TWO - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, September 7, 2022
The Official Newspaper
of the City of Heppner and the County of Morrow
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Administrator files
$750,000 lawsuit
Continued from page one
Green. (Darrell was then
serving as not only the
LPHA Director but as the
county administrator.)
In her BOLI complaint
Debra alleges that county
Human Resource Director
Lindsay Grogan issued a
disciplinary action against
her “claiming that I should
not have sent the email
to the LPHA because the
director is my husband.
Prior to my whistleblow-
ing activities, respondent
(Morrow County) had no
problems with my com-
munication with the LPHA
and never informed me
that I should not contact
them”.
She was then told not
to contact the LPHGA
“because of my family re-
lationship,” and to contact
Rivera, and with the next
step-up reporting to coun-
ty counsel Justin Nelson.
After becoming a whis-
tleblower Debra says she
never received a response
to her reporting the alleged
document falsifying inci-
dents to the county.
Following the investi-
gation and included in his
termination letter Bischof
said the inquiry showed
“that not only is Deb con-
tinuing to engage in mis-
conduct, but the Nepotism
Compliance Agreement
is not having the desired
effect.” He said the in-
vestigation showed that
Darrell violated the nep-
otism agreement and that
employees of the health
department “who have
been uncomfortable in the
work environment due to
concerns of real or per-
ceived nepotism between
the two of you and have a
concern that if Deb doesn’t
like an employee, it could
adversely affect that em-
ployee’s career opportu-
nities with the County,”
Bischof said.
The letter concluded that
in accordance with county
policy on relatives and
family members working
together the county is giv-
ing them both “30 days
to decide which one of
you will resign from em-
ployment. It has become
evident that it is no longer
feasible to have you both
working for the County.”
Neither resigned and both
were subsequently fired.
Bischof also said none
of Debra’s allegations
about retaliation by the
county for whistleblowing
were substantiated by the
investigation.
Wrongful discharge
In the second claim of
his lawsuit Darrell says
according to state law “an
employee should not be
discharged solely because
of the employment of an-
other family member so
long as the employee is not
in a position of exercising
supervisory, appointment or
grievance authority over the
member of that employee’s
family.” And Darrell says
at no time after December
of 2020 was he his wife’s
supervisor.
Darrell says he had a le-
gal right to refuse the coun-
ty’s ultimatum to resign
as demanded in Bischof’s
letter, and thus when the
county fired him it was a
wrongful discharge.
The complaint says Dar-
rell has incurred and contin-
ues to incur loss of income
from the county’s actions,
including $25,000 to date
and either reinstatement
as county administrator or
“in lieu of reinstatement”
$225,000 in “front pay”
or an amount that will be
“determined more fully at
trial.”
Violation of open
meetings law
In the third claim of
his lawsuit Darrell Green
charges that Morrow Coun-
ty violated state public
meetings laws by “consid-
ering and deliberating about
the investigative report”
(outlined above) outside of
a public meeting or execu-
tive session and determin-
ing in those illegal meetings
that either Darrell or Debra
should be terminated.
Darrell also claims the
county did not provide him
with notice of the meeting
and an opportunity request
an open meeting as required
by Oregon law.
He says county officials
held other meetings to talk
over complaints against
him outside of regular or
executive sessions and
without notifying him as
is required by law, which
would have allowed him to
request an open meeting for
those discussions also.
Judgements Green is
seeking include $25,000 in
back pay and reinstatement
as county administrator. In
lieu of reinstatement he is
seeking $225,000 in front
pay or payment to compen-
sate an employee in a man-
ner such that the violation
never occurred, $500,000
for mental stress, humili-
ation and inconvenience,
and the county paying his
attorney fees.
DEADLINE:
MONDAYS
AT 5PM
Why I Like Christine
Christine Drazon was
introduced by Greg Smith
at a recent meeting of
Morrow County Repub-
licans. I had barely heard
of her till then but feel
like I actually know her
now. Why? Several reasons.
Greg Smith is a very
well respected representa-
tive for our district and I
trust his judgement. Greg
was extremely well pleased
with Christine’s perfor-
mance as a true conserva-
tive while serving as an
elected representative in
her district. In checking
her voting record I found
that it backs up Greg’s
assessment completely.
Also, she is a choice,
not an echo to quote an-
other conservative woman
from years gone by. Clearly
Christine is a choice for
positive conservative lead-
ership in Salem. Leadership
which has been sorely lack-
ing during the past decade.
The echo in this race is
clearly Betsy Johnson. I
also checked Betsy’s vot-
ing record . Betsy has been
a democrat for years and
years and has m0st always
voted the party line in Sa-
lem. She now identifies as
an Independent and says
she will follow neither the
Democrat or the Repub-
lican line. However just
because someone identifies
as one thing does not mean
that they are not the same
old thing. In her case she
is really a Democrat at
heart and her future per-
formance can rightfully
be assumed to parallel her
past performance. Don’t be
fooled by her current identi-
fication as an Independent.
Another reason to like Chris-
tine is because she is tough
when toughness is called for.
Remember the Repub-li-
can walk out of the state a
few years ago in order to
avoid voting on a crippling
carbon initiative. Chris-
tine was the Republican
who had the guts to lead
her caucus on that walk
out. How great was that?
Last but certainly not
least, Christine is strongly
pro-life and a strong sup-
porter of family values.
Besides all of the above
Christine has a firm
handshake all the while
looking you in the eye.
She also exudes firm-
ness and passion in her
speech and compassion
where compassion is due.
Christine has won me over
and I am sure the same ap-
plies to everyone who was
present at the the meeting.
How about you? Won’t you
please vote for a great choice
this time and not merely
an echo? Please do so.
Jack Meligan
Heppner
Mediation could help
end ambulance dispute
Continued from page one
sioner meeting Boardman
Fire Chief Michael Hughes
had asked for something
similar, suggesting that a
problem-solving group be
formed to address the issue
and look for a solution to
the dispute.
Hughes asked Doherty
to consider appointing a
committee to work out solu-
tions to the dispute. “You
suggested a couple of times
that the health district and
the fire district get together
and work on an ASA) plan
together. I would like to
take advantage of that by
suggesting that you appoint
Deputy District Attorney
Zach Williams to oversee a
committee so we can form
a more up to date modern
ASA,” Hughes said. He
said the current plan has
been in place since 1991
and needs to be updated
and suggested that a diverse
group of community lead-
ers be formed to look into it.
Hughes said he would like
to see two representatives
each from both the health
district and the fire district,
representatives from the
sheriff office, Boardman
Police Department, and the
cities of Heppner, Lexing-
ton, Irrigon and Boardman
on the committee. He also
doesn’t want either the
health or fire district’s at-
torneys there.
“We come together and
put an ASA plan together
that Mister Williams can
bring back to the county
commission for recommen-
dation,” Hughes proposed.
“That way I believe we
have balance and input
from different cities be-
cause they are going to have
different needs and wants
depending on the size of the
community,” he explained.
“I have come to you to ask
if you would consider mak-
ing this happen,” he asked.
“Certainly, I think when
we have come together
the last couple of years
and the board has been
supportive of the health
care folks and yourself,
trying to work things out,”
Doherty responded. “Ulti-
mately, we are tasked with
the best expected health
care through the folks that
do those kinds of things.
Certainly we would con-
sider that,” Doherty told
Hughes at the time.
Red Barn Fun Run
this Saturday Sept. 10
The Red Barn Fun Run
is this Saturday Sept. 10.
There will be a 5k, 2mile,
1 mile run/walk. Register
is the morning of the run
starting at 7:45 am. The
race starts at 8:30 am at the
LDS Church located at the
corner of Tom Street and
Highway 74 in Lexington.
The course is flat and paved
and everyone is invited.
Cost is $15 to run/walk and
tee shirts cost $5 wit5h the
proceeds going to the Hep-
pner Cross Country Team.
Celebration of life for Bob Riddle
A celebration of life for
Robert (Bob) Riddle will
be held September 18 who
died September 3,2020.
The celebration will also
be for his sister Anna Marie
(Winters) Buck who died
September 17, 2020. Cele-
bration will start at the Echo
Cemetery at 10:00 for Anna
Marie and then gather at the
Hermiston Cemetery for
Bob Riddle at 11:00 with
a old fashioned Winters/
Riddle family picnic meal
to follow at the Hermiston
Senior Center 255 NE 2nd
street at 12:00. Please join
as for any of the gatherings
or all of them. “We would
love to have you join us for
stories during the meal,”
said a family member.
Time to deal with Amazon
the elephant in county
To the Editor:
It is time for Morrow
County to deal with the
quandary of an elephant in
the room, in these case in
the county. The Oregonian
Sunday front page article,
“How leaders in a small
Oregon town positioned
themselves for an Amazon
‘windfall,” (Mike Rogo-
way, Oregonian, 9/4/22)
is a must read for Morrow
County tax payers. Morrow
County officials encour-
aged “Amazon with tax
breaks worth nearly 50
million a year, a bonan-
za for one of the world’s
wealthiest companies…and
a bonanza for a few of the
public officials, too, as it
turns out.” (op.cit. p. 1 Ro-
goway) The elephant, Am-
azon and the officials they
enrich, “wants to condemn
farmland to make way for
Amazon’s power lines…
(and has received) generous
tax breaks which means less
revenue for local schools” (
op.cit. p. 14 Rogoway) plus
higher water and electric
rates for county residents.
In this case 12,000 Morrow
County residents that must
subsidize Amazon because
“Amazon is benefitting
mightily from the deals it
cuts from local officials.”
(op.cit. p. 14 Rogoway)
And it is going to get worse.
“The projected Amazon ex-
pansion in Morrow County
will further enrich some of
those same public officials
who helped arrange the
land sales or negotiated the
tax breaks.”(op. cit. P. 14
Rogoway).
So the question that begs
to be asked: Who has been
negotiating tax breaks for
Amazon while positioning
themselves for a windfall?
In 2016 Inland Develop-
ment Corp. a nonprofit
Morrow County fiber optic
company, created a subsid-
iary- Windwave Commu-
nications- to serve private
business, primarily for Am-
azon. Windwave revenues
soared to 9.8 million in
2017. “All four owners of
Windwave held position on
Inland’s nonprofit board be-
fore they created their own
for profit fiber optic com-
pany…The Port Morrow
approved land sales and tax
breaks in 2017, even while
Port commissioners Jerry
Healy and Marv Padberg
were negotiating to buy
Windwave.” (op. cit. p.
15 Rogoway) “Morrow
County Commissioner Don
Russell, Windwave’s fourth
buyer, voted to approve
tax breaks in his role on
the county commission
and led the enterprise zone
board that negotiated the
incentives… After acquir-
ing Windwave they stood
to benefit personally from
that growth as Amazon
bought more fiber for it’s
new data centers.” (op.cit.
p. 15 Rogoway).
Amazon is currently ne-
gotiating new tax breaks for
five additional data centers
collectively worth $12 bil-
lion dollars. They are nego-
tiating tax breaks from the
same port commissioners
and county commissioner
that own Windwave and
stand to profit from pro
Amazon tax subsidies.
The sale of Windwave
to county and port officials
raises serious questions
according to University of
Washington finance profes-
sor Jarrad Harford. (op.cit.
p. 16 Rogoway). 1) “The
sale agreement did include
a requirement that neither
party notify customers of
the transaction and also
required that they also not
disclose it publically or in
a press release.” (op.cit. p.
15 Rogoway). 2) Accord-
ing the non profits bylaws
the sale from Inland to
Windwave was not legal as
only two of the five mem-
ber board voted “short of
the quorum required.” (op.
cit. p. 15 Rogoway) 3)
Inland loaned some of the
purchase price “far below
market borrowing cost.”
(op.cit. p. 15 Rogoway)
4) “Oregon law generally
bars nonprofits from mak-
ing loans to their board
members.” (op. cit. p. 16
Rogoway) 5) The nonprof-
it sold the business without
seeking any competition
using an analysis with
disputed assumptions and
unusual features that re-
duced the purchase price.”
(op.cit. p. 14 Rogoway)
The sweetheart deals
the Port and County made
with Amazon from 2016-
20 “saved Amazon $161
million over the past five
years including $47 mil-
lion last year.”(op.cit. p.
16 Rogoway) The reason
Jim Doherty is the subject
of an attempted recall is
his opposition to contin-
ued sweetheart deals for
Amazon at the expense
of Morrow County tax
payers. Don Russell has
led the charge to recall
Doherty. He is president
of the enterprise zone that
negotiates with Amazon
for its tax breaks and large-
ly controls distribution of
payments the company
makes that partially offset
these incentives.
It is imperative for
Morrow County citizens
to demand no more sweet-
heart deals for Amazon.
The present politically
controlled enterprise tax-
ing zone system allows
Amazon and those that
profit from Amazon (the
elephant in the county)
to control who gets the
tax bonanza. Amazon
needs Morrow County not
visa versa. They need our
water, our electricity, our
land, and favors from some
of our elected officials.
“Power from Morrow
County’s electric utility
is 540% dirtier than it was
before Amazon arrived.”
(op. cit. p. 14 Rogoway) It
is time to end the Amazon
enterprise zone tax scheme
that is pitting city against
city and leaves Morrow
County taxpayers to foot
the bill. The present enter-
prise zone taxing scheme
will continue to cause di-
vision, resentment, and
divide North against the
South until no official of
integrity will be able to
stand.
No more tax deals for
Amazon until the funds are
distributed fairly (schools,
health, roads, libraries, etc)
and the Amazon tax rate is
negotiated by elected offi-
cials with 1) no conflict of
interest, 2) that represent
taxpayers and 3) honor the
heritage of integrity set by
our forefathers.
Stuart Dick
Morrow
SWCD to
meet
Morrow SWCD will meet
Tuesday, September 13th
beginning at 6pm at the Ag
Service Center in Heppner.
To join via Zoom or con-
ference call, please contact
the SWCD beforehand at
541-676-5452. Meetings
of the Morrow SWCD are
open to the public.