Heppner gazette-times., October 16, 2024, Page 8, Image 8

EIGHT - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, October 16, 2024
Port of Morrow replaces commissioner on CDA board
-Continued from PAGE ONE
Everyone,” she added.
Peterson said he didn’t
think Doherty’s anger was
helping the situation.
“You really go after
people,” he said.
“Everything on the
CDA board is nothing
but tension,” Taylor said.
“Just the way that meeting
went….”
Doherty said that ten-
sion would not go away
with her removal.
“I mean, we’re in liti-
gation with our partners,”
she said, referring to a law-
suit Umatilla County and
CTUIR had filed against the
other three entities.
“You bring up some is-
sues that need to be correct-
ed but, my gosh, this way of
doing it…this attack,” said
Peterson. “I’m sorry, it’s
self-righteous.”
“That’s because I’m
right,” said Doherty.
Doherty also said that
when she had indicated that
they should tell the grantor
that the grant was not ap-
proved, she was “taken to
the woodshed” by the Port
of Morrow board.
“I was threatened with
removal from the CDA
from this board,” she said.
POM secretary/treasur-
er Rick Stokoe said he had
commented that removing
POM Executive Direc-
tor Lisa Mittelsdorf as the
Port’s CDA representative
had been a mistake. Mit-
telsdorf had served on the
CDA board for more than
30 years.
“I did not call for your
removal,” he said.
Doherty said she didn’t
see it that way. She also said
that she had recently sought
legal counsel.
“I had to, because I
knew this retaliation was
coming,” she said. “I’m
being removed from my
position. That’s retaliation.”
“If we don’t stand
up for someone that does
something right and speaks
out, who do we stand up
for?” she asked.
Commissioner
vice-president John Mur-
ray echoed that sentiment,
saying the Port was on
record as saying it would
do a better job of moni-
toring whether the CDA
followed its own rules but
that it hadn’t. He said he
felt uncomfortable silenc-
ing somebody who spoke
up now.
“Maybe I would have
spoke up differently, in a
different way. Maybe not,”
Murray said. “I have a hard
time with it.”
“I think there’s a right
way to speak out,” said
Stokoe. “As an elected offi-
cial who represents the Port
of Morrow on that board, I
would expect a little more
profession.”
Doherty accused the
POM board of not wanting
her to expose corruption,
but Stokoe said it was the
fact that she acted without
input from the rest of the
Port board that did not sit
well.
“You represent the
Port of Morrow on a CDA
board,” he said. “That
means you speak for me and
everybody sitting here.”
Doherty responded that
she didn’t see the need for
approval from the rest of
the Port board, and that she
felt she did what was best
for the CDA board.
“The only authority
you have on the CDA board
is granted to you by this
board,” Stokoe said.
“No,” said Doherty.
Peterson said he didn’t
disagree with her stance
on Smith, but he disagreed
with her tone and the impli-
cation that it was some kind
of “conspiracy.”
“They’ve done wrong,”
he said, holding up the
minutes from the June 25
CDA meeting, “but if they
were trying to be secret…
my gosh, here it is.”
“I feel that the CDA
board would at least go
along a little better without
all the tension on it and
without you there,” said
Taylor. “You bring a lot
of it.”
Taylor also brought up
Smith’s upcoming evalu-
ation by the CDA board,
hinting that Doherty should
not be involved in the pro-
cess.
“It just looks like you
have an ax to grind,” he
said.
“I don’t have any ax to
grind with anybody except
for someone who didn’t do
things properly,” Doherty
replied.
“The tone might have
not been well. I admit it,”
she added. “When you ask
questions, and the answers
are so snide.”
The board voted 3-2 to
remove Doherty from the
CDA board, with Taylor,
Stokoe and Peterson ap-
proving and Doherty and
Murray dissenting.
The board asked Mit-
telsdorf if she would be
willing to take the CDA
position, but she declined.
In another 3-2 split vote, the
board selected Taylor as the
Port’s representative to the
CDA, with Peterson as the
alternate.
“So, let’s put on the
agenda for next week the
new litigation that’s com-
ing for retaliation,” said
Doherty.
The Question of Ap-
proval
Part of the conflict,
both at the CDA meet-
ing and within the Port,
seemed to stem from the
fact that the CDA board
had approved the OLDCC
grant application but that
the compensation package
within the application had
not been approved by the
CDA board prior to sub-
mission.
In fact, Doherty said
the raise had been denied at
the CDA’s Dec. 11 meeting.
However, several Port com-
missioners pointed out at
the POM meeting last week
that the CDA had approved
the grant, which did include
the compensation package.
Peterson also questioned
the idea that the CDA de-
nied the salary outright,
since no action was taken.
“You keep saying ‘de-
nied.’” That’s quite differ-
ent from ‘never approved,’”
said Peterson. “I’m saying
it was an oversight and they
didn’t get that done.”
Peterson told Doherty
she was “really overblow-
ing this.”
“Am I? This is a federal
offense. Am I overblowing
it?” Doherty shot back, say-
ing that the FBI was already
investigating.
Taylor also pointed out
that she was talking as if
Smith had purposefully
deceived the CDA board,
while all he heard Smith
say was that he “owned”
the error and should have
looked at it more carefully.
“Greg knew exactly
what was in it. It wasn’t
an error. He negotiated it,”
Doherty said.
According to Doherty,
Eileen Hendricks, Port of
Morrow Chief Financial
Officer, signed the applica-
tion May 2 and the federal
government approved it
May 16. The CDA board
didn’t meet in May, and
Doherty said she didn’t see
the grant until the day of the
June 25 meeting at which
the grant was approved.
Doherty said she
thought the grant was “a
done deal” by the time
they saw it and couldn’t be
changed. She added that left
the five CDA partners “on
the hook” for the cost.
Peterson and Taylor
countered that it could have
been changed at any time,
although it might have been
more complicated.
Meanwhile, Hendricks
said she had received a
call from Tim Robert, the
CDA’s federal represen-
tative regarding the grant,
after the Sept. 20 CDA
meeting. Robert asked if
there had been a pay re-
duction and told her that, if
that was the case, the grant
amount would be adjusted
lower.
According to Hen-
dricks, Robert said the
federal government had
planned to ratchet down
federal participation after
the land transfer. Howev-
er, because the CDA was
proposing an increase in
costs—including the pay
raise in question—they had
decided to keep the grant at
previous levels.
Either way, Hendricks
said, she understood that
the amount paid by the
CDA partners would be
the same.
Port of Morrow attor-
ney Sam Tucker was also
present at the Port’s Oct. 11
meeting and clarified that,
while there were rumors of
the wages being rescinded
retroactively, he had not
received orders to do that
at that time and didn’t know
if he would. The wage in-
crease had been rescinded
going forward, he said.
“There’s a lot of in-
dication that there was a
motion that said it should
be retroactively done,” he
said. “We don’t know for
sure. We don’t have the
minutes.”
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