SIUSLAW NEWS ❚ SATURDAY, APRIL 1, 2017
Port
from 1A
administrated by one man, who
has given himself all discre-
tionary powers to all the port’s
property and assets to do with
as ‘He deems necessary for the
day-to-day operations of port
business…”’
In his March 29, 2017, email
regarding
recent
Port
Commissioner
Leskin,
Swinney raised similar con-
cerns, saying he wanted an
explanation as to why the com-
mission continues to “allow the
port manager to abuse his posi-
tion and imaginary powers
toward the people of this dis-
trict.”
In the 2014 letter, Swinney
also asked, “Who is conduct-
ing the ‘criminal investigation’
into the alleged theft of port
funds?” then, in the 2017 email
he said that Leskin “…con-
dones and promotes port staff
to criminal acts…”
In addition, Swinney’s accu-
sations of the Port Commission
“…misrepresenting
the
Brothers
from 1A
The group began meeting
informally at a local diner. As
the word got around, more vets
started showing up until even-
tually they needed a larger
place to meet.
“We’ve grown from a few
guys, I think there were six or
eight of us that started out, until
now when we have about 60 or
70 members,” Cavarno said.
“But eventually there were so
many of us that we moved over
to the Elks Lodge. Now we
have our meetings there on
Monday and that’s how the
whole thing got started, with
just a few of us meeting for cof-
fee. We were tossing around
facts…” and committing
“…ongoing attacks on my
character in an attempt to dis-
credit me…” in 2014 were mir-
rored in the 2017 email alleg-
ing “ongoing harassment, slan-
der and discrimination we have
been subjected to...”
Commissioners also directed
Leskin
to
offer
Len
Christensen a commercial
moorage rate for his 38-foot
Carver yacht. Leskin agreed to
do that, once Christensen pro-
vided the port with port-
required documentation sup-
porting his claim that he is a
commercial fisherman.
“Until that time we will con-
tinue to charge him the recre-
ational rate,” Leskin said.
The ongoing moorage delin-
quency saga of the 40-foot sail-
ing vessel Tenacious contin-
ued, despite owner Gordon
Owen giving the port a check
on Feb. 24 to cover more than
$3,800 in past due moorage
fees, late fees, attorney fees
and a $300 impound fee to
avoid foreclosure.
Caputo said, “I’m hoping
the port would be in a mood to
help him. I would like to see a
change of attitude in all the
port staff from ‘no you can’t do
this’ or ‘you can’t do that’ to
‘yes you can, and I can help
you.’
“You don’t help someone by
charging him the daily rate, the
highest rate you can, and the
guy is struggling,” Caputo
said.
Leskin said, “He is beyond
help, I’m sorry. He has an out-
standing balance of $442.”
“We wrote him and said we
would need proof of current
insurance, proof of seaworthi-
ness and current registration.
He has not done any of that.
We are beyond talking with
him at this point.”
Leskin added, “(Port) ordi-
nance four allows us to bring
criminal charges against him
and that is what we are going
to do on Monday.”
Commissioner Terry Duman
asked for a breakdown of the
previous charges.
Leskin said that commis-
sioners were provided those
figures at the last board meet-
ing.
He further stated that Owens
was being charged the daily
rate because he was out of
compliance with port require-
ments.
Before closing the meeting,
Caputo ask to meet with staff
to discuss customer service.
“I heard complaints about
our customer service. Several
people complained at our last
meeting. I want the port man-
ager to call a staff meeting and
allow me to address the staff
about providing good customer
service.”
Caputo also asked Leskin to
search for a good customer
service program to present to
the staff.
Leskin said, “We have an
objective source of customer
service, Hercules, our reserva-
tion system. When people
leave they are invited to com-
ment on their stay. I pulled a
year’s worth of grades from
Hercules. Overall, we have an
A- for overall grade. We have
an A- for overall service.
According to our reservation
system, we are doing fine. This
includes moorage and camp-
ground.”
Leskin agreed to set a date
for Caputo to meet with the
port staff.
Caputo said because of sev-
eral recent contract overruns,
he wanted to appoint commis-
sioners Buckwald and Duman
to review all port work con-
tracts.
Caputo ended the meeting
by tasking Leskin with writing
a letter of apology to Swinney
and Culwell, within a week
and attending an anger man-
agement course to be complet-
ed within 30 days.
Leskin said he was not going
to take an anger management
class and that he would not
write the apology letter.
“I will talk to our legal
department and go from there,”
said Caputo, who then
adjurned the special meeting.
ideas of how we could help.”
The first projects the group
worked on were community
projects where the Brothers
helped with financial contribu-
tions and donations of food and
clothing.
John McBride, another key
member of the group,
explained the next step.
“We have helped with other
projects that needed some sup-
port, like the Backpack
Program and with FoodShare,
but we realized that there were
a lot of other areas where we
could help,” he said. “We have
a group of guys that are used to
logistics, and to finishing what
they start, so we used the
expertise that we had to take it
upon ourselves to get more
involved.”
The project that the group
settled on was a suggestion of
McBride’s. He had attended a
West
Lane
Emergency
Operations Group (WLEOG)
presentation to the Siuslaw
School District and realized
that there were some gaps in
the district’s emergency prepa-
ration plans.
“We thought we ready for an
emergency and it turns out we
were not,” McBride said.
“Band of Brothers had been
approached about helping the
district, so we went through an
inventory list of supplies. We
realized the first step was to
figure out a place to put the
supplies that would be long
term and safe.”
The school district had
begun the process of collecting
emergency supplies, but the
project had fallen by the way-
side. The slack was picked up
by the Brothers.
The first step in the process
was simple — they started dis-
cussing the district’s needs with
local business owners.
“Copeland Lumber stepped
up and sold us the lumber we
needed for cost. And both Bi-
Mart and Rite-Aid have donat-
ed or sold us items at their
cost, which has made this
whole project possible,”
McBride said. “The issue of
long-term food storage has
been taken care of and every-
thing in storage will now have
a 25-year shelf life. And we
have a better stock of blankets
and basics for a longer term
emergency.”
The Brothers have already
decided one of the next proj-
ects they will undertake is also
school related. They will be
building and installing a new
flag pole on the district cam-
pus.
And while the new emer-
gency storage bins are com-
plete, they remain mostly
empty.
McBride is calling on com-
munity members for help with
filling the bins.
“We are having a supply
drive from April 4 through
April 28, and we hope to get
people to donate smaller items
to fill the bins,” he said.“We
will have a list of items that
are needed at Copelands, Bi-
Mart and Rite-Aid. We hope
that folks will go to one of
these locations and purchase
some of the things we need
and donate them.”
For more information on
the Florence Band of Brothers
or to assist in their efforts, call
Jim Swant at 541-968-9572 or
John McBride at 541-590-
3539.
Arrests
van.
At that point, a third vehicle,
a black SUV with blacked out
windows, pulled up. The two
ICE agents handed their assault
weapons to someone in the
black SUV, climbed into the
first SUV and all three vehicles
drove off.
Justiniano was not arrested.
Lane County Commissioner
Jay Bozievich said he was told
the four people detained by
ICE were transported to the
Tacoma Northwest Detention
Center in Tacoma, Wash.,
along with the 80 others arrest-
ed during the three-day sweep.
Bozievich had no prior
knowledge of the raid and con-
tacted ICE only after a con-
cerned resident informed him
of the raid.
According to the ICE web-
site, the four arrested in
Florence were the only Lane
County arrests made during the
three day operation.
There are 114 detention cen-
ters in the US. None are locat-
ed in Oregon, and only one is
in Washington.
No further information on
the four detainees was avail-
able by this publication’s dead-
line.
Hines said, “Theft of Coast
Guard property is a federal
crime. It showed wanton vio-
lence against the community.”
According to U.S. Coast
Guard
Public
Affairs
Specialist Petty Officer Levi
Read, each theft resulted in
$675 in damage and lost prop-
erty.
“The theft and vandalism of
Coast Guard property is one
thing, but these actions could
affect the lives of mariners in
the area. If these aids are not
lit properly, boats can easily
get off course, causing acci-
dents which may lead to loss
of life or injury,” Read said.
The Siuslaw aid targeted for
theft helps mark one end of
the river channel. Ships can
align with the navigation aids
to safely traverse shallow and
dangerous spots.
It took one day between the
report and when ANT could
attend the outage — a day
without a necessary signal on
the river.
“We don’t have a monitor-
ing system at each aid,” Hines
said. “We get reports and get
to things as fast as we can, but
theft and vandalism make
things difficult. Luckily, the
crimes are both very low in
our area.”
ANT’s aim is to keep peo-
ple safe.
Hines urged people to stay
off the aids to navigation and
away from their areas.
“It’s a safety matter, but
you could also do damage to
property,” he said.
If people are trespassing or
tampering with Coast Guard
aids to navigation, Hines said
the best thing to do would be
to report it to local police of
Station Siuslaw River.
“Reporting to us can alert
us to a discrepant aid before it
happens,” he said. “This keeps
our waterways safe for every-
one.”
Cel
e
70 brati
Yea ng
rs!
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from 1A
www.hobergsautorepair.com
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The agents took Rendon and
one other individual, both in
handcuffs, out of the white van
and escorted them to Rendon’s
residence.
All four entered the home
and came back out a few min-
utes later with a third male
detainee. The neighbor said the
ICE agents patted the man
down, handcuffed him and
then placed all three individu-
als back in the white van.
The witness said she thought
she saw a fourth detainee in the
Battery
from 1A
Hines said the rewiring
process likely took some time
and showed an unusual
amount of care.
“The aid was in a remote
area at the end of some rocks,”
Hines said. “There is a fence
with a chainlock, and razor
wire across the top. It is pretty
inaccessible, but that can only
do so much.”
The March theft mirrored
the first.
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Bring in your own artistic creation, using at
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Entries accepted between April 15-April 21
at Habitat for Humanity ReStore in Florence
Prizes will include a $50 ReStore Credit and more.
Let Paul show you a new car or truck.
Stop by today!
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Location: Florence Center,
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2150 Hwy. 101 • Florence
(541) 997-3475 • 1-800-348-3475
7 A
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