A6
THE ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2021
Lawsuit: ‘I tried doing it the right way, and I was blown oﬀ ’
Continued from Page A1
According to Lenz’s
complaint, ﬁ led in Circuit
Court in December, she had
reached a “breaking point” in
fall 2018 with a male super-
visor who “subjected her to
constant harassment on the
basis of her gender.”
“This occurred on every
single call where they both
responded, which happened
on at least a weekly basis,”
the complaint said . He also
harassed her “in front of
(ﬁ re district) cadets, vol-
unteers, and other oﬃ cers.
None of the witnesses ever
intervened.”
The supervisor allegedly
called her demeaning and
sexist names, which included
references to her weight. He
allegedly voiced the view, to
both Lenz and a female col-
league, that women “do not
belong in the ﬁ re service, that
women are too stupid, and
that wome n cannot do the job
like men can,” the complaint
said .
According to both the state
report and the complaint,
Lenz repeatedly told then-
Chief Paul Olheiser about her
supervisor’s behavior, but the
chief did not take corrective
action. Meanwhile, Lenz’s
supervisor did not let up. At
one point, the ﬁ re district
brought in an attorney to dis-
cuss topics like harassment,
reporting and retaliation with
Lenz’s supervisor, Olheiser,
the board and volunteers, the
complaint said , but the board
did not attend.
Lenz said in an interview
with The Astorian that she
sought help through the chan-
nels available to her at the ﬁ re
district . “I tried doing it the
right way, and I was blown
oﬀ ,” she said.
In addition, Lenz said she
was denied opportunities for
career advancement that were
extended to men , a claim
backed up by the state report.
According to ﬁ re district
policy, Lenz should have
been promoted to the rank of
lieutenant when she became
an emergency medical ser-
vices oﬃ cer in 2005. All of
Knappa’s male oﬃ cers had
received rankings.
Lenz requested an execu-
tive session with the ﬁ re dis-
trict’s board in March 2019 to
discuss her ongoing concerns
about safety issues and her
supervisor’s behavior. During
a heated exchange between
Lenz and Olheiser, the com-
plaint said, the chief said he
would punish her for her role
in dysfunction that allegedly
occurred when Knappa crew
were deployed to the Camp
ﬁ re in Paradise, California, in
2018.
The ﬁ re district soon sus-
pended Lenz from conﬂ agra-
tion ﬁ res, then replaced her
as emergency medical ser-
vices oﬃ cer without notify-
ing her, the Bureau of Labor
and Industries report said.
Fire Chief Kurt Donald-
son, who stepped into the
role when Olheiser retired
in 2019, said the ﬁ re district
does not comment on pend-
ing litigation.
COVID-19: ‘I want to thank everybody School: ‘We wish
the new owner
for everything that they have done’
great success in
their development’
Continued from Page A1
Grateful
There’s a lot to be grateful
for, Thompson said. She can
walk a little bit and can dress
herself. And she has hope that
her health will improve with
time.
“That experience with
COVID,
that
actually
changed my life for the bet-
ter,” Thompson said. “I have
a better outlook on certain
things, and I always try to
keep a positive attitude.”
Thompson, who is 72
years old, was discharged
from Providence Seaside on
Dec. 15 after several months
of treatment for the virus . She
exited the hospital in “Rocky”
themed attire, wearing boxing
gloves, an A merican ﬂ ag and
a nasal cannula.
The hospital staﬀ lined
up and clapped, some teary-
eyed, as they said goodbye to
the long-haul COVID patient.
Two days later, Thompson
sat at home after her nurse
left for the evening. Her cat,
“Amara,” which will have her
22nd birthday in March, sat
on Thompson’s lap as she told
her story over the phone.
“She just won’t leave me
alone. She has to sleep on
me and keep touching me to
make sure I’m still there,”
Thompson said.
Being back home has been
an adjustment. When she ﬁ rst
arrived, her husband, her son
and a neighbor had to carry
her wheelchair up the stairs to
the front door. They’re look-
ing for ﬁ rst-ﬂ oor apartments ,
but ﬁ nding few options.
She can’t make dinner
anymore, and for now has
resigned to observing and cri-
tiquing her husband’s work in
the kitchen.
“I’m doing OK . It’s
time-consuming, that’s what
healing is,” Thompson said.
Her statements were some-
times punctuated by brief
coughing ﬁ ts.
Thompson’s
daughter,
Carol Dickeson, said she is
amazed her mom got through
her battle with COVID.
“She had one foot in the
grave there, and that scared
us,” Dickeson said.
She talked to the hospi-
tal daily for updates on her
mom, calling from her home
in Colorado.
“Just the thought of los-
Continued from Page A1
Lydia Ely/The Astorian
Gigi Thompson was hospitalized for 122 days with COVID-19-related health issues.
‘THERE’S STILL THINGS THAT
I WANT TO DO, AND THINGS I
WANT TO SEE. I’VE BEEN A FISH
FILLETER FOR OVER 40 YEARS. I
DID A LITTLE BIT OF LOGGING
FOR THREE YEARS, AND RAISED MY
CHILDREN BEFORE ALL THAT. LIFE
HAS BEEN ALRIGHT, YOU KNOW,
IT’S LIKE A ROLLER COASTER.’
Gigi Thompson | was hospitalized for 122 days
with COVID-19-related health issues
ing her? Oh man, that was —
it really, really scared me,”
Dickeson said. “She’s a feisty
woman. She’s very, very
feisty and she’s a ﬁ ghter. She
won’t let nothing keep her
down.”
Thompson worked in the
ﬁ shing industry her whole
life, from shrimp picking in
Gold Beach to Paciﬁ c Sea-
food in Warrenton, and up to
Alaska for a time. She retired
in her 50s after an on-the-job
shoulder injury while hauling
35-pound crab buckets.
Dickeson described her
mom as selﬂ ess, and said she
always had a place at her table
for neighborhood kids. She
said her fried chicken recipe
was so good that her siblings
would ask her to make extra
just so they could share it at
school.
“With my mom, she’s
always ...” Dickeson said,
before getting emotional.
“There’s not enough time to
say enough good about my
mom. She always — always
— is looking to help other
people.”
A struggle to get
vaccinated
Prior to her hospitaliza-
tion , Dickeson and her sib-
lings had struggled to con-
vince their mom to get
vaccinated.
“Now that she’s had this
COVID, and went face to
face with that. She’s taking
it seriously now,” Dickeson
said. “So I’m glad she went
through this to realize that it’s
not funny or anything, and
I’m glad that she survived
it. I’m happy that my mom’s
still with us, and we get to put
up with her wittiness.”
Now Thompson can
assure them that she received
two vaccine doses during
her stay at Seaside, hav-
ing changed her mind after
dealing with the virus ﬁ rst-
hand. She plans on getting
the booster as soon as she is
eligible.
“I thought I would never
get it, and boy was I wrong. It
smacked me down like noth-
ing. And I’m glad I got those
two shots,” Thompson said.
Thompson is a mother of
eight, including two stepchil-
dren and an adopted daugh-
ter. She described the support
of her family and her faith as
her strengths.
“With my strength in the
Lord, and my kids and my
husband, we all got together.
And so many people — peo-
ple I didn’t even know —
were texting my phone and
saying, ‘God bless you Gigi.
We’re so happy you made
it. You’ve been through the
wringer.’ And I said, ‘I have
literally been at h ell’s door
and came back,’” she said.
She thanked the hospital
staﬀ for their work and said
that she’s glad to be alive.
“There’s still things that I
want to do, and things I want
to see. I’ve been a ﬁ sh ﬁ l-
leter for over 40 years. I did
a little bit of logging for three
years, and raised my children
before all that. Life has been
alright, you know, it’s like a
roller coaster,” she said. “I’m
here and I’m so grateful that I
am here, and I want to thank
everybody for everything that
they have done.”
Salmon: If conditions hold, it could boost high returns
Continued from Page A1
This year, it’s mostly
green lights all the way down
the list — a far cry from the
sea of red researchers and
ﬁ shery managers saw begin-
ning in 2014 when a marine
heat wave struck the West
Coast. The heat wave, known
as “the Blob,” threw the eco-
system into ﬂ ux for several
years. West Coast ﬁ sher-
ies weathered large and per-
sistent harmful algal blooms
and saw warm-water species
in new places, as well as lon-
ger-term impacts on salmon
returns.
Now researchers say they
are cautiously optimistic
about the outlook in the com-
ing months.
The last time they saw
ocean conditions this produc-
tive was in 2008. That year
was the most productive year
in the 24 years ocean con-
dition information has been
collected for the indicators
list — 2021 is next in line.
But while the green lights
on the list this year translate
to good feeding conditions
for species like salmon, there
are some caveats.
Jennifer Fisher, a fac-
ulty research assistant with
NOAA Fisheries, said the
ocean environment is highly
variable and the relationship
between the indicators on
the list and salmon can shift
over time. With a changing
climate it is diﬃ cult to know
what will hold, she added.
Nor does the list capture all
of the processes that could
impact salmon survival.
“The ocean indicators
might point towards good
feeding conditions for juve-
nile salmon,” Fisher said,
“but these conditions might
also be good for predators.”
Still, if current condi-
tions hold, it could boost high
returns of salmon in the years
to come.
In the near term, Fisher
and others will be watching
winter ocean conditions.
“Winter storms are import-
ant for mixing the upper
ocean and setting the stage
for larval ﬁ sh and zooplank-
ton development the follow-
ing spring,” Fisher said.
La Nina conditions are
forecast to remain during the
winter and into the spring.
The climate pattern typically
makes for colder waters in
the Paciﬁ c Ocean, so cool,
productive conditions are
likely to continue.
“However,” Fisher said,
“things can change, so it is
good to remain watchful and
cautious.”
This story is part of a col-
laboration between The Asto-
rian and Coast Community
Radio.
the property,” said Mark
Popkin, a real estate agent
representing the buyers.
At the s chool d istrict’s
December meeting, Brian
Taylor, the school board
chairman, said the sale
comes after almost three
years on the market. The
high school and other dis-
trict schools closed and were
put up for sale as the school
district built a new, bond-ﬁ -
nanced campus outside the
tsunami inundation zone.
“We’re very excited,”
Taylor said in granting
Superintendent Susan Pen-
rod the authority to negoti-
ate and execute the sale .
“We are happy to com-
plete the sale of the dis-
trict’s former high school,”
Penrod said. “We wish the
new owner great success
in their development of the
property.”
The
102,000-square-
foot high school building
sits on 12 acres on N. Hol-
laday Drive. The medi-
um-density single-family
zone allows 10 homes per
acre, with some multifamily
homes. Outright permitted
uses for the property include
homes, gardens, family
care, residential home care
and day care, among oth-
ers. C hurches, schools,
parks, utilities and govern-
ment buildings are allowed
subject to a conditional use
permit.
Three additional ocean
view parcels with about
32,500 square feet zoned for
medium-density residential
are located on N. Holladay
Drive by the estuary. The
school district authorized
a purchase once before, in
2020, but the deal didn’t go
through.
In 2021, the city received
several acres at the north end
of the former h igh s chool
campus, referred to as the
“North 40.” The land will
remain ﬁ elds and parkland.
“We have moved all
school materials and equip-
ment out of the building,”
Penrod said. “The buyer
purchased the remaining
materials.”
City Planning Director
Kevin Cupples said earlier
this month that there have
been no plans submitted yet
for development of the high
school property. A prior
interested party had dis-
cussed a development plan,
but “that concept is dead as
far as I know,” he said.
White: ‘Every single ﬁ re
department needs volunteers’
Continued from Page A1
in recent memory, Chief
Marc Reckmann said. The
ﬁ re district hopes to hire
one with the revenue from
the food tax that voters
narrowly approved in fall.
Earlier this month,
White and her crew
responded to an electrical
ﬁ re at a downtown busi-
ness. An employee had
seen the ﬂ ames and extin-
guished them, containing
the ﬁ re to the code-violat-
ing multi plug outlet, which
had melted and blackened.
The circuit had been over-
loaded by a space heater.
“It frustrated me, it dis-
appointed me, and it made
me scared all at the same
time,” she said, imagining
the danger to employees
and customers.
White’s job, one of four
administrative positions, is
funded by a grant from the
Federal Emergency Man-
agement Agency.
Her role, which involves
attracting new volun-
teers and keeping them,
is becoming crucial at ﬁ re
departments nationwide as
fewer volunteers sign up .
Roughly 80% of ﬁ re depart-
ments are either all-volun-
teer or mostly volunteer,
according to 2018 ﬁ gures
from the National Fire Pro-
tection Association.
White has to learn what
motivates her recruits, what
they need in their lives to
stay on. In her case, while
she and T.J. felt a lifetime
with the Marines was not
conducive to having a fam-
ily, the ﬁ re service is con-
ducive to it, she said. They
recently bought a house in
Seaside, the town where
White grew up. T.J., also
a lieutenant, is the Cannon
Beach department’s emer-
gency medical services
coordinator.
“If people are think-
ing about volunteering,
or they’re intimidated by
a ﬁ re department, don’t
be. Reach out to them …
Every single ﬁ re depart-
ment needs volunteers,”
she said.
Many
of
Cannon
Beach’s volunteers arrive
as young adults without
much life experience. The
31-year-old White said the
best part of her job involves
working with the volun-
teers to help them grow,
not just as ﬁ reﬁ ghters, but
as human beings.
“My goal is, if they
leave here and they go and
work for Portland Fire,
some big company, they’re
better than when they came
here. That’s how I want
them to leave,” she said.
White has had recruits
tell her, “ My goal is to be
better than you. ” In her
eyes, that would be a win.
“I’m like, ‘I hope so. I
really hope so ,’” she said.
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