September 27, 2017 The Skanner Page 9
News
cont’d from pg 1
“I will be leaving my
position as Multnomah
County Health Depart-
ment Director at close
of business today. I am
grateful that it is possi-
ble for me to step back
from high pressure
full-time work and pur-
sue my many other pas-
sions.”
Fuller held her lead-
ership position since
2013 and presided over
of budget of $336 mil-
lion and 1,400 employ-
ees.
County Chair Debo-
rah Kafoury has asked
deputy director Wendy
Lear to step in as inter-
im director in the short
term.
Fuller’s
departure
came days after Mult-
nomah County settled
with Tillman over
“
spring after questions
about her conduct —
held a press conference
Wedneday afternoon
asking that Fuller’s
retirement not be the
end of the conversation
about systemic racism
within the county.
“Beyond any one em-
ployee or human re-
sources situation, there
exists entrenched bias
that can be found in the
pattern and practice of
discrimination as ex-
perienced by so many
county employees of
color,” wrote Smith in a
statement Monday. Al-
legations against Smith
were not substantiated
by an internal investi-
gation.
“For this reason I re-
new my call to Chair
Kafoury to order an
I hope that the communi-
ty continues to hold the
County’s feet to the fire to
address issues of systemic
racism
what the former public
health director called
“institutional
racism
and disparate treat-
ment” regarding her
dismissal.
In a detailed letter to
Kafoury, Tillman ex-
plained how – upon re-
turning to the county in
July after an approved
Family
and
Medi-
cal Leave – “I was told
by Joanne (Fuller) that
my role as Public Health
Director ‘was not work-
ing out’ and we needed
to plan my ‘graceful’
exit from the county…”
Tillman holds an im-
peccable track record of
health equity work, on
both the state and coun-
ty levels, and flawless
performance records,
as shared by the Port-
land Tribune and re-
leased under Oregon’s
records law.
Her
performance
review from 2016 was
peppered with positive
remarks, including this
from Fuller: “Tricia has
a wonderful calming
style that helps peo-
ple focus on the work
at hand… I am very
pleased with her work
and the work of the
public health division
this year.”
Tuesday Multnomah
County released the re-
sults of an internal in-
vestigation saying hu-
man relations staff did
not find any evidence
Tillman’s race or pro-
tected leave were nega-
tive factors in her con-
tinued employment.
County commission-
er Loretta Smith — who
was investigated this
investigation into the
county’s Human Re-
sources Department,
the handling of these
cases by the county at-
torney, as well as how
her own executive
office processes com-
plaints when lodged at
the highest levels,” she
continued.
The county has agreed
to pay Tillman adminis-
trative leave from Sept.
14 through to Aug. 14,
2018, in addition to a
sum of $25,000 and a
letter of reference.
In response to her set-
tlement, Tillman issued
the following statement
through her lawyer,
Dana Sullivan:
“I have opted to put
this situation behind
me in order to focus on
my family and move
forward in my ca-
reer. Even though my
dispute with the coun-
ty has been resolved, I
hope that the communi-
ty continues to hold the
county’s feet to the fire
to address issues of sys-
temic racism and sup-
port others who came
forward with their cou-
rageous stories during
the 9/15 hearing.”
The Sept. 15 hearing
refers to a public fo-
rum, called at the be-
hest of Kafoury, where
more than a dozen peo-
ple testified about expe-
riencing or observing
systemic racism within
the county’s workforce.
The hearing prompt-
ed the chair to launch
a strategy to address
complaints of racist and
unjust
employment
practices.
NFL Anthem Protests Evolve Past
Kaepernick’s Original Intent
AP PHOTO/JEFFREY T. BARNES
Fuller
Buffalo Bills players kneel during the national anthem prior to an NFL football game against the Denver
Broncos, Sunday, Sept. 24, 2017, in Orchard Park, N.Y.
By Jesse J. Holland and
Errin Haines Whack
Associated Press Writers
W
hat began more
than a year ago
with a lone NFL
quarterback
protesting police brutal-
ity against minorities by
kneeling silently during
the national anthem be-
fore games has grown
into a roar with hun-
dreds of players sitting,
kneeling, locking arms
or remaining in locker
rooms — their reasons
for demonstrating as
varied as their methods.
Yet people rallying to
defend players or de-
cry the protests aren’t
talking about police
brutality, or the fact that
former San Francisco
49ers quarterback Colin
Kaepernick is no lon-
ger employed by an NFL
team. Especially after
President Donald Trump
weighed in repeatedly to
say that players should
stand for the anthem or
be fired for their defi-
ance.
Before NFL games
began Sunday, the dis-
course had morphed into
a debate over the First
Amendment,
Trump’s
insults, how much the
NFL has been paid by the
U.S. government for its
displays of patriotism
and the overall state of
race relations in Amer-
ica. Support and criti-
cism came from fields
well beyond the gridiron,
including NASCAR, the
NBA, MLB, activists,
journalists, entertainers
and politicians.
Some worry that the
expanded reasoning for
the protests — fanned by
the president’s incendi-
ary stance — could dilute
the passion and the per-
manence of its original
cause, drawing attention
to interactions between
police and minorities.
“The issue has mor-
phed beyond that be-
cause Mr. Trump has in-
terceded,” the Rev. Jesse
Jackson said.
More than 200 NFL
players and owners —
even anthem perform-
ers — found ways to
show dissent during pro
football games over the
weekend. Raised fists
and other gestures came
after Trump’s comments
at a Friday night rally
in Huntsville, Alabama,
where he mused to the
crowd: “Wouldn’t you
love to see one of these
NFL owners, when some-
body disrespects our
flag, to say, ‘Get that son
of a bitch off the field
right now! Out! He’s
fired. Fired!’”
Trump’s remarks set
off a firestorm on so-
cial media. Ken Miles, a
community
organizer
and entrepreneur liv-
ing in Harlem, created
a petition on Saturday
around the emerging
#TakeTheKnee hashtag
in response.
“This weekend was
just a reminder of the
role that power plays in
this conversation,” said
Miles, 32. “The president
of the United States le-
veraging his influence
to call out players exer-
cising their rights is an
abuse of power.”
The topic continued to
dominate discussion in
sports Monday as NFL
players reflected, NBA
teams met with report-
ers and Trump doubled
down on his position
with tweets, saying the
issue had nothing to do
with race and using the
hashtag “#StandForOu-
rAnthem.”
“He doesn’t understand
the power that he has
for being the leader of
this beautiful country,”
Cleveland Cavaliers star
LeBron James said.
Read the rest of this story at
TheSkanner.com
