A18
News
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, April 13, 2016
JOB
Continued from Page A1
Eagle photos/Sean Hart
A desk in the John Day Dispatch Center includes a map monitor, a radio monitor, a multi-use monitor, a
keyboard, a radio, a telephone and a monitor displaying cameras on the premises.
CALL
Continued from Page A1
She said, while they take
all calls seriously, the ones
involving children and babies
are particularly heart-break-
ing.
“You just don’t forget
them,” she said.
But she said the job has its
beneits too.
“The best part about the job
is that you have the opportu-
nity to help someone,” Haney
said. “It’s one of the most re-
warding jobs I’ve ever had
— except for being a wife and
mom.”
According to Haney, the of-
ice usually sees an increased
number of calls at different
times of year for different rea-
sons: summer, for ire season;
winter, for weather-related ac-
cidents; and county fair in Au-
gust, when there are just more
people and activities going on
in the area.
There are ive dispatchers
in John Day: Don Speakman,
Hoodenpyl has since
retired and could not be
reached for comment.
Myers said he has no
negative feelings about
gays and lesbians, nor
does the county as a public
body. He said the county’s
policy manual does not
specifically mention sex-
ual orientation discrimi-
nation but that it would be
“amended post haste.” He
said adding sexual orien-
tation to the list of prohib-
ited discrimination cate-
gories in the manual is on
the agenda for the April
13 Grant County Court
meeting.
In a response to Han-
son’s complaint filed
with the court, the coun-
ty admitted Community
Corrections Department
Case Aide Roni Hickerson
used a derogatory term
referring to Hanson’s sex-
ual orientation during a
meeting that included dis-
cussion about applicants
for the community ser-
vice supervisor position
with Hoodenpyl, Juvenile
Counselor Cindy Tirico
and Parole and Probation
Officer James Gravley
Dec. 9, 2013. The county
maintained, however, the
remark did not influence
the hiring process.
Gravley
complained
to Hoodenpyl about the
vulgar comment the next
day. Gravley was fired
June 18, 2014, and filed
a complaint with the Ore-
gon Bureau of Labor and
Industries, claiming he
had been discriminated
against for complaining
about the comment. The
agency determined there
was “substantial evidence
to support the allegations
of discrimination” against
Gravley.
Gravley then filed a
lawsuit against the coun-
ty, which was dismissed
in March 2015 when the
county agreed to pay
$100,000 to settle the
case.
In response to Grav-
ley’s lawsuit, the county
said Hanson had previous-
ly worked for the county
performing juvenile trans-
ports and “quit her job af-
ter an outburst of anger.”
In response to Gravley’s
BOLI complaint, My-
ers said the group at the
Dec. 9, 2013, meeting
discussed that Hanson
“would not be considered
for the position due to this
outburst and how she han-
dled it.”
The map monitor at a desk at the John Day Dispatch Center.
This week, April 10-16, is National Public
Safety Telecommunications Appreciation Week.
Shiela Kowing, Angia Hanni-
bal, Kathie Maben and Haney.
Valerie Luttrell is the dispatch
manager.
Luttrell, who started as a
dispatcher in 1989, said the
The City of Mt. Vernon
seeks to fill two vacant positions on
their Budget Committee. If you are
at least 18 years of age, a qualified
City of Mt. Vernon resident for 1
year or more, a registered voter and
interested in being a Budget
Committee member,
applications are available
at the Mt. Vernon City Hall.
16th Annual Grant County
Q uilt Show
Presented by the Grant County Piecemakers Quilting Guild
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job can be extremely stressful,
going from boredom to terror
in seconds as a call comes
in.
She said dispatchers are the
“unsung heroes” between of-
icers and the public, and she
praised her staff for working
through the stress.
“We have some really good
dispatchers right now, some of
the best we’ve ever had,” she
said. “They don’t do the job
for notoriety but for the love
of the job and the satisfaction
from helping others.”
FLIGHTS
they’re willing to pay for
tickets, where they want to
fly and how frequently they
would use the service,” he
said.
Bentz
said
locals
Continued from Page A1
“We want to know if peo-
ple are interested, how much
Grant County Judge Scott Myers
shouldn’t expect the com-
mercial air service available
next month, but “at least in
the next year.”
Sen. Ted Ferrioli, R-John
Day, said regular air service
would be a boon to Grant
and surrounding counties.
“Time and distances are
always factors in business
decisions, but those issues
could become manage-
able if passenger and air
freight service is available
at state airports,” he said.
“Imagine how different
our business recruitment
conversations would be if
we could tell potential em-
ployers they can rely on
scheduled air services for
products and people to and
from other destinations
across the region?”
Ferrioli compared fund-
ing of rural air service to
the financial support the
state gives to commut-
er rail services in the I-5
corridor.
“I’ve been meeting with
regional airport managers
and economic development
partners asking for a fea-
sibility study to determine
how much it would cost to
provide regular, scheduled
air service to state airports
across all our rural areas,”
he said. “If we can do that
for rail passengers and
freight from Eugene to Port-
land, why can’t we do it for
small businesses willing to
locate in rural Oregon?”
PALMER
Continued from Page A1
Dispatch manager Valerie
Luttrell and Richard Gray both
iled complaints against Palmer
after the Jan. 26 incident with
the Department of Public Safe-
ty Standards and Training. The
state police licensing agency
recommended the complaints
be investigated by the Oregon
Department of Justice, which
has opened an investigation.
Boyd said Luttrell’s com-
plaints that Palmer “openly
shows his support” for the oc-
cupiers and “their cause on so-
cial media” are false, as is the
allegation he was “consorting
with” the occupiers. Similarly,
he said Richard Gray’s com-
plaints that Palmer shows “in-
volvement and support” for the
occupiers are false.
Boyd said both city employ-
ees consulted with City Manag-
er Peggy Gray before iling the
complaints on city letterhead
using their oficial email ac-
counts.
Peggy Gray said the city
does not comment on pending
litigation.
“This will eventually be re-
solved in the courtroom — and
until there is public resolution,
this statement will stand on its
own,” she said.