REGION
Thursday, January 19, 2017
East Oregonian
STANFIELD
Former cop fi les suit against city
By MAXINE BERNSTEIN
The Oregonian/Oregonlive
A former offi cer from
the Stanfi eld Police Depart-
ment in eastern Oregon
has fi led a lawsuit against
the city, contending he was
fi red in retaliation for his
whistleblowing about a lieu-
tenant’s misconduct.
Ryan McBride is seeking
$500,000 for the emotional
distress, anger and humil-
iation he suffered, plus
about $3,700 for lost wages,
according to the suit fi led
in Umatilla County Circuit
Court.
McBride said the chief
extended his period of proba-
tion, from 12 to 18 months,
shortly after he shared serious
concerns he had about the
on-duty behavior of his
supervisor, Lt. Troy LaMonte
Toombs. That included alle-
gations of improper traffi c
stops and inappropriate
sexual solicitations.
The city fi red McBride
on Oct. 26, 2015, without a
termination letter or explana-
tion why, his lawsuit said.
But in a letter to Oregon
Department of Justice offi -
cials from a former colleague,
Toombs placed McBride on
leave after McBride showed
up drunk while off duty to
help a sheriff’s deputy, also
off duty, pull his truck out of
Ryan McBride
Bryon Zumwalt (left) and
Monte Toombs (right)
a ditch that he had driven into
after a night of drinking with
McBride and another on Aug.
5, 2015. McBride was driven
by someone else to the scene,
his lawyer Sean Riddell said.
Months later, McBride was
fi red.
Stanfi eld City Manager W.
Blair Larsen said McBride
was fi red for failing to be
forthright on the night of
Aug. 5, 2015, and said his
lawsuit
mischaracterizes
what occurred.
The Justice Department,
which investigated Stan-
fi eld’s four-member police
force, reported last spring
that the police chief and
Toombs failed to properly
log evidence and did shoddy
work, but their lapses didn’t
rise to criminal misconduct.
The state, for example,
found Toombs failed to
document the 2015 seizure of
two marijuana plants from a
property and the subsequent
destruction of the plants. He
completed paperwork only
after a complaint was raised.
He also “inappropriately
reported’’ to a state police
certifi cation agent that he had
done a full background check
to hire a friend as a reserve
offi cer when he hadn’t. His
“misrepresentation’’ on the
state form raised ethical ques-
tions, an assistant attorney
general wrote to Stanfi eld
city offi cials.
Gene Jorgenson, a former
Stanfi eld offi cer and city
councilor who was asked
by the chief to do an inquiry
before the state Justice
Department’s investigation
began,
recommended
Toombs’ termination, citing
concerns about his credibility.
“In the 15 minute chat
I had with him, I think that
he does not always tell the
truth, and tends to report the
problems as not his fault,’’
Jorgenson wrote, according
to an exhibit attached to
McBride’s lawsuit. “Several
times I questioned him on
items that I knew were true,
he told me that they didn’t
happen at all or happened that
way. ... When I called him on
this, he stated that he had not
been advised of his rights and
that this was illegal.’’
The
Stanfi eld
city
manager,
though,
said
Jorgenson never concluded
his investigation, which was
done in a voluntary capacity.
McBride had reported
to his police chief in May
2015 that Toombs conducted
multiple traffi c stops of a
young woman but gave her
only warnings until he saw a
man in her car and then gave
her citations and instructed
McBride to stop the woman
whenever possible, the suit
says. It also alleges Toombs
solicited married residents in
the Stanfi eld and Echo area
to engage in sexual acts with
him and his wife.
The lawsuit alleges that
the city failed to do a proper
background
search
on
Toombs before hiring him in
March 2014. It contends that
Toombs resigned from an
earlier police job in Orofi no,
Idaho, after a lawsuit fi led
BRIEFLY
Drunk driver
almost hits state
cop in ice storm
against him was settled that
alleged he had assaulted a
man after responding to a
routine call to help resolve
the man’s dispute regarding
his credit union account.
Toombs told the investi-
gator hired by the city that
he left the Orofi no job for
personal reasons, according
to court documents.
Though Toombs held
a supervisory position on
the Stanfi eld police force
and provided fi eld training
to McBride, Toombs never
received any management
or supervisory certifi cation
from Oregon’s Department
of Public Safety Standards
and Training, the suit says.
The
Stanfi eld
city
manager had the city’s
insurer conducted an internal
review and audit of the police
department after the Justice
Department
investigation.
Both the chief and Toombs
were placed on probation.
On Jan.20, 2016, the chief
returned to his job.
On Jan. 29, 2016, Toombs
was stripped of his super-
visory role and demoted to
senior offi cer, with the under-
standing that after additional
training and evaluations he
might regain his supervisory
status, Larsen said. Yet
Toombs’ demotion did not
include a drop in pay, the city
manager said.
PENDLETON —
Oregon State Police
reported a drunk driver
nearly took out a trooper
in his car near Pendleton
during the ice storm.
Senior trooper Ryan
Sharp was in his police car
with lights fl ashing around
2:30 a.m. Wednesday
on the right shoulder of
eastbound Interstate 84
near milepost 206 to deal
with the multiple semi-
trailers that jacked-knifed,
slid off or fl at out crashed
due to the onslaught of
freezing rain that covered
the region.
The Oregon
Department of
Transportation was closing
the freeway near milepost
202, state police reported,
and an ODOT employee
set fl ares across the road
and was going to place
more when he noticed a
white Jeep Cherokee going
fast.
The Jeep drove over the
fl ares, into a snowbank and
continued east. The ODOT
worker grabbed a radio
and gave a warning.
Sharp saw the Jeep
barreling around the
corner. The Jeep began to
lose control, slide past the
semis and lined up to hit
the police car.
“The driver barely
regained control and
missed my car,” according
to Sharp’s report. “I was
able to stop the vehicle.”
Sharp contacted the
driver, Elwood Lamar
Davis, 36, of Richland,
Washington, and right off
saw indications he was
impaired.
“He said he didn’t
notice ODOT,” according
to the report, “that it was
icy and seemed oblivious
to all the (commercial
vehicles) across the road.”
Sharp took Davis to
the Umatilla County Jail,
Pendleton, for driving
under the infl uence of
intoxicants (alcohol),
recklessly endangering
highway workers and
reckless driving. His blood
alcohol level at the jail was
.10 percent, above the .08
percent legal limit.
IRRIGON
High schooler steps up to join city council
By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN
East Oregonian
Marlina Avila Serratos is no
stranger to responsibility. At age 12,
her mother was deported to Mexico,
and she took care of her younger
sister and the family’s home while
her father worked long days as a farm
laborer.
As a high schooler, Avila Serratos
has balanced classes, extracurriculars
like cheerleading, Key Club and
National Honor Society, and two
jobs — at Oregon’s Potato Company
in Boardman, and Washington State
University’s “Gear Up” mentorship
program.
On Tuesday Avila Serratos, 18,
took on a new responsibility as she
was sworn in to the Irrigon City
Council alongside returning coun-
cilor Daren Strong and Mayor Sam
Heath.
Avila Serratos, who was born in
Hermiston and grew up in Irrigon, said
she ran for city council because she
wanted to be active in her community
and get young people excited about
doing the same thing.
“I want to have my peers involved
and make this small town well-known
as a good place,” she said.
Avila Serratos plans to attend
Blue
Mountain
Community
College after graduation, where she
will study to be a registered nurse
and continue serving on the city
council.
She said while she hasn’t visited
her mother and family in Mexico
for a while, due to school and other
obligations, she tries to visit when she
can.
“She’s really proud,” Avila
Serratos said of her mother. Two of
her friends and her adopted mom
were at the swearing-in to support
Avila Serratos.
Avila Serratos fi rst became
interested in city council when she
was moving to a new home and was
researching some land use policies.
Hermiston lists
changes to school
calendar
HERMISTON — The
snow and ice have
wreaked havoc on school
schedules throughout
the state — but local
districts have set their new
schedules in light of the
past week’s closures.
Changes to the
Hermiston School District
include a new end date for
fi rst semester — Friday,
Jan. 27 for both middle
and high schools. Second
semester (and third
quarter) will now start
Monday, Jan. 30. Third
quarter will end Friday,
April 7, and fourth quarter
will start Monday, April
10. Second semester and
fourth quarter will end
Wednesday, June 14.
Some dates will
remain the same for
the district, such as
graduation — which will
take place Saturday, June
10. Conferences at the
middle and high schools
are still set for March 20
and 22.
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Irrigon’s newest city councilor
Marlina Avila Serratos listens to
Tesia Hunsucker ask a question
about marijuana dispensaries
on Tuesday in Irrigon.
“She got really involved and did a
great job,” said Irrigon city manager
Aaron Palmquist. Avila Serratos
asked if there were any city positions
available for her to get involved, and
the only one open was a city council
position.
Palmquist said she is the youngest
councilor, and the fi rst Latina coun-
cilor, that city employees can recall.
“She’s had a very positive recep-
tion,” Palmquist said. “I know she’ll
be looking at economic development,
and at ways to get the younger
generation to make the community
stronger.”
Council discusses wastewater, marijuana
IRRIGON — Irrigon City
Council met Tuesday night to discuss
its wastewater treatment system, and
hear from a citizen who wants the
city to reconsider its ban on recre-
ational marijuana dispensaries.
City manager Aaron Palmquist
said the city will apply for a new
Mutual Agreement Order with
the Department of Environmental
Quality, since their old one expired.
The city’s residential wastewater
supply exceeds DEQ’s required
level of nitrates.
“We need to get a new MAO
to keep us moving forward,” said
Palmquist. “It gives us breathing
room to come into compliance with
those nitrate levels.”
Councilors also heard from Tesia
Hunsucker, an Irrigon resident who
wants to open a recreational mari-
juana business — she asked coun-
cilors to reconsider the city’s ban
on such businesses, and consider
implementing a tax on recreational
pot sales.
“Our part of the state could gain
a lot of profi t through dispensing
marijuana legally,” she said.
Councilors said 62 percent
of Irrigon citizens had voted to
maintain a ban on selling marijuana
within city limits.
“As long as the city population
votes no, I will always vote no, no
matter how much money it makes,”
said councilor Marty Brown.
Stanfi eld mint grower aces yield contests for corn, wheat
sion.
Though Mills grows
primarily spearmint and
A Stanfi eld mint grower peppermint on the family’s
recently won top honors 3,000-acre farm, he said
at two separate contests they use both wheat and
corn as rotational
designed to boost
crops. Mills cred-
wheat and corn
ited the region’s
yields.
environment,
as
Dan Mills, of
well as advances in
Mills Mint Farm,
precision irrigation
took fi rst place in
technology, for his
Oregon as well
wins.
as nationwide at
“With
our
the fi rst National
climate and our
Wheat
Yield
soil, we produce
Contest in the irri-
some of the highest
gated spring wheat Dan Mills
yields
in
the
category.
The
contest was organized by the country,” Mills said.
Mills yield nearly 320
National Wheat Foundation,
bushels per acre of corn
based in Washington, D.C.
One week later, it was using a variety developed
announced that Mills also by DuPont Pioneer. As for
took fi rst place for Oregon at wheat, Mills used a variety
the National Corn Growers by WestBred, owned by
Association’s Corn Yield Monsanto, which yielded an
Contest in the irrigated divi- average of 146.5 bushels per
By GEORGE PLAVEN
East Oregonian
Page 3A
acre. The average yield for
irrigated wheat in Oregon in
2013 was approximately 102
bushels per acre, according
to the National Agricultural
Statistics Service.
In addition to the natural
growing environment, Mills
said he works with IRZ
Consulting in Hermiston to
use real-time soil moisture
monitors, which helps the
farm to irrigate using exactly
the right amount of water.
“We’ve tried to use new
technology, and our yields
have gotten better and
better,” he said.
More than 170 farmers
participated in the National
Wheat Yield Contest, which
included categories for
spring, winter, irrigated and
dryland wheat. The winners
are determined based on
yield increase over county
averages.
The National Corn Yield
Contest has divisions for irri-
gated, non-irrigated and no-till
or strip-tilled corn. There were
343 state titles awarded this
year, including Mills.
Mills said the contests
do provide a benchmark to
shoot for future yields.
“I would suspect a lot of
growers in this area have
comparable yields,” he said.
“It’s mostly about testing
varieties to see where you’re
at.”
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13th Annual
Cattleman’s Workshop
Navigating the Future in the
Cow/Calf Industry
Saturday, January 21st, 2017
Blue Mountain Conference Center • 404 12th Street, La Grande, OR
9:00 - 9:15
Workshop Introductions & Overview
Kevin Ochsner, Host Cattlemen to Cattlemen TV; Kersey, CO
FREE!
No
Pre-Registration
Required.
Lunch Included.
9:15 - 10:00
Cattle Market Challenges and Opportunities in 2017
Dr. Derrell Peel, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK
10:00 - 10:45
Genetic Technologies in the Poultry Industry, The Other Protein
Dr. Mitch Abrahamsen, Senior VP Research & Development;
Cobb-Vantress, Siloam Springs, AR
10:45 - 11:15
Break (provided by sponsors)
11:15 - 12:00
Ethics, Values & Science. Finding the Right Mix For
Building Consumer Trust
Donna Moenning, Center For Food Integrity; Gladstone, MO
12:00 - 1:15
Lunch (provided by sponsors)
1:15 - 2:00
Keys to a Successful Heifer Development Program
Dr. Che Trejo, Zoetis Beef Technical Services Veterinarian; Malad, ID
2:00 - 3:00
Navigation Tools for the Cow/Calf Producer
Kevin Ochsner, Host Cattlemen to Cattlemen TV; Kersey, CO
NOTE: For more information, please contact Kim McKague at
(541) 562-5129 • http://oregonstate.edu/dept/eoarcunion