NEWS
MyEagleNews.com
Wednesday, April 22, 2020
A5
Deputizing commissioners doesn’t District upholds coach’s termination for
having drink at dinner with students
appear to violate state laws
Sheriff Palmer refuses
to answer questions
about authority of
non-certified special
deputies in interacting
with public
By Steven Mitchell
Blue Mountain Eagle
Sheriff Glenn Palmer’s
deputization of two county
commissioners does not
appear to violate state nepo-
tism and conflict of interest
laws.
Grant County Commis-
sioners Sam Palmer, the sher-
iff’s brother, and Jim Hamsher
said they have been depu-
tized, though County Clerk
Brenda Percy said no record
has been filed with her for the
appointments.
Glenn Palmer refused to
answer questions about the
deputies, but Hamsher and
Sam Palmer addressed con-
cerns about perceived con-
flicts of interest because the
Grant County Court provides
oversight of all county depart-
ments, including the sheriff’s
office, and sets department
budgets.
Sam Palmer said he volun-
teers as a nurse on a tactical
team with Undersheriff Zach
Mobley and is a search and
rescue volunteer.
“I do both for free, and
under Oregon law (that) pres-
ents no actual or perceived
conflict of interest,” Sam
Palmer said.
State nepotism laws pro-
hibit public employees from
directly supervising relatives,
but the laws do not apply
for someone supervising a
volunteer.
Ronald A. Bersin, the exec-
utive director of the Oregon
Government Ethics Commis-
sion, said a conflict of interest
only exists in the legal sense
if there is a private monetary
benefit for the party in ques-
tion. In terms of a conflict on
the sheriff’s part, Bersin said a
The Eagle/Steven Mitchell
Grant County Sheriff Glenn
Palmer said in an email Mon-
day that he has had a longtime
policy of not speaking to the
media.
benefit for the sheriff’s office
budget would not amount to a
private benefit for the sheriff.
“A conflict of interest only
exists if there is a private
pecuniary benefit to the sher-
iff,” Bersin said. “Any budget
benefit to his office would not
qualify as a statutory conflict
of interest, because it contains
no private pecuniary benefit to
the sheriff.”
A conflict of interest could
occur, for example, if the
county commissioners voted
to pay emergency operations
center volunteers, including
themselves, which would pro-
vide them with a private mon-
etary benefit.
Hamsher said people con-
cerned about how the situation
presents a conflict of interest
should also consider that the
budget committee consists of
the two commissioners, the
county judge and three citi-
zens at large, so the commis-
sioners cannot set the budget
themselves.
Hamsher said each mem-
ber of the court serves as a
liaison to seven county depart-
ments, and he is assigned to
the sheriff’s office. He said
being deputized gives him
more access to confidential
law enforcement informa-
tion that allows him to weigh
in on personnel issues within
the sheriff’s office before they
become problems.
“Jim is privileged to a lot
of information and knows the
goings-on of my office,” Sher-
iff Palmer said in a Facebook
post.
Hamsher said, despite the
access to confidential law
enforcement databases, he
does not enforce the law, make
traffic stops or make arrests.
Another concern regard-
ing the role of special deputies
within the sheriff’s office is
the liability to the county. The
county’s insurer, Citycounty
Insurance Services, said in an
email forwarded to the Eagle
that the coverage agreement
covers Grant County elected
officials, employees and
authorized volunteers — but
they did not answer if special
deputies, who are not certified
by the state, would be cov-
ered in the event of a wrongful
death or civil rights violation.
The Eagle emailed Sher-
iff Palmer requesting a phone
interview with the ques-
tions provided ahead of time
to allow him to prepare. The
Eagle offered to record the
audio and run it alongside
the online article to ensure
fairness and accuracy in the
reporting.
Sheriff Palmer refused to
answer questions about the
authority of non-certified dep-
uties when interacting with
the public, about the sheriff’s
office’s relationship with the
COVID-19 emergency opera-
tions center and whether other
non-certified people had been
deputized.
“It has been my policy for
quite some time to not respond
to media requests of any sort,”
Sheriff Palmer replied in an
email. “From what I have
seen it hasn’t been fair nor
accurate.”
Sheriff Palmer has not con-
tacted the Eagle about any
inaccurate information. It has
long been the Eagle’s policy
to promptly correct any inac-
curate information online and
to publish a correction in the
next print edition.
By Rudy Diaz
Blue Mountain Eagle
The Grant School Board
upheld the termination of a
dance coach who was fired
for having a drink during din-
ner with students.
In a hearing April 15,
Ashleigh Romero, the for-
mer Grant Union High
School
dance
coach,
appealed the decision to ter-
minate her employment as a
coach due to an incident on
Feb. 21.
On the day of the incident,
the team traveled to Sher-
wood, and once they arrived
there, the team decided to
eat at Red Robin for dinner.
While there, Romero ordered
a chicken tender salad and a
Red’s Margarita. After dinner,
the team made a quick trip to
Target and then departed to
the hotel, according to the let-
ter submitted by Romero to
the board.
“I wasn’t at a dance prac-
tice or dance competition so
I felt as though (since there
was a bus driver and I was not
behind the wheel), that one
drink wouldn’t harm my rep-
utation or job,” Romero said.
“My intent by ordering one
margarita at dinner wasn’t to
lose my livelihood.”
Grant Union Junior-Senior
High School Principal Ryan
Gerry told the board, Cindy
Nelson, the transportation
director, contacted him to say
her bus driver saw Romero
consume alcohol during din-
ner with the team. Gerry con-
tacted Romero the night of
the incident to confirm the
statement, and Romero con-
firmed that she did consume
alcohol.
Gerry notified Romero
that the team was not going
to compete and head back
to John Day the following
morning.
“At that point, I reached
out to Mr. Uptmor to inform
him of the situation, and it
was determined at that point
that she was on administra-
tive leave,” Gerry said. “They
returned, and I scheduled a
time to meet with Romero on
Monday.”
Gerry investigated the sit-
uation and contacted the bus
driver and two of the dance
members to confirm the inci-
dent and give their sides of the
story. After the investigation,
Gerry and Romero met on the
Monday after the incident.
Romero told Gerry that
she did drink during dinner,
but stated that she was not
aware she was not allowed
to drink with students. Gerry
told the board he talked to
her about the National Fed-
eration of State High School
Associations fundamentals of
coaching, which all coaches
have to take for certification.
Gerry said the NFHS certifi-
cation course talks about the
code of ethics that coaches
must have and the influence
they have on students, and
it talks about not consuming
alcohol or tobacco when in
contact with players.
“I understand that there
was an online coaching course
that mentioned drinking in
front of students, but I was
more or less under the impres-
sion that that meant at prac-
tices or events, not dinner the
night before,” Romero said.
According to the letter
Romero submitted, she said
Gerry provided her with a
coach’s manual, which she
felt she should have had long
before the incident. During
the final meeting between
Gerry and Romero on Feb. 25,
the decision was made to fire
Romero.
“Mr. Gerry conferred with
me on which direction to go,
and we really struggled with
this because Ashleigh was
somebody who was doing a
phenomenal job with our stu-
dents, and we liked the work
she was performing,” said
Grant School District Superin-
tendent Bret Uptmor. “When
we came to the conclusion
to terminate her, it was based
on the safety need for our
students.”
Uptmor said Romero sent
an email to him to appeal the
decision, but according to
board policy, the appeal goes
to the board.
Romero told the Eagle
after the decision that she
felt she was treated unfairly
because she has sources who
told her that other coaches had
both been caught drinking and
the administration swept that
under the rug as if they didn’t
know.
Haley Walker, a school
board member, asked if simi-
lar policies had been followed
in the past.
“Since I have been here, to
my knowledge, yes,” Uptmor
said. “If we know about it,
that’s the direction we will go
if there are other incidents that
involve a person that was in
supervision of our students.”
Although the decision was
upheld, the board members
acknowledged the great work
Romero did as a coach and her
ability to connect with the stu-
dents in her team.
“I would like her to know
that nothing takes away from
our gratitude for her hard
work, and it was clear she
has a lot of rapport with the
students and that’s wonder-
ful. She has impacted their
lives long-term in a positive
way,” said Colleen Robertson,
a board member. “When we
take our mission of protect-
ing students to heart, I have to
agree with the termination that
we can’t put our students in
harm’s way, and that is essen-
tially what she did.”
Romero said she believes
she is on good terms with the
school officials and she looks
toward the future for another
chance of being a coach again.
“I also want to reiterate my
absolute respect for Mr. Gerry,
Mr. Uptmor and Grant Union
Junior-Senior High School
faculty, staff and students and
parents,” Romero said. “I have
met with both Mr. Gerry and
Mr. Uptmor following my ter-
mination, and I believe I stand
in good terms with both... I
sincerely hope that despite my
termination they’ll consider
having me for the job as I am
the best, most experienced
person for this position.”
COPS AND COURTS
Arrests and citations in
the Blue Mountain Eagle are
taken from the logs of law
enforcement agencies. Every
effort is made to report the
court disposition of arrest
cases.
Grant County Sheriff
The Grant County Sher-
iff’s Office reported the fol-
lowing for the week of April
15:
Concealed
handgun
licenses: 0
Average inmates: 11
Bookings: 1
Releases: 3
Arrests: 1
Citations: 2
Fingerprints: 0
Civil papers: 5
Warrants processed: 1
A s s i s t a n c e / We l f a r e
check: 0
Search and Rescue: 0
Oregon State Police
April 12: OSP received
information that Matthew
Berna, 38, driving a small
burgundy pickup with Cal-
ifornia plates, had driven
at another motorist head on
near milepost 10 on Highway
395C to stop them and warn
them about a pending nuclear
attack. The motorist believed
Berna was under the influ-
ence of drugs and noted he
had blood on his hands. OSP
located Berna and his pickup
at a gas station in Canyon
City. Berna admitted to stop-
ping the other motorist to
warn them about the nuclear
attack. Berna had an extra-
ditable felony warrant out
of California for burglary.
OSP saw several indicators
of impairment while speak-
ing with the him. Berna con-
sented to field sobriety tests
and displayed further indi-
cators of impairment. Berna
admitted to smoking mari-
juana a couple hours before
OSP stopped him and later
admitted to smoking meth-
amphetamine a couple days
earlier. OSP took Berna into
custody and transported him
to Blue Mountain Hospi-
tal for treatment of a pre-ex-
isting injury. Doug’s Tow-
ing responded and towed the
vehicle. Hospital staff drew
blood for later analysis. Due
to Berna’s physical condi-
tion, he was unable to par-
ticipate in a drug influence
evaluation. OSP transported
Berna to the Grant County
Jail where OSP lodged him
for DUII-Controlled Sub-
stance and for a California
warrant.
April 13: OSP learned
of a 51-year-old male sub-
ject who was out of compli-
ance for failing to register
with the Oregon State Police
Sex Offender Registra-
tion. From interviews, OSP
learned the subject had left
the John Day area around
December 2019. The subject
had failed to complete his
annual registration on his
birthday, along with chang-
ing his address of residence.
A report is being forwarded
to the Grant County District
Attorney.
April 17: A criminal
search warrant was served
on a residence in Mt. Vernon
by a local agency. During
the search, unlawful game
animal parts were located.
The residence owner agreed
to release the game parts to
the game trooper. Several
dead heads were seized and
placed into evidence at the
OSP office in John Day.
Dispatch
John
Day
dispatch
worked 105 calls during the
week of April 13 to April 19,
including:
• John Day Police
Department
April 14: Dispatched for
an animal complaint on West
Main Street.
April 16: Received a
report of a missing person on
Northwest Canton Street.
April 17: Advised of a hit-
and-run crash at a business
on West Main Street.
• Oregon State Police
April 13: Advised of a
burglar alarm on Telephone
Drive.
April 15: Advised of pigs
on Highway 26 near mile-
post 142.
April 16: Advised of a
horse on Highway 26 near
milepost 156.
April 18: Advised of a
complaint regarding motor-
cycles speeding on Highway
26.
April 18: Advised of a
possible drunk driver on
West Main Street.
• Grant County Sheriff’s
Office
April 14: Advised of a
hit-and-run crash on Cotton-
wood Road.
April 16: Received a
report of theft on Brent Lane.
April 16: Received a
report of criminal mischief
on Council Drive.
April 16: Received a
report of a juvenile problem
in South Adams Road.
April 17: Along with OSP,
advised of a driving com-
plaint on Highway 26 near
Mt. Vernon.
April 17: Received a
report of assault on High-
way 26.
April 18: Received a
report of criminal mischief
on Highway 402.
April 18: Received a
report of theft on North Main
Street.
• John Day ambulance
April 13: Responded for a
woman who was intoxicated
and non-responsive on First
Avenue.
April 14: Dispatched for
an elderly woman who had
to be taken to a hospital.
April 16: Dispatched for
a man with high blood pres-
sure and chest pain on Valley
View Drive.
April 16: Dispatched for
a man with a possible blad-
der infection on Dog Creek
Road.
April 18: Responded to a
65-year-old man with tight-
ness in his chest and dif-
ficulty breathing on West
Main Street.
April 19: Responded to a
66-year-old woman on Park
Avenue.
• Seneca ambulance
April 15: Along with John
Day ambulance, responded
to a 73-year-old woman with
difficulty breathing.
April 18: Along with John
Day, responded for a 1-year-
old child having seizures.
• Canyon City fire
April 15: Responded to a
car fire on North Adams.
• Dispatch
April 17: Assisted a lost
hiker in Morrow County.
www.nsvrc.org/saam
#SAAM
#IAsk
© 2020 National Sexual Violence Resource Center. All rights reserved.
Heart of Grant County, 541-620-1342 • Grant County Victim Assistance Program, 541-575-4026. This project
was supported by Grant No. 2015-WR-AX-0008 awarded by the Office on Violence Against Women, U.S. Department of
Justice. The opinions, findings, conclusions, and recommendations expressed in this publication/ program/exhibition are
those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against
Women. Designed by the Blue Mountain Eagle. Remember: sex without consent = sexual assault
S181108-1