NEWS
MyEagleNews.com
John Day receives $2 million
for aquatic center construction
By Steven Mitchell
Blue Mountain Eagle
The city of John Day is getting $2
million to help fund the construction of an
aquatic center and $1 million for a new Kam
Wah Chung interpretive center.
The funding comes amid a fl urry of
spending at the end of the 2021 Oregon leg-
islative session — otherwise known as the
“Christmas Tree Bill” — which is a collec-
tion of local projects and programs.
Under Senate Bill 5534, $2 million in net
proceeds of lottery bonds will be allocated to
the city of John Day to construct an aquatics
center.
In House Bill 5006, the city was awarded
$1 million for the proposed Kam Wah Chung
interpretive center.
Nick Green, John Day city manager,
said the pool project would be a joint eff ort
between the city of John Day, the John Day/
Canyon City Parks and Recreation District
and the Oregon State Parks and Recreation
Department.
According to the legislation, the appropri-
ation will:
“Create jobs, further economic develop-
ment, fi nance public education, or restore and
protect parks, beaches, watersheds, and native
fi sh and wildlife, and is authorized based on
the fi nding that improving access to recre-
ation services will enhance the economic via-
bility of the region, create jobs and improve
the quality of life for the community.”
Green said the plan is to use the proceeds
of the sale of the old pool to go toward the
operations and maintenance costs.
He said this $2 million windfall would
reduce the pool’s cost by at least a third of the
original proposal of $6 million.
He said the Oregon State Parks and Recre-
ation Department provided separate funding
through the Integrated Parks System to build
a parking lot at the west end of the Seventh
Street Complex. Green said the parking lot
would be for both the pool and Little League
events.
Green said the city of John Day and Parks
and Rec provided the matching funds for that
grant.
He said, to cut costs, Parks and Rec off ered
a space for the new pool on the land they own
at Seventh Street.
“They worked collaboratively with the
city of John Day to come up with a plan for
the new pool that’s fi nancially viable,” he
said. “But we needed an assist from the city
of John Day and the state to get it done.”
Green said it was a “team eff ort” by three
diff erent agencies and the county’s state legis-
lators to help create a new pool that will last.
“Both of these investments will improve
the livability and fi nancial viability of Grant
County and will benefi t businesses and res-
idents who work in the services industry,”
Green said, “specifi cally at our local restau-
rants and lodging establishments that were
the hardest hit by COVID-19.”
The city of John Day abandoned plans to
ask for voter approval for a bond for construc-
tion and a taxing district for operations costs
for a replacement for Gleason Pool last year.
While Green said the city and Parks and
Rec would move forward with operations and
maintenance costs without going to the public
for fundraising, he said they might need some
additional fundraising to build the pool at the
scale that the community wants.
“We’d like to have a competition pool
that’s larger and a little bit colder and then a
warm water pool for aerobics and teaching
younger kids,” he said. “And that’s what’s in
the plan. We’d like to be able to build the full
plan, but the cost of the full plan is $6 million.
So, at $2 million. We’ve taken a third of the
cost off the table.”
Green said they might be able to come up
with some other funding sources to reduce
any further costs or they might go out to the
public and ask if they want to put in some
money to build the facility as it was designed.
“Either way,” he said, “we’re going to
build something.”
Wednesday, June 30, 2021
A5
No public interest in deputy caught having
phone sex with inmate, attorney says
ees that do not
result in disci-
pline may not
be
disclosed
— unless the
public interest
requires disclo-
Dan Thenell
sure, or the pub-
lic body (in this
case, the county court) deter-
mines that nondisclosure of the
information would adversely
aff ect the confi dence of that
body.
Mobley spent 21 months
on administrative leave from
March 2019 until she resigned
in December 2020, cost-
ing county taxpayers between
$117,500 and $149,000, amid
investigations by Deschutes
County Sheriff ’s Offi ce, the
Oregon Department of Justice
and Umatilla County Sheriff ’s
Offi ce.
DOJ offi cials determined
through dozens of recorded jail
calls that Mobley was having
sexual conversations with for-
mer jail inmate Darren Morti-
more but concluded there was
not “a reasonable likelihood of
proving beyond a reasonable
doubt that Ms. Mobley commit-
ted the crime of custodial sex-
ual misconduct.”
Thenell said at the hearing
that the inmate was an intelli-
gent predator seeking out and
abusing vulnerable women,
including another former female
sheriff ’s offi ce employee.
He said Mobley had taken
responsibility for her actions.
He said she completed a diver-
sion for a driving under the
infl uence of intoxicants charge
and completed inpatient treat-
By Sean Hart
Blue Mountain Eagle
An attorney for the jail dep-
uty recorded having sexual
phone conversations with an
inmate said there was no public
interest in the matter and threat-
ened to sue the county if records
related to the investigation are
released.
Dan Thenell, general coun-
sel for the Fraternal Order of
Police union, argued that his
clients, former deputy Abigail
Mobley and her husband the
undersheriff , had been “vilifi ed”
based on “false accusations” at
a name clearing hearing June
23 off ered by the Grant County
Court, which has indicated it
plans to release records related
to the case to the Eagle that were
requested in October 2020.
“(Mobley) has been the vic-
tim of a vicious campaign to
defame her,” Thenell said.
Thenell said there was no
public interest in the records
because Mobley resigned from
her position at the sheriff ’s
offi ce, and the only reason to
release them would be to hurt
her.
He said, if the county releases
the records as planned, it would
present his client in a false light,
and he would have no choice but
to pursue a legal remedy. (False
light is a tort for which a lawsuit
could be fi led.)
Personnel discipline actions
are conditionally exempt from
disclosure under Oregon law
— unless the public interest
requires disclosure in the partic-
ular instance. Personnel investi-
gations of public safety employ-
ment for alcoholism.
“She was using alcohol to
cope with the pressures of the
job,” he said.
Thenell said Umatilla Coun-
ty’s investigation concluded
that Mobley violated the terms
of her employment but found
no evidence of sexual contact
or theft of drugs from the evi-
dence locker, which had been
alleged by former deputy Tyler
Smith. (The Eagle has not been
able to verify this because
those records have not yet been
released.)
Thenell said most of the
“false information” related to
the case came from Smith and
his girlfriend Haley Olson, each
of whom has a federal lawsuit
pending against the county.
Mobley did not speak at
the hearing. After Thenell
read prepared remarks, Grant
County counsel Dominic Car-
ollo asked why he opposed
the disclosure of the records
if they confirm everything he
says.
Thenell said the infor-
mation was “personal” and
“embarrassing” related to
Mobley’s “demons.”
After the hearing, Carollo
told the Eagle he could not
yet release the records because
Mobley has a pending tem-
porary restraining order filed
in circuit court to prevent the
release of the records. That
lawsuit had been on hold,
pending the name clearing
hearing.
“We don’t think their law-
suit has merit,” Carollo said
but added that the county has
to balance the legal issues.
COPS AND COURTS
Bookings: 5
Releases: 5
Arrests: 1
Citations: 4
Fingerprints: 2
Civil papers: 13
Warrants processed: 1
Assistance/Welfare check:
Arrests and citations in
the Blue Mountain Eagle are
taken from the logs of law
enforcement agencies. Every
eff ort is made to report the
court disposition of arrest
cases.
Grant County Circuit
Court
Tyler D. Dehiya, 27, John
Day, pleaded guilty June 24 to
unlawful possession of meth-
amphetamine committed on
Jan. 24, 2020. He was sen-
tenced to 10 days in jail and
18 months of probation. He
was ordered to pay $200 in
fi nes, complete 40 hours of
community service, obtain a
substance abuse assessment
within 30 days and attend
no fewer than two Narcot-
ics Anonymous meetings
per week. In a separate case,
Dehiya pleaded guilty June 24
to manufacture of metham-
phetamine committed on July
7, 2020. He was sentenced to
an additional 20 days in jail
and 24 months probation. He
was ordered to pay $200 in
fi nes and complete 40 hours of
community service. Charges
of delivery of methamphet-
amine, possession of metham-
phetamine and conspiracy to
commit a class B felony were
dismissed.
Grant County Sheriff
Search and Rescue: 0
June 22: Caleb Fechtig, 27,
John Day, driving under the
infl uence of intoxicants.
June 22: Daisy Goebel, 24,
John Day, violation of posted
speed, 85/55 zone.
June 18: Juvenile, 16, Mt.
Vernon, violation of posted
speed, 64/35 zone.
June 18: Sheila Fries, 52,
Kirkland, Washington, viola-
tion of posted speed, 47, 30
zone.
Grant County Justice
Court
Exceeding speed limit:
Bruce H. Devlin, 72, Sher-
wood, May 29, 85/65 zone,
fi ned $225; Kelby M. Kautz,
23, Burns, May 29, 79/65
zone, fi ned $265; Damon C.
Motz-Storey, 27, Portland,
May 31, 43/30 zone, fi ned
$165; Martin E. Anderson, 69,
Crooked River Ranch, May
31, 48/35 zone, fi ned $165;
Paula L. Harmen, 53, New
Albany, Ohio, May 26, 87/65
zone, fi ned $440; Douglas A.
Kinser, 49, Cottage Grove,
May 30, 75/65 zone, fi ned
$165; Scott X. Stevens, 59,
Bend, May 28, 35/25 zone,
fi ned $115; Kayle J. Rodri-
guez, 36, Prairie City, May 19,
75/65 zone, fi ned $165; Toby
28, ordered to attend dis-
tracted driving course.
Oregon State Police
June 14: Troopers from the
John Day work site responded
to a report of a domestic dis-
pute in progress on Cotton-
wood Street in Mt. Vernon.
A 46-year-old woman was
removed from the residence.
An intoxicated 38-year-old
man, Joshua T. Fleetwood,
was removed from the resi-
dence and transported to the
hospital. He was later lodged
in Grant County Jail on
unlawful fi rearms use charges.
No injures were reported.
June 19: A trooper stopped
a vehicle for failing to drive
within the lane near milepost
159 on Highway 26. There
was a moderate odor of alco-
hol coming from the vehicle.
The driver’s eyes were glassy
and bloodshot. The driver said
he drank one beer. He con-
tented to fi eld sobriety tests
where he displayed further
indicators of impairment. Jake
D. Reynolds, 28, was arrested
for driving under the infl uence
of intoxicants and transported
to Grant County Jail. A breath
test showed a blood alcohol
content of 0.05%. The trooper
issued Reynolds a citation.
Dispatch
John
Day
dispatch
responded to 196 calls for ser-
vice during the week of June
21-27, including:
• John Day Police
Department
June 22: A theft was
reported on West Main Street.
June 23: Responded with
Grant County Sheriff ’s Offi ce
for disorderly conduct on
West Main Street.
• Grant County Sheriff ’s
Offi ce
June 23: A fl ash fl ood was
reported at a residence on
Mooncreek Lane.
June 25: Responded to a
possible intoxicated driver on
Highway 395 in Seneca.
June 26: Cited Charles E.
P. Brown, 62, Baker City, for
speeding, 85/55 zone.
June 27: Responded to a
reported vehicle crash on Mt.
Ireland Lookout Road.
June 27: Assisted Oregon
State Police with a motorcy-
cle crash on Highway 26 near
milepost 201.
• John Day ambulance
June 21: Dispatched for a
possible heart attack on North-
west Seventh Avenue.
June 23: Responded with
Monument ambulance for a
77-year-old woman with cir-
culation problems on Top
Road.
June 24: Paged with
Long Creek ambulance for a
73-year-old woman who ran
out of oxygen on East Main
Street.
June 25: Responded to a
driver in distress on Highway
26 near milepost 173.
June 25: Responded for n
86-year-old man with cardiac
problems in Prairie City.
June 25: Responded for
a 74-year-old woman with
severe diarrhea on Railroad
Avenue.
June 26: Responded with
Monument ambulance for a
31-year-old woman with pos-
sible heat stroke on Manny
Neal Road.
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Retirement Center
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139101
The Grant County Sheriff ’s
Offi ce reported the following
for the week of June 30:
Concealed
handgun
licenses: 12
Average inmates: 9
0
L. Thomas, 35, Mt. Vernon,
May 19, 37/25 zone, fi ned
$165; Joshua D. Fisher, 37,
Madras, May 26, 38/25 zone,
fi ned $165; Luke R. Manning,
28, Eugene, May 27, 46/25
zone, fi ned $265.
Violation of basic rule:
Gregory D. Busse, 66, Kim-
berly, May 29, 90/55 zone,
fi ned $440; Nancy R. Jiminez,
38, Mt. Vernon, May 28,
70/55 zone, fi ned $165; Billy
M. Ferrell, 30, Cottage Grove,
May 28, 72/55 zone, fi ned
$165; Amy S. Converse, 46,
Bend, May 28, 75/55 zone,
fi ned $165; Dyklecia C. Pla-
zola, 29, Madras, May 31,
75/55 zone, fi ned $165; Kiana
L. Lewis, 18, Redmond, May
31, 75/65 zone, fi ned $165;
Cayce R. Englar, 29, Lacey,
Washington, May 25, 73/55
zone, fi ned $165.
Failure to use safety belt:
Charles C. Paulson, 44, Prai-
rie City, May 29, fi ned $115.
Driving while suspended:
Charles C. Paulson, 44, Prai-
rie City, May 28, fi ned $440.
Driving while using phone:
Juvenile, 17, John Day, May
714 Main St.
PO Box 386
Fossil, OR 97830
541 763-4651
havenhouse3@wix.com
S247944-1
EASTERN OREGON
2021
PHOTO CONTEST
Voting for ‘People’s Choice’
NOW OPEN
Vote online for People’s Choice from 12:01 am Monday,
June 21 through 11:59 pm Wednesday, June 30.
The winners will appear in the July 7th edition of Go Magazine;
the top 25 will appear online.
Gift cards to a restaurant of your choice will be awarded for fi rst, second and third place.
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