SIX - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, July 26, 2023
Ethics cases dropped against officials
-Continued from PAGE ONE
Gary Neal
laws by using his positions
at the Port and on the CREZ
board to financially benefit
Windwave through negoti-
ations with tech giant Am-
azon, without disclosing a
conflict of interest. After
preliminary investigation,
OGEC moved to official
investigation on Dec. 16,
2022.
The window of investi-
gation was short; OGEC’s
jurisdictional period began
on Sept. 18, 2018, and Neal
retired from the port on Dec.
21, 2018. Neal moved from
Boardman to his hometown
in Eastern Washington after
his retirement.
On Oct. 1, 2018, Neal
was present by phone at a
CREZ board meeting where
a consensus was reached to
ask the CREZ sponsoring
entities—Morrow County,
the City of Boardman and
the Port of Morrow—to
expand the enterprise zone
boundary so more Ama-
zon developments could
be included in the CREZ.
Amazon apparently already
owned the property in ques-
tion.
OGEC investigator Su-
san Myers told the ethics
commission that, because
Windwave does business
with Amazon, Neal should
have declared a conflict of
interest, which there was no
record of.
“While there was no
certainty that Windwave
would get the Amazon con-
tract to construct those
lines, it was a possibility,”
said Myers.
In response, Neal and
his lawyers stated that, be-
cause there was no formal
vote and Neal made no
statements, he did not act.
However, Myers said par-
ticipating in the consensus
still gave rise to a conflict of
interest. Her recommenda-
tion was to find Neal guilty
of one violation of ORS
244.120(s) and move the
case either to a contested
case or a settlement.
Neal’s attorney, Caro-
line Harris Crowne, replied
that he had “served hon-
orably” for more than 20
years and, given what she
called the “skinny” nature
of the evidence, asked for
dismissal. She cited the
lack of an action decision
by Neal. In addition, she
pointed out that Neal had
announced his retirement
from the Port of Morrow
and his replacement had
already been hired. Ac-
cording to records, while
Neal was present at the Oct.
1 meeting via phone, his
replacement was present in
the room.
“He intentionally did
not involve himself in any
discussions relating to Am-
azon,” Crowne said. “It
wasn’t just that he was a
lame duck. It wasn’t just
that his tenure had come to
an end. Someone else had
taken over his job.”
Crowne said that, while
fault might be found with
the CREZ board proceed-
ings at the meeting, it was
the understanding of Neal
and everyone else at the
meeting that he was not an
active participant.
Crown added that the
benefit to Windwave was
too remote for consider-
ation, since Windwave was
one of many companies that
would have been able to
pursue the contract.
Jeff Wenholz
“It was not Amazon’s
sole provider. It was not
Amazon’s preferred provid-
er,” said Crowne. “It was a
small fish.”
She finished by saying
it was not a good use of
public resources to move
forward with the case.
“We ask you not to mar
this clean record of a career
performed with highest in-
tegrity,” said Crowne.
After hearing the argu-
ments, the OGEC board ap-
peared split in its response,
some citing the need for
an “abundance of caution”
while others found the situ-
ation ambiguous. Commis-
sioner David Fiskum said
he had “mixed emotions”
about the decision.
“It’s not abundantly
clear to me that Mr. Neal
had a meaningful conflict
of interest,” said Fiskum.
“It’s not exactly clear to
me that, while a member
of the board, he did par-
ticipate in any meaningful
way, including by talking
or voting.”
OCEG Chair Amber
Hollister clarified that Am-
azon could have developed
the land and possibly con-
tracted with Windwave
without the boundary move,
though the tax benefits of
inclusion in the enterprise
zone made the development
more favorable.
“This is a challenging
case,” said Hollister. “I
feel like I’m really thinking
through, what is the thresh-
old for potential conflict of
interest?”
Myers asserted that,
while there was no certainty
of a conflict, the law stat-
ed that Neal should have
recognized and declared
the potential conflict as an
owner of Windwave.
“The point of this is
transparency for the pub-
lic,” said Myers.
A motion to move for-
ward to formal proceedings
failed in a split 3-5 vote.
The commission then vot-
ed 7-1 to officially dismiss
Neal’s case.
The commission has
yet to rule regarding other
Windwave owners Don
Russell, Marv Padberg and
Jerry Healy.
Michael Hughes
The case against
Hughes was even less clear-
cut, ending with a stalemate
within the ethics commis-
sion.
As Boardman Fire Res-
cue District Chief, Hughes
reportedly used a BFRD
ladder truck and staff to in-
stall a hot tub at his home—
the Nov. 17 complaint in-
cluded a photo of the ladder
truck lowering the hot tub in
place. The ethics committee
voted to move to official
investigation Jan. 15.
In the commissioners’
minds, it appeared to be
less a question of whether
Hughes had done what he
was accused of, but whether
his actions were unethi-
cal under the law. Hughes
contested that his contract
with BFRD allows him to
use district resources for
personal purposes.
State law does allow
some such use depending
on the public body, and in-
vestigator Hillary Murrieta
said Hughes’s contract does
say the fire chief’s use of
district equipment depends
on the board’s policy.
However, Murrieta said
Michael Hughes
the BFRD board never vot-
ed on such a policy regard-
ing the use of the fire truck.
“Because there is no
district policy specifying
what is allowable, or on
what terms and conditions,
the use of the district ladder
truck in installing his hot
tub would not fall within
Mr. Hughes’s official com-
pensation package,” said
Murrieta.
Regarding the use of
staff to install the hot tub,
the investigator said both
Hughes and BFRD Board
Chair Ken Browne implied
that the staff were training
when they installed the hot
tub.
“Even if the district
staff consider this part of
their training, that does
not negate the fact that Mr.
Hughes was using district
staff for his private benefit,”
she added.
Both Hughes and
Browne had indicated that
community members could
avail themselves of similar
services, but Murrieta said
there was no such written
policy in place.
“Nor have such ser-
vices been publicly offered
to the community at large,
as indicated by the com-
munity backlash that Mr.
Hughes was receiving,”
Murrieta told the commis-
sion.
She recommended the
commission make a pre-
liminary finding of one
violation each of ORS
244.040(1) and 244.120(1)
(c).
Hughes requested
dismissal because, even
though the investigator had
failed to uncover any such
public use of fire district
staff and vehicles, he said
he was acting “in good
faith” when he used the
ladder truck.
“I just want to make it
clear that at no time have
district personnel ever in-
stalled a hot tub at any of
the locations. We’ve simply
placed them in the property
owners’ backyards,” said
Hughes.
“This is something that
we’ve provided for our
community, not only private
members, but businesses as
well,” he added. “We do not
advertise for this because
we’re not in the position to
compete against our taxing
businesses. We just offer the
service if someone happens
to call.”
Commissioner Shawn
Lindsay said he was in-
clined toward leniency.
Murrieta responded that,
while there was nothing
in the policy prohibiting
the use of the ladder truck,
the use of staff was also an
issue.
A motion by Fiskum
to adopt Murrieta’s find-
ing failed in a tied 4-4
vote. A five-vote majority
was necessary to adopt the
preliminary findings and
move forward with formal
proceedings.
While the vote did not
constitute a dismissal, Hol-
lister informed Hughes that
they would reach out to him
in 180 days and the case
would be administratively
closed.
“Essentially there is no
finding, but our consider-
ation is through today,” said
Hollister.
Jeff Wenholz
The commission’s de-
liberation was short when
it came to Wenholz, who
had been accused of using
his position as a county
commissioner to benefit
Good Shepherd Health
Care System and of failing
to disclose a conflict of
interest as a member of the
Good Shepherd Board of
Trustees.
The complaint arose
due to the county’s current
legal battle with Morrow
County Health District re-
garding ambulance services
in Boardman.
“Because Mr. Wenholz
is on the board of trustees
for Good Shepherd Health
Care System, a 501(c)(3),
this would not be a business
with which he is associ-
ated, therefore he would
not be faced with a conflict
of interest working in his
position as a commissioner
to vote on a matter that
may financially affect Good
Shepherd or their competi-
tor,” said Murrieta.
The OGEC investigator
added that, because Good
Shepherd is a 501(c)(3),
Wenholz had not used his
position to financially ben-
efit a business with which
he was associated.
The ethics commission
voted 8-0 to dismiss the
matter. Wenholz still has
an ethics case pending re-
garding a possible conflict
of interest between his posi-
tions as vice president of the
board of directors for the
Umatilla Electric Coopera-
tive (UEC) and chairman of
the Morrow County Plan-
ning Commission.
Other Findings
-Several other Morrow
County public officials also
came under scrutiny by the
ethics commission recently,
ranging from county com-
missioners to school board
members. Also at the July
14 meeting:
The ethics commis-
sion voted unanimously to
approve a stipulated final
order regarding omissions
current Morrow County
Commissioner and former
Boardman City Councilor
Roy Drago made on his
annual Statement of Eco-
nomic Interest (SEI) as a
Boardman City Councilor.
As a city councilor,
Drago was required to file
an SEI each year in 2019-
2022. On each of those,
Drago listed only his prima-
ry job as a source of income
and did not list the name of
his employer. He also failed
to list his wife’s employer
as a source of income even
though her income was
more than 10 percent of
their annual household in-
come each of the four years.
He filed an amendment
correcting the omissions
on March 8 of this year,
but the ethics commission
voted to open investigation
into the matter on June 2.
Drago chose to settle the
matter without investiga-
tion and will receive a letter
of education in lieu of civil
penalty.
- L e x i n g t o n To w n
Councilor Will Lemmon
will receive a $50 fine for
filing his 2023 SEI after the
deadline. This was the sec-
ond time Lemmon missed
the deadline; he received a
letter of education for filing
late in 2020.
-Morrow County Plan-
ning Commissioner Stanley
Anderson will also receive
a $50 fine for filing his
2023 SEI late, his second
violation.
-Ione School Board
member Rob Crum will
receive a letter of education
for filing his 2023 SEI late,
his first offense.
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Irrigon land sale
-Continued from PAGE ONE youth stuff in the commu-
district.
“The bottom line is
that staff needs direction
from council regarding
this matter so we can con-
tinue the discussion with
WEID,” said Palmquist.
“And there’s some land use
action that we need to take
care of.”
Palmquist said the par-
cel is currently zoned as
open space/recreation and
would need to go before the
planning commission and
the city council in order to
be rezoned as commercial,
as well as being cleared by
the Department of Land
Conservation and Devel-
opment (DLCD). He felt
that needed to be addressed
before proceeding with any
sale.
“Why would they buy it
and then they get, ‘No, you
can’t do that’?” he asked.
“We’ve got to get the
horse in front of the cart,”
added Palmquist. “Other-
wise it could create poten-
tial LUBA action—and we
don’t want that.”
Palmquist said he didn’t
see anyone challenging the
rezoning of the lot. He add-
ed that the “land use hawks”
out of Portland would be all
over them if the property
were residential, “But I
don’t foresee this having a
problem.”
There is also a short
section of unused federal
canal that would need to be
vacated.
“It’s a large process,”
said Palmquist. “I think we
can get there.”
Irrigon Councilor
Heather Bishop said she
was in favor of improving
irrigation services.
“Anything that helps
make that easier, makes
sure it’s taken care of faster,
I’m all for that,” she said.
With the council’s con-
sensus, city staff will work
with the irrigation district to
move forward with appro-
priate land-use steps before
returning to the council for
an official purchase request.
Also at the July 18
meeting, the city council
agreed to sponsor the Com-
munity Women’s Club of
Irrigon and Boardman in
the amount of $250 for the
group’s sixth annual Fun-
shine Open Golf Scramble
at the Marker 40 Golf Club
in Boardman Sept. 16.
Irrigon City Manager
Aaron Palmquist told the
council this is something
the city has historically do-
nated to. The golf event is
the group’s main fundraiser
for the year. Funds raised
are used for scholarships,
school supplies for needy
children and other com-
munity service projects
in the two North Morrow
communities.
“They actually do all
kinds of things for other or-
ganizations, and especially
nity for the schools, things
like that,” put in Bishop.
Palmquist also pointed
out that, while this was the
amount the city council had
historically given, he also
knew the club would not
be conducting a fundrais-
er during the watermelon
festival as they had done in
the past. That would mean
a shortfall for the group
this year.
“If there are other peo-
ple who are so inclined to
help,” he said. “It is a good
cause, and they do more
than is noted in there.”
In other business:
The council heard from
some concerned citizens
about their utility bills,
especially their water bills.
The city has received ques-
tions about customers’ his-
torical usage compared to
current, but said each ac-
count showed no difference
from previous years. The
city has also had the meter
vendor in town to check and
calibrate meters to ensure
they are working correctly.
The Morrow County
Sheriff’s Office reported
338.25 hours spent in Ir-
rigon in June. Of that, 210
hours were spent on patrol,
20.75 on traffic, 59 hours
on reports and 48.50 hours
on investigations and fol-
low-ups. The number of
extra patrols doubled over
May. The city contracts
for 173 MCSO hours each
month.
Palmquist reported that
the food pod is 80 percent
designed with some minor
edits to take place. The
city is continuing to look
at costs and funding pos-
sibilities.
The city manager also
reported that a motorist did
extensive damage to part
of the Division St. walking
path on July 11, and the staff
was currently getting repair
quotes.
The U.S. 730 Sidewalk
Project had been awarded
to Nelson Construction,
and schedules are being
coordinated.
The Safe Routes to
Schools Sidewalk Project is
being designed and the city
plans to send the project out
for bid this fall with con-
struction planned for late
spring or summer of next
year so as not to disrupt
school traffic. Infrastruc-
ture funds are coming from
Columbia River Enterprise
Zone dollars.
Future items on the
council agenda will include
a camping and homeless-
ness ordinance, the food
pod project and a splash
park project.
The 39 th annual Irrigon
Watermelon Festival is this
Saturday, July 29.
The next regular meet-
ing of the Irrigon City
Council will be Aug. 15 at
6 p.m.
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