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About The Bulletin. (Bend, OR) 1963-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 13, 2021)
A6 The BulleTin • Friday, augusT 13, 2021 Court Continued from A1 Nelson was former De- schutes County Sheriff Larry Blanton’s chosen successor, appointed by a vote of the County Commission upon Blanton’s retirement in Sep- tember 2015. Blanton stepped down amid several scandals involving his senior leadership team, though he and Nelson largely avoided direct blame. In March 2016, Kozowski, then a 14-veteran of law en- forcement, announced he was running against Nelson in the 2016 election, telling voters that widespread problems with workplace culture and harass- ment had continued under the new sheriff’s leadership. A month before the election, Kozowski, who had no record of discipline or misconduct, said in a letter to the county le- gal department that he and his supporters were being targeted for retaliation. Kozowski ultimately lost the race by 10%. Fourteen months later, he was gone, fired by Nel- son for office policy violations, including a finding Kozowski failed to log a report in an in- stance when he was required to, which Kozowski denies, and a finding he declined to arrest the subject of a warrant. Homeless Continued from A1 The decision marks an un- precedented investment in addressing homelessness for the city of Redmond. Other local governments, like the city of Bend and Deschutes County, have made similar investments with rescue plan funding as the homeless pop- ulation continues to grow in Central Oregon. But half of the Redmond City Council pushed back at a meeting Tuesday, instead ad- vocating for all of the money to go toward the public safety facility. About $450,000 will go to Bethlehem Inn, a nonprofit that is converting a hotel into a high-barrier homeless shelter, which means someone needs to be sober to stay there. This amount will match $450,000 given by Deschutes County to help close a funding gap for the shelter, which is primar- ily funded through the state- funded Project Turnkey grant. Another $300,000 will go to Shepherd’s House Ministries, a nonprofit seeking to open a low-barrier shelter in the city. Keychain Continued from A1 Ten separate allegations made by members of the public in early May were de- termined to be either “un- founded” or “not sustained,” according to the chief’s find- ings report. Capt. Nick Parker, head of the patrol bureau, went a step further in a letter to Krantz, de- claring Spano “exonerated” of the keychain-related allegation. Krantz did, however, write that while conducting the in- vestigation, he encountered departmental policies in need of revision, including those re- lating to uniforms, outside em- ployment and social media. Though its roots are in an- cient Greek history, the term “MOLON LABE” has been used more recently as a defiant battle cry by groups including Second-Amendment support- ers and U.S. military Special Forces, according to the inves- tigative report written by Bend Police Lt. Juli McConkey. McConkey’s investigation included consultation with local military recruiters who confirmed the patches visible in Spano’s vehicle in social me- dia posts were consistent with those often exchanged and col- lected by military members, her report states. McConkey interviewed Spano on June 2. They were joined by his attorney, Angela Lee, and the head of city hu- man resources, and the Bend Police Association. Spano said in the interview he’d used the keychain while on-duty for at least 11 years, in Bend and at his previous job with the Medford Police De- Kozowski said he was follow- ing the direction of a super- visor. Another disciplinary strike against Kozowski received me- dia attention at the time. The deputy was dinged for wearing his uniform during a televised debate in the sheriff’s race. Nelson was also in uniform but said that as elected sheriff, he was “always on duty.” In a short public statement announcing Kozowski’s fir- ing, Nelson said, “We’ve had a number of people in the past who have degraded the pub- lic’s trust. I don’t want those people working here. I am committed to the highest level of standards and professional- ism in this office.” In February 2018, follow- ing his termination, Kozowski filed his lawsuit in federal court alleging Nelson violating his First Amendment rights along with Oregon’s law pro- tecting whistleblowers. Kozowski named Nelson and sheriff’s Capt. Paul Gar- rison separately in the suit. Garrison conducted the initial internal investigations into Ko- zowski. Kozowski filed a complaint with the Oregon Department of Justice, but department in- vestigators were “unable to corroborate” his claims. Ko- zowski did get a victory when Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel de- clined to add Kozowski’s name to the local “Brady” list of po- lice officers found to have been deceptive in the past, finding that Kozowski had not lied nor misled. The Deschutes County Commission in consultation with Nelson, declined to set- tle with Kozowski numerous times. If the county is found liable in the case, payment would come from the coun- ty’s risk fund. If the liability exceeds the county’s rate of self-insurance — $1 million — the county’s insurance com- pany would pay the portion in excess, according to county at- torney David Doyle. Kozowski and his Bend- based attorney, Michael Mc- Gean, declined to comment for this article. Nelson was reelected in No- vember, defeating Bend Police officer Scott Schaier, who also criticized Nelson for lagging behind the times on crucial issues like representation and employee morale. Several months after the 2016 election, the sheriff’s policy handbook was revised to directly state that the sheriff may appear at election events while in uniform. The rest of the money will go toward the Oasis Village, a project in part orchestrated by the nonprofit Jericho Road to create a managed camp where people can legally camp. The proposal to use a por- tion of the rescue plan fund- ing came from Councilor Ed Fitch, who was one of three councilors on a subcommit- tee that helped decide how the money should be allocated. He argued it was crucial to in- vest in solutions for homeless- ness before the problem gets bigger. Fitch also considers it a moral issue. “Each meeting we start with a prayer...if there was any mes- sage Jesus Christ conveyed to us, it’s that we have compas- sion for those who are less for- tunate than we are,” Fitch said Tuesday. But the two other coun- cilors on the subcommittee, Shannon Wedding and Kris- anna Clark-Endicott, argued all of the rescue plan funding should go toward the public safety facility. Clark-Endicott, who is mar- ried to Mayor George Endi- cott, said in the meeting that the root cause of homelessness is mental illness and drug ad- diction, and that those are is- sues the county is funded to address, not the city. “If the city uses city-allo- cated funds to solve coun- ty-assigned issues, is the county going to pay to solve city-assigned issues?” she said. But James Cook, a mem- ber of the Homeless Lead- ership Coalition of Central Oregon, pushed back against Clark-Endicott’s premise in the public comment section of the meeting, saying people become homeless for a diverse set of reasons. “That’s a lie. It’s wrong, and it’s an easy excuse to try to not accept responsibility for peo- ple in this community,” Cook said. In the end, the council voted 4-3 to move forward with Fitch’s recommendation, with Wedding, Clark-Endicott and the mayor voting against. Endicott said he supported Bethlehem Inn’s project, but did not “feel strongly” about the rest, without elaborating on why. partment, where he worked from 2008 to 2015. He said he wears it to honor his oaths to the military and law enforce- ment and denied that it rep- resents any antigovernmental sentiment. The internal investigation caused Spano to learn the phrase has been “hijacked” by extremists like the Three Per- centers and white suprema- cists, McConkey wrote. As a result of the investiga- tion, Spano no longer uses the keychain, according to the re- port. Parker writes that although Spano did not receive formal approval to display his key- chain, his supervisors were aware of its existence and did not discourage him from wear- ing it while on duty. Parker ac- knowledges that had he known more about the term “MO- LON LABE,” he might have acted differently. “Unfortunately, I did not take more care in this situa- tion while researching what the phrase signified and appropri- ately apply the uniform policy,” Parker wrote. “Had I done that then this situation could have potentially been avoided.” McConkey also found no evidence to substantiate claims Spano violated policies with a private business he’s estab- lished in Oregon, Sage Steppe Outdoors, with a listed address of the Bend Police station. In his findings report, Krantz ordered that Spano re- ceive a debriefing on the de- partment’s rules for maintain- ing outside employment. He further wrote the department should develop rules for use of the police headquarters ad- dress for personal businesses. e e Reporter: 541-383-0325, gandrews@bendbulletin.com Reporter: 541-633-2160, bvisser@bendbulletin.com McConkey further found no evidence to support a com- plaint Spano violated policy by using a notebook reading, “People to Kill” on the front, seen on his personal Instagram page. The notebook was sold con- taining blank pages and deter- mined to be satirical. Inside the notebook, Spano had written notes for an upcoming class he was to teach, according to Mc- Conkey. The claims against Spano were submitted by members of the activist group Central Or- egon Peacekeepers. Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel has accused Krantz of harboring an “obsession” with the Peacekeepers, by singling out the group’s members for arrests and enhanced surveil- lance because they’re critical of police. On May 1, Spano responded to a trespassing call at the Les Schwab Tire Center on Frank- lin Avenue in Bend. During the call, Peacekeeper Mike Satcher was cited for trespassing, ac- cording to the investigative re- port. He did not “accept” the citation when Spano placed it in his lap. As Satcher left the area, he made a comment about Spano’s keychain, the report states. Satcher was never charged with the offense by the De- schutes County District Attor- ney’s office. The Peacekeepers posted a photo on Facebook showing Spano in uniform during the incident at Les Schwab. On May 3, the complaints were filed with Bend Police. They included the photo of Spano as well as others pulled Nicole Bales/The Bulletin The Redmond School Board met Wednesday for a special meeting to discuss the governor’s mask mandate. Redmond Continued from A1 The packed auditorium at Redmond High School erupted in cheers and clapping after Summers read the resolution that demanded Brown return decision making to local au- thorities. “As a parent, I feel like my rights have been stripped, and it was, ‘shut up and do what we tell you,’” Summers said. “And that doesn’t go over very well. “There are ramifications for this. I fully understand that,” he said. “I’m not trying to with- hold somebody’s options. I’m trying to add one more.” The board voted 4-1 in favor of considering the resolution. Liz Goodrich was the lone vote in opposition and said the ram- ifications “are very serious.” “You’re asking people to put their licenses on the line,” Go- odrich told Summers after the board was told noncompliance could be met with fines and loss of licensure for administra- tors and teachers. “You’re ask- ing people to put personal lia- bility on the line. That is a lot. “There are parts of this man- date that I’m not happy with ei- ther,” said Goodrich as she was heckled by the audience. “That said, I believe the masks are a part of the puzzle to keep our kids in school in person in a safe and healthy way.” She said she appreciates Summers putting the resolu- tion together and asked that they work together to craft it. The board however, chose Chairwoman Shawn Hartfield to work with Summers. The board discussed how to proceed with summer school programs in the meantime. Jill Cummings, a new member to the board, asked whether sum- mer school should be canceled since the board does not have from his social media pages suggesting he supported ex- tremist groups or ideolo- gies. They included photos of patches on the dashboard of his private vehicle and the “People to Kill” notebook. A call to the Peacekeepers was not returned Thursday. After the posts, Peacekeep- ers submitted complaints to Hummel. Spano responded in a letter to Hummel defending himself and highlighting past actions that he says demon- strates his fairness as an offi- cer, such as when he arrested a fellow military veteran for an alleged race-based assault at the Red Robin in Bend. “All I would ask is just like those of us that perform the duties of Police Officers, be a finder of fact, don’t be influ- enced due to social pressure, and represent the commu- nity you serve with pride and not prejudice,” Spano wrote to Hummel. Spano did not return a call time to make a decision regard- ing masks. Superintendent Charan Cline shook his head. He said that although the mandate was effective Aug. 2, he delayed enforcement until the board could meet. He said masks would be required, effective Thursday. “The board doesn’t have to do anything,” Cline told the board. “The order’s in place. The regulations are in place. We just simply have to start en- forcing. The board doesn’t ac- tually have the authority to not enforce it.” Angry parents left the au- ditorium, some saying they would not bring their children to summer school the next day. The Redmond School Dis- trict began its summer school programs in early August, rec- ommending masks instead of requiring them. Other Central Oregon school districts, in- cluding Crook County, Culver and Jefferson County, also re- jected the mandate when it was announced but have softened their tone. Crook County School Dis- trict was met with backlash during a meeting on Monday after announcing it would “ac- knowledge” the mask mandate. The school board, however, said the mandate would not be enforced. A Jefferson County School District spokesperson told The Bulletin on Thursday that it will comply with the mandate. Culver School District Su- perintendent Stefanie Garber said the school board will dis- cuss whether or not to comply during a meeting in late August. Throughout Central Oregon, venue spaces for school board meetings have moved from classrooms to auditoriums as attendance grows. While de- bates over masking have taken center stage, the issue often gets overshadowed by parents and others protesting teachings re- lated to race and gender. The Redmond School Board’s discussion on the mask mandate Wednesday followed presentations and discussions with Colt Gill, the director of Oregon Department of Edu- cation, and Deschutes County Public Health officials. Throughout the meeting, the audience laughed at, talked over and heckled Gill and lo- cal public health officials while they appeared virtually to pres- ent data, information and an- swer the board’s questions. Phrases including, “Fake data,” “cite your source,” “how much are they paying you?” and “we’re not listening,” were shouted from the crowd. “The vaccine does nothing,” some- one else shouted. “It’s poison,” another added. During public comment, people who spoke in favor of masks were also heckled. Board members, teachers and other parents opposed to masks talked about the toll wearing masks have had on students’ mental health. Barry Branaugh, a long- time teacher in the Redmond School District, said that while he agrees students’ mental health has suffered, he thinks part of the blame lies with the adults. “As a community, we have not sent consistent messages as to why we make these hard choices,” Branaugh said. “I be- lieve kids’ resiliency will come forward if the adults can unify around a message that, while we don’t like having to wear masks, we’re going to because we want to protect them and our community and then we model that behavior.” and an email seeking comment. Spano was given a contin- gent job offer by the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office though he is still going through the hiring process, sheriff’s spokes- man Sgt. Jayson Janes con- firmed Thursday. 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