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About Polk County itemizer observer. (Dallas, Or) 1992-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 20, 2017)
BUILDING A PERFECT FALLS CITY SCARECROW Page 7A FOOTBALL Volume 142, Issue 38 www.Polkio.com Page 10A September 20, 2017 $1.00 Dallas woman files against co-workers’ threats Housing authority employees allegedly joke to kill Beehner, get clients arrested By Jolene Guzman The Itemizer-Observer DALLAS — An employee of West Valley Housing Au- thority filed a tort claim no- tice alleging she was the vic- tim of a co-worker’s “jokes” about killing or harming her. A tort claim notice serves as a warning that a lawsuit could potentially be filed. The notice claims that Sheri Beehner, the family self-sufficiency coordinator at WVHA, was the target of jokes by co-workers Rick Batie, Jeff Berry and Liz Sylva. The notice that said be- tween May 2017 and August 2017, two or more of those employees allegedly made jokes about workplace shootings, shooting Beehn- er, suicide, Beehner’s health, and jokes that used “sexist and highly offensive termi- nology.” In one conservation, they allegedly joked about giving her a horse tranquilizer “that would cause her head to ex- plode and her to die,” adding that Beehner needed a “frontal lobotomy.” Batie also distributed a cartoon that depicted Beehner as bat used to hit a WVHA manager with, the claim said. “Jokes were made about a variety of other co-workers and clients, which included references to the co-workers and clients in highly offen- sive and derogatory terms,” the notice said. Christian Edelblute, the executive director of WVHA, said he would like to re- spond to the allegations in the complaint, but can’t. “We are not in a position to do so at this time due to the fact the allegations con- cern an internal, personnel issue and the potential that litigation may ensue,” he said in a statement. “The WVHA takes complaints of personnel issues seriously, and this complaint is being processed according to the WVHA’s policies.” Beehner, through her at- torney, Nelson Hall, of Port- land firm Bennett, Hartman, Morris & Kaplan, sent the tort claim notice to Blair Wasson, the housing au- thority’s board chairman, and legal counsel, Morgan Smith. It alleges, “intention- al infliction of emotional distress, gender discrimina- tion, retaliation against a whistleblower, and spolia- tion of evidence.” WVHA administers two housing assistance programs in Polk County, the Housing Choice Voucher Program and Public Housing Pro- gram. Both are paid for by the federal government. Edelblute also is named in the notice, which alleges that, after learning of the comments and listening to the conversations — which were recorded phone con- versations— Edelblute took no action to discipline the employees or to protect Beehner. On Aug. 12, Beehner told Edelblute that “she could no longer handle the stress of feeling threatened at work by WVHA employees, including Batie, Sylva and Berry. She notified him that she would be seeking medical atten- tion,” the claim said. On Aug. 15, Beehner’s union, Oregon American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 75, informed Smith of its concerns about “seri- ous and time-sensitive mis- conduct taking place at WVHA, including employees discussing violence during recorded phone conversa- tions.” On Aug. 16, Smith lis- tened to a selection of those recordings, the notice said. The notice also provided details on an Aug. 29 staff meeting during which em- ployees allegedly joked about “arming WVHA clients with guns and knives drip- ping in blood in order to en- sure that they were arrested or harmed by the police.” Beehner’s husband, also a WVHA employee, was a wit- ness to this conversation, the notice said. Beehner additionally claims the WVHA didn’t pre- vent those accused of mis- conduct from deleting, de- stroying or manipulating ev- idence. Oregon AFSCME spokesman Ross Grami in statement called the inci- dents described in the no- tice as “appalling.” “It is unacceptable to threaten or joke about threats against a coworker, and it's disturbing this situa- tion was allowed to go on so long,” Grami said. The notice said if a law- suit is filed, “Ms. Beehner will pursue any and all dam- ages available to her, includ- ing both economic and non- economic damages.” The quilt that took more than 100 years By Emily Mentzer The Itemizer-Observer DALLAS — How long does it take to finish a quilt? For the Cheesman family descendants, the answer is four generations. “Jumping Mouse” Mary Elizabeth Cheesman, a Cherokee Indian, started a quilt in the mid-1800s. “Fabrics used were from cotton flour sacks,” said Mary’s great-granddaughter, Patti Utter. “I was told this is one of three quilts she was working on.” Before she could finish it, Mary Elizabeth lost her sight and passed her projects on to her daughter, Utter’s grandmother, Rachael. “Rachael was not a seam- stress, but did add a few pieces from her daughter’s clothing,” Utter said. Rachael passed it to her daughter, Marie, Patti’s mother, who was not a quil- ter. Regardless, Marie added a few pieces and passed it to Patti — who also is not a quilter. “I do stained glass,” Utter said. The quilt — and its EmIly mEnTzEr/ Itemizer-Observer Patti Utter stands with Blanche McCaw in front of Utter’s family quilt. Her great-grand- mother “Jumping Mouse” Mary Elizabeth Cheesman started the project in the 1800s. story — has been stored away since 1983, until Utter asked a friend if she’d be in- terested in finishing it. “We have a class together at the pool,” Utter said. “We all became friends at the class, and I found out that she’s a quilter.” A t a p o t l u c k , Ut t e r showed Blanche McCaw the quilt and asked if she would finish it. McCaw agreed, thinking it would make a nice wedding gift for her grandson. She didn’t realize how old the quilt was or its family histo- ry. Once she heard the story, McCaw offered to give it back to Utter once it was completed, but Utter de- clined. “I’m glad to see it fin- ished,” she said. “And it will be used now. I think it’s great.” To complete the work, McCaw picked up special fabric from a quilt store in Paisley. She put a backing on it, made a binding, and hand-stitched the quilt. “You put a lot of work in on it,” Utter said. “I’d be afraid to use it. I would have to store it away. This way, hopefully it will be used.” McCaw said her grandson and his new bride will get copies of the history of the quilt as part of the present. Falls City councilors vote to close Wagner By Jolene Guzman The Itemizer-Observer FALLS CITY — The city of Falls City voted to close Wagner Commu- nity Library effective June 30, 2018 if a solution to long-term funding is not found. That would leave a little more than $42,000 left in the Wagner Fund that could be used to reopen the li- brary later. Mayor Terry Ungricht said the vote doesn’t mean the library must close, but the city needs to begin the closure process soon to make sure it THE NEXT 7 DAYS PLANNING FOR YOUR WEEK meets all state requirements for closing a public library, which in- cludes holding hearings. “We would start the process and then if an agreement came through that we could afford and that the council is comfortable with, we could just cancel,” Ungricht said. “On June 29, we could say never mind.” The council had discussed put- ting the issue before voters to decide whether they wanted to pay to keep the library open. Ungricht has said the council also needed to consider the need for wed thu Pick up a racket — or just show up — to the roger Jordan Community Park to play a match of Pick- leball. 9 a.m. Free. Perrydale FFA will host an all-you-can- eat corn feed at 7445 Perrydale road, benefiting members of the FFA. 7:30 p.m. $4-$25. Showers Hi: 59 Lo: 46 Showers Hi: 63 Lo: 45 levies for street maintenance and firefighting equipment. The estimated cost for the library levy would be $1.30 per $1,000 of as- sessed value on properties. Before the vote, Councilor Jenn Drill asked if minutes of the past meetings indicated the council made a promise to put a levy on the ballot. Councilor Dennis Sickles, who also expressed that concern, said he believes the council did not after re- viewing those discussions. “I’m satisfied that we did not make that promise,” Sickles said. fri Even though the rain we’ve had all week makes it feel like fall already ar- rived, today marks the first day of au- tumn. Partly cloudy Hi: 66 Lo: 47 “Is the school aware that we are talking (about closing the library)?” Drill asked. Ungricht said he had notified the Falls City School District and Wagner Library Director Andy Rommel that the city was considering a vote to begin closing procedures. “The process that we have to go through has to be initiated, so I think we need to do what we are doing,” Sickles said. “As the mayor said, we can stop at any time if something comes up.” The vote to close the library was unanimous. IN YOUR TOWN DALLAS Dallas School Board approves union con- tracts. »Page 2A FALLS CITY Volunteers clean up around town. »Page 3A INDEPENDENCE Council considers utility rate increases. »Page 3A MONMOUTH Classic auto show rolls into town. »Page 3A SPORTS Perrydale’s volleyball team is off to a strong start. »Page 10A Last chance for eclipse stamps Itemizer-Observer staff report DAllAS — Thursday is the deadline to get an ex- clusive pictorial cancella- tion stamp to celebrate the Great American Eclipse that occurred on Aug. 21. The Dallas Post Office offered the stamp is de- signed by Dallas City letter carrier John mcmillian and city of Dallas employee Je- remy Teal. Anyone can bring a postcard or envelope with first-class postage and have a postal employee mark it with the commem- orative pictorial cancella- tion. Postmaster Tina Smith said if you are mail- ing the letter or postcard to someone outside of Dallas, to bring an addi- tional envelope, or the special cancellation will be marred with a Portland cancellation, as all mail goes through Portland for processing. For that reason, these special cancellations are not available if dropped in a regular mailbox, even if it is within the Dallas zIP code. People may enclose stamped envelopes or postcards to Darkside Sta- tion, Special Cancellation, 768 SW Church St., Dallas Or 97338, with a self-ad- dressed, stamped enve- lope to return the materi- als. mailed requests must be received at the Dallas Post Office by Thursday. For more information: Tina Smith, 503-831-00503. sat sun mon tue Polk County Folklife will host a concert of traditional Ap- palachian music at the monmouth am- phitheater 1:30 p.m. Free. last Sunday at river Gallery takes place river Gallery in Independence. Check out the re- ception for corner and window artists. 2 p.m. Free. Bring your brew of choice to St. Thomas Episcopal Church for a discussion and lec- ture on new Testa- ment figures. 7 p.m. Free. Indoor Play Park re- turns to First Pres- byterian Church in Dallas, just in time for the rainy weather. 9:30 a.m. Donation. Mostly sunny Hi: 70 Lo: 48 Mostly sunny Hi: 70 Lo: 49 Partly sunny Hi: 75 Lo: 51 Partly sunny Hi: 76 Lo: 54
