade events.
Laurie Caplan, the co-chair
of Indivisible North Coast
Oregon, said in an email Sun-
day night that several peo-
ple were outraged by the dis-
play of the Confederate flag.
“The flag has become much
more a symbol of racism and
violence than a token from
the Civil War, which was an
armed rebellion against the
U.S. government,” she wrote.
“Some had friends who left in
disgust after seeing the flag in
the parade.”
Astoria City Councilor
Cindy Price posted on Face-
book Sunday that “display of
the Confederate flag is big-
otry, hatred, and a readiness
to commit violence, disguised
as First Amendment pro-
tected speech. Let’s have the
wisdom to know the differ-
ence, and the will to prohibit
it. And let’s be kind to one
another.”