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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 31, 2019)
A3 THE ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2019 Parks director: Took leave before he could be interviewed by city Continued from Page A1 Jonah Dart-McLean, the city’s parks mainte- nance supervisor, is lead- ing the parks department in Williams’ absence. Descriptions of Wil- liams’ behavior, along with documents relating to the investigation, were provided to The Astorian by sources who requested anonymity to discuss their concerns about how the city handles personnel issues. Williams was hired to replace Angela Cosby, who left for a parks job in Colorado in 2018. Under Cosby, the city made a diffi cult transition toward a budget intended to refl ect the true costs of running the sprawling parks department, which is responsible for inter- ests as varied as the Asto- ria Riverwalk, the Asto- ria Aquatic Center, Lil’ Sprouts Academy and the Ocean View Cemetery in Warrenton. Williams grew up in rural southeast Idaho and worked for several parks departments, most recently in Roswell, New Mexico. He moved to Astoria with his wife and the three youngest of his six children. Before the claims of sexual harassment sur- faced, others at the parks department had voiced concerns about Williams not long after he started work last January. Documents indicate the city had conversa- tions with Williams about his behavior and keeping his comments appropri- ate. The documents refer to hugs between Wil- liams and an employee at the parks department that were not obviously sexually charged, but exceeded the bounds of workplace professional- ism and led to Williams’ taking harassment train- ing online. The city also retained an organizational expert to address the work relationship between Wil- liams and the employee. In mid-November, documents show, the employee contacted the city’s human resources assistant on a co-worker’s behalf after hearing her account of how Williams’ hugged her suggestively and wanted to discuss his pornography problem. Soon after, the woman who claims Williams was sexually harassing her met with the human resources assistant and the city’s labor attorney at City Hall. In an inter- view that lasted several hours, documents show the woman outlined how Williams’ increasingly intimate texts and phys- ical displays of affec- tion progressed from side hugs to more suggestive embraces and comments. At fi rst, the woman told the city, she and oth- ers wrote off Williams’ behavior as quirky. Williams had offered her advice and seemed interested in helping her succeed at work, she said. But his behavior began to disturb her and she said he did things she felt were manipulative and designed to confuse her or put her in a bad light with others, documents show. She said she was afraid she could lose her job. The woman said she told Williams his actions were inappropriate, but his behavior continued. Edward Stratton con- tributed to this report. Theater: ‘Astoria loves its arts and supports artists’ Continued from Page A1 August at the Liberty The- atre. The show runs Jan. 17 through Jan. 19 and Jan. 24 through Jan. 26. “It’s good for me because it was the ability to put on a show without a lot of the pre production that goes into a play that takes a lot of time, energy and money. Something that I could put on fairly quickly to build up some money and support to get the theater going as a new business,” Moore said. He said there will be another reader’s theater show in February and an Irish play in March titled “The Weir,” which opens March 13. Moore plans to book bands for the weekends there aren’t theater perfor- mances and to also rent out the space. Moore admits that own- ing the space and theater is more a labor of love. “Astoria loves its arts and supports artists. (It’s) not a secret that theaters aren’t moneymakers. I mean I’m not going to pull much if any profi t from the endeavor.” NAN, a robot, played by Gigi Chadwick, delivers a glass of orange juice to an exasperated Jerome, played by William Ham, in Pier Pressure Productions ‘Henceforward.’ Moore is excited to have a constant, regular place to do plays in Astoria and to get people going out on the weekends. “I’m excited to have a space that’s an unusual size, you have the small place like KALA – it’s great but it’s very small, you have a large place like the A rmory, we’re just sort of right in the middle and it’s just the right size for a lot of people, so it’s also just really nicely located, right downtown,” he said. “Just bringing per- formance art to Astoria, not that it isn’t already here, but giving more of a voice to it, giving more of an option.” Adams: ‘I have great girls who work with me’ Continued from Page A1 made me a better mom and a better wife just knowing I can do this for my family,” she said. Adams took over the business in October after Darla Kurns, the previ- ous owner, relocated and decided to sell . Adams said Kurns has been a longtime friend and mentor. “Even before I worked here she was the one who actually made me pretty much go to school to be an a sthetician,” Adams said. “She was like, ‘I have room for you. G o to school, I’ll save it.’” Come Join Us for Our YEAR END SALE! Adams said she went to school and the room was hers after she fi nished. Since taking ownership, she has upgraded the logo and decor, but otherwise has run the business similar to Kurns. “This is a really good thing,” she said. “They really took care of the place. T hey built really great relationships with the clients and I didn’t want to change that ... I like the fact that people still feel confi - dent and comfortable com- ing in here because of that. B ecause I didn’t change a bunch of stuff.” Although Adams has the typical stresses that come with owning a business, she said the ongoing support from Kurns and her fam- ily makes her feel like she made the right decision and will succeed. “I have great girls who work with me and I defi - nitely couldn’t do it with- out them, either,” she said. “They’ve been super loyal and supportive and stood by my side through it all.” Adams said she never imagined owning her own salon, especially at such a young age, but she feels like it happened at the right time. “It almost pushed me in the spot I needed to be in my life,” she said. “I always want to be a role model for my kids and I always knew that what I do in life is something I want them to look up and say, ‘I’m so proud of my parents. They gave me the best that they could.’” WANTED Alder and Maple Saw Logs & Standing Timber Northwest Hardwoods • Longview, WA Contact: John Anderson • 360-269-2500 SUNDAY AFTERNOON Live Wishing You & Yours A WONDERFUL HOLIDAY SEASON Join us for the following upcoming performances! Visit our website at sundayafternoonlive.org for updates on more performances to come! All concerts start at 2pm. Out with the OLD In with the NEW!!! Some marked down items less than $5! 20% to 75% OFF * December 26 th - 31 st * - Excluding Kit-Cat Clocks SPECIAL CONCERT: The Lonely: Roy Orbison Memories January 3 0 th , 2020 A sensitive & dynamic tribute to the one and only Roy Orbison Sponsors: Cecelia Seaman Taylor Shellfish Farms & Ekone Oyster North Country February 23rd, 2020 One of the Northwest’s premier bluegrass bands! 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