SIUSLAW NEWS ❚ SATURDAY, AUGUST 12, 2017
Flying
The idea for the program started with
local pilots Spayd and Terry Tomeny, who
fly for the local biplane ride attraction
Aero Legends, which Tomeny owns.
Spayd, who sits on Florence’s Airport
Advisory Committee, was searching for a
way to have the airfield become more a
part of the community.
“A lot of people aren’t even aware that
we do anything at the airport,” he said.
“We want more people involved in a pos-
itive way.”
Spayd found a program in Grants Pass
that taught kids the basics of aeronautics,
but the topics were limited; it only had
from 1A
around the airport and doing things.”
Spayd said the “hands-on” approach
will include air traffic control, drone
demonstrations and even radio-controlled
dogfights.
“The radio-controlled group is going to
do a demo where they’ll have streamers
on the planes and do dogfights as the kids
pilot,” Spayd explained.
The whole class will end with the stu-
dents having the opportunity to fly an
actual airplane.
two classes and the kids didn’t get to fly.
“That was nothing like we’re going to
do,” Spayd said. “They had a two-day
course. We’re going all out.”
While the high-flying excitement will
keep the youth engaged, the point of the
program is to inspire the teens to do more
than what they think is expected of them.
Boys and Girls Club Director Jack
Davis said, “We want to get the kids in the
club not to just focus on graduating, but
focus on what life skills they want to
develop to live the kind of life that they
want. That allows these kids to become a
better part of the community, and really
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from 1A
“I have personally witnessed
dogs being grabbed by the scruff
of the neck and thrown into their
kennels. I saw an air horn being
used on a dog and dogs left in
their own filth, as well as yelling
and screaming daily — all of this
by the same staff member,” said
Pappas.
Gervais said he and other
board members have spoken with
Pappas and other volunteers who
support her concerns about ani-
mal care. He said these meetings
resulted in disagreements about
the acute nature of the concerns
and ultimately led to Pappas’
release.
It also led to the resignation of
additional volunteers and board
members.
A June 29 meeting, during
which board members Sandy
Davidson and Berne Hill
resigned “effective immediately,”
was the catalyst for a new round
of criticism leveled at the board.
The resignations left a four-mem-
ber board — one member short
of what the by-laws required to
conduct business.
In her resignation letter,
Davidson, who served on the
feel a part of the community.
“Most kids of this age just see their
world, but there’s so much more out
there.”
In addition, aviation goes just beyond
being a pilot, Spayd explained.
“I’ve got two flight attendants coming
in to talk to the kids,” he said. “I have an
airplane mechanic. I’ve got someone from
the tower in Eugene. There’s so many dif-
ferent areas that aviation involves.”
FAA will even bring in two former
Siuslaw High School students who went
on to become pilots for Delta and
American airlines.
board for a year, cited several
reasons for leaving. Among
them, incomplete employee files
and an overall lack of communi-
cation regarding budgeting, per-
sonnel and other administrative
documentation.
“We should have a process in
place where all the information is
organized so that anyone can
make an intelligent decision
based on the facts,” Davidson
wrote, adding, “I can no longer
justify working under the leader-
ship of people who refuse to fol-
low up on allegations made by
volunteers or various members of
the community.”
With three of the remaining
four directors’ terms set to expire
one day later, board President
Rob Bare and Vice President
Gervais appointed themselves to
new terms.
This immediately raised ques-
tions of ethics and violations of
directory duty loyalty.
The following month, Rick
Mills and Kim Russo were
appointed to the board, with
Russo resigning less than a
month later after accusing the
board of excluding her “on virtu-
ally all issues,” Russo said.
That same evening, in a state-
ment issued to the OCHS Board
“It’s a way of setting a spark in the
kids,” Spayd said.
“We don’t want to see these kids just
graduate,” Davis added. “We want to see
them graduate with a purpose for the rest
of their lives so they can be more.”
But to set that spark, Davis and Spayd
believe, it doesn’t hurt to get the stu-
dents up in the air.
The program is free to all teens that
have signed up for the Boys and Girls
Club teen program.
For more information, call 541-902-
0304 or visit the Boys and Girls Teen
Center at 1501 Airport Road.
and obtained by Siuslaw News,
Pappas made her concerns clear:
“I want the current shelter
manager to be fired, along with
the individual whose primary
responsibility is caring for the
dogs. I also want the entire board
to be replaced. All of these indi-
viduals, staff and board members
have had more than sufficient
opportunity to address the abuse
and neglect issues at OCHS and
all have refused to do so. Board
members have become corrupt
and I believe they are mismanag-
ing the shelter and the funds of
the 501(c)3...”
People also directed questions
to the board regarding conflict of
issues concerns and perceived
failures of inter-personal commu-
nication.
In subsequent interviews, most
of these volunteers, who wished
to remain anonymous, said they
believe issues of care are more
properly characterized as neglect
rather than abuse. They also
pointed directly at shelter man-
agement, staff and board mem-
bers as the source of these issues.
Part of the inherent problem
for OCHS is the small size of the
actual space within the shelter. It
is separated into two areas, one
for dogs and one for cats. In the
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7 A
cattery, there are cages and bins
with climbing and scratching
poles tucked in corners and
against walls. There are cat stairs
and multiple levels of intercon-
nected platforms all occupied by
one or more cats.
On the canine side of the struc-
ture is a short hallway off the
main room with a dozen or so
kennels. These cages have a small
indoor area and a larger outdoor
area — both with cement floors.
The space designated for each
individual animal is small.
The lack of adequate space has
been a continuing concern for
Gervais, who said the board is
working on plans that he hopes
will provide alternatives to the
overcrowding and limited space
OCHS deals with each day.
“We would like to reconfigure
our kennels to allow the dogs to
be able to move around.
Unfortunately that is not possible
at this time because of the cost,”
said Gervais, who also said that a
fund drive to enlarge the dog runs
would be needed.
The validity of this need is also
a point of contention for Pappas
and a number of past board mem-
bers, who say that recent estate
donations have already added
more than $500,000 in cash to the
organization’s coffers — a num-
ber that Gervais corroborated.
This has led to crux of dis-
agreement between the current
board and those who question its
motives.
In short: Why isn’t the money
being spent to address the current
facility and training issues at the
shelter raised by volunteers and
others?
“There is a five-year plan in
the works. It is important to plan
for the future of the shelter and
how to continue the valuable sup-
port of the community for the
shelter,” Gervais said. “There cur-
rently is no plan to move the shel-
ter from the existing location, but
we have to ask the question of
what would happen to OCHS in
the event of a natural disaster?”
Specifically, a tsunami.
Given the facility’s location
just slightly above the Siuslaw
River, executing a full evacuation
of staff and animals in advance of
rising waters would be highly
unlikely.
“It’s something we need to
think about,” said Gervais.
In addition to what some have
felt are a conflict of interest
between current animal welfare
and future needs, a series of lead-
ership changes that have received
mixed reviews from long-term
supporters of OCHS has only
added to concerns.
Gervais said there are changes
in the works to directly address
those concerns, including the cre-
ation of an executive director
position.
Other changes in the works
will include the installation of
closed-circuit video of the facili-
ty, improved storage for animal
food to address contamination
from rats, and proper-sized beds
for the animals.
Of the 16 volunteers and past
board members interviewed, all
but two said they did not believe
that outright abuse of animals
was taking place at the shelter,
but that various incidents of neg-
lect were the secondary result of
improper administrative struc-
ture, organization and manage-
ment training — signs of a pro-
gram that has outgrown the
parameters of its grassroots
beginnings.
For Gervais, his first and fore-
most priority is making sure the
community understands what is
actually going on at the shelter
and to dispel rumors and accusa-
tions of abuse.
“We have many good things
we do at the shelter, including the
spay and neuter clinic and the
bottle drop, which recycles cans
and bottles to help pay for food
for the animals,” Gervais said. “If
OCHS is to be successful, we
need the continued support of the
community.”