County paid $62,500
to settle employment
dispute
Fired Health Dept. employee
Debra Green agrees to drop all
complaints
50¢
VOL. 141
NO. 42
8 Pages
Wednesday, October 19, 2022
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Health District wants new mediator in
ambulance dispute
‘Escalating atmosphere of bullying and intimidation’
Apparently hiring a
mediator to help solve the
ongoing ambulance service
dispute between Boardman
Fire Rescue and the MOr-
row County Health District,
is not helping. At least not
with this mediator.
In an Oct. 7 letter to
the county commissioners
Morrow County Health
District board chair Ma-
rie Shimer said while the
district endorses engaging
a mediator to help settle
the dispute, an atmosphere
of verbal harassment has
taken over the talks. “We
strongly encouraged and
advocated for a mediation
process between the two
agencies. This needs to
happen in order to build
strength back into our
communities and county.
What we did not advocate
for was the atmosphere of
verbal harassment that has
developed over the last
few months and has con-
tinued during the first two
sessions of mediation and
has resulted in continued
attacks towards both the
mediator and MCHD (Mor-
row County Health District)
staff,” Shimer said. She
did not elaborate on what
those attacks were. Without
naming anyone she added
there was also “ongoing
unprofessional and uneth-
ical behavior coming from
other agencies.”
All parties in the
dispute say they hope to
see an end to the on-going
argument which has seen
the two districts battle over
who shall provide ambu-
lance service in the area.
The conflict has produced
accusations, caustic state-
ments and both sides hiring
attorneys. The county gov-
ernment is involved since
commissioners will be the
ones approving any license
for Boardman Fire’s ambu-
lances to transport patients.
Elizabeth Heckathorn
Last month Mor-
row County hired a profes-
sional mediator in hopes of
solving the long-simmer-
ing dispute, and, for the
job, Elizabeth Heckathorn
looked good on her resume.
“I believe my qualities as
a mediator and my knowl-
edge of the EMS (Emer-
gency Medical Services) &
Trauma system are the right
fit at the right time for this
opportunity with Morrow
County’s EMS system,” she
wrote.
When asked why the
health district decided it
did not want to continue
with Heckathorn, and, in-
stead, find a new mediator
after only two sessions, ad-
ministrator Emily Roberts
said: “We appreciate Liz’s
knowledge and efforts.
Unfortunately, the current
process has not resembled
traditional mediation and
has resulted in an escalat-
ing atmosphere of bullying
and intimidation. The rules
of mediation, which were
agreed to at the start by
all parties, have not been
followed or enforced. We
Recall petition validation results
ready ‘possibly next week’
Validating the signa-
tures on the recall petitions
filed against two Morrow
County commissioners last
Monday will not be com-
pleted until “possibly next
week,” County Clerk Bobbi
Childers told the Heppner
Gazette-Times this Mon-
day. Childers says she had
to take a break from the val-
idation process to prepare
for the ballot preparation
and mailing for the current
Nov. 8 election. The ballots
for that election will go into
the mail on Oct. 19 or 20.
Turned into the clerk
last Monday were 729 sig-
natures seeking a recall
vote on Commissioner Jim
Doherty, and 692 for a recall
of Commissioner Melissa
Lindsay. To proceed with
the county-wide vote the
clerk needs to examine the
petitions for the required
564 valid signatures needed
to proceed with the recall
election. If the required
signatures are validated,
then each candidate will be
given five days to decide if
they want to move forward
with the vote or resign. The
clerk will then have 30 days
to hold the recall election.
Renowned pianist to perform
in Heppner Saturday
John Nilsen
Yamaha Signature Piano
Artist John Nilsen will
appear in concert at the
Heppner United Methodist
Church this Saturday, Oct.
22, at 3 p.m. Nilsen is an “in
demand pianist combining
elements of classical, folk
and jazz.”
Born in Seattle in
1956 and raised in Port-
land, Nilsen began studying
classical piano at the age of
six. He added guitar to his
repertoire at the age of 14.
He graduated with a Bach-
elor of Arts in English from
Southern Oregon College
(Southern Oregon Uni-
versity) in 1979. In 1995,
the university honored
him with its Distinguished
Alumnus Award in recogni-
tion of his accomplishments
in performing arts.
Nilsen recorded three
successful piano records
before founding his own
Magic Wing recording la-
bel in 1987. Since then,
he has recorded 17 of his
own records as well as
other albums, with more
than a million copies sold
worldwide.
Nilsen has performed
in all 50 states and on four
continents, and is currently
recording his 21 st CD. He
also teaches songwriting
residencies and speaks to
students in school through-
out the country, including
his own local schools in the
West Linn/Wilsonville, OR
school district.
The Heppner United
Methodist Church is lo-
cated at 175 Church St.,
Heppner.
Boardman City
Council changes
Nov. meeting date
The Boardman City
Council has changed its
Nov. 1, 2022, meeting to
Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022, due
to limited staff availability.
The meeting will be
held at 7 p.m. at the Board-
man City Hall council
chambers and will also be
available via video-confer-
encing service. The meet-
ing link is posted at the
city’s website at www.
cityofboardman.com.
feel strongly that mediation
is the best way forward and
believe that a tradition-
al mediation process, led
by an impartial mediator,
would bring clarity and
resolution to the situation.”
Roberts said subsequently
the health district’s attorney
has made efforts to engage
Boardman Fire and Res-
cue’s legal counsel to find
another mutually agreeable
mediator.
“We respectfully request
that we step back from the
current process and that the
Board of Commissioners
task both Morrow County
Health District and Board-
man Fire Rescue District
to engage their attorneys
in identifying a mutually
agreeable mediator to con-
tinue this process following
standard mediation pro-
tocols,” Shimer said. “To
continue the current process
and to allow individuals to
overrun the meetings and
sabotage efforts with their
personal agendas does not
serve anyone in Morrow
County,” she wrote. Again,
-Continued to PAGE FIVE
Fired Health Depart-
ment employee Debra
Green was paid $62,500 last
month to drop her employ-
ment complaints against the
county, agreeing she would
bring no further legal action
against the county, newly
released documents reveal.
Green was fired in July
for what the county said
were numerous policy vi-
olations, the severity of
her misconduct and the
“impact” her conduct had
on county operations, read
a July 26 letter to Green
signed by Interim Public
Health Director Robin Can-
ada and Morrow County
Human Resource Director
Lindsay Grogan.
The allegations against
Green came after she was
investigated as part of a
wider county-initiated
probe into activities at the
health department where
she worked as a front office
assistant. The extensive
investigation, including
numerous interviews with
current and former health
department employees, was
carried out after Green be-
came a whistleblower and
reported to her supervisors,
one of whom was her hus-
band county administrator
Darrell Green, that she had
observed documentation
falsification going on at the
health department.
Investigators also said
they had found no evidence
to back up Debra Green’s
claim of document falsifi-
cation or retaliation.
Following her whis-
tleblower complaint, Green
charged that the county
retaliated against her by in-
creasing her workload and
having her working out of
class without paying a high-
er wage. She subsequently
filed a complaint with the
state Bureau of Labor and
Industrials about the retal-
iation, saying it was done
because she had engaged
in whistleblowing activities
and because of her family
relationship as wife of the
administrator.
Darrell Green was ter-
minated June 28 for al-
legedly violating a nep-
otism agreement for his
dealings with Debra while
both were employed at the
county. He has subsequent-
ly filed a $750,000 lawsuit
against the county in circuit
court alleging unlawful em-
ployment practices, wrong-
ful discharge and violation
of the open meetings law.
That case has not yet gone
to trial.
In exchange for the
$62,500 payment Debra
promised to “fully release
and settle any and all claims
arising out of Employee’s
employment with the Coun-
ty, including, but not limit-
ed to, claims for compensa-
tion, wrongful termination,
constructive discharge,
retaliation, harassment, or
discrimination.”
Bowles appointed new Sheriff
Replaces retiring 18-year veteran Ken Matlack
John Bowles
Replaces retiring 18-year
veteran Ken Matlack
Undersheriff John Bowles
has been appointed as the
new of Morrow County
Sheriff, it was announced at
last week’s county commis-
sion meeting. He will fill
out the remained of the re-
tiring Ken Matlack’s term.
Commissioners voted unan-
imously to appoint Bowles,
who has been with the sher-
iff’s office over 20 years,
starting out as a 911 call
taker and dispatcher and re-
serve patrol deputy in 2002.
He will begin his new posi-
tion Nov. 1 and will serve
the remaining two years of
Matlack’s term until a reg-
ular election in 2024.
“I’m humbled and honored
to be appointed the 17th
Sheriff of Morrow County,”
said Bowles. “We have a
great staff at the sheriff’s
office that works diligently
to provide safety, security
and livability for all of Mor-
row County citizens, and I
look forward to continue
serving with them as county
sheriff.”
Bowles’s background in-
cludes him growing up in
Banks, OR and graduating
in 1991.He served in the
U.S. Army, and then went to
work as a general contractor
in residential and commer-
cial construction and as a
journeyman iron worker.
When the Morrow County
Sheriff’s Office began pro-
viding parole and probation
services in 2010, Bowles
was selected as the pa-
role and probation deputy.
In 2011, he was awarded
the prestigious Victor G.
Atiyeh Award at the com-
mencement ceremony for
the Oregon Department of
Public Safety Standards
and Training’s Parole Offi-
cer Certification program.
This award is presented
to the outstanding student
who displays exceptional
professionalism, exemplary
attitude and outstanding
achievement in leadership
and academics.
In February of 2016, John
was selected by Sherriff
Matlack to become the next
undersheriff for Morrow
County. The undersheriff is
responsible for the overall
management and operations
of the office, consisting of
an annual budget of over
$5.2 million, and 37 full
time, five part-time and
three seasonal employees.
Bowles holds multiple cer-
tifications and serves on
several committees, includ-
ing Heppner City Council.
In 2021 John was selected
by the Heppner Chamber
of Commerce as Man of
the Year.
Undersheriff Bowles and
his wife Kristen currently
reside in Heppner, where
they enjoy spending time
with their children and
grandkids.
There was one other inter-
ested applicant for the job,
Boardman police officer
Mark Pratt.
CALL
541-989-8221
ext 204
for more
information