EIGHT - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, March 5, 2025
Smith, the Port and the CDA
minate the grant but that
a phone call with Wilson
confirmed flexibility to ex-
tend the 10-day deadline by
as much as 30 days.
“He thought that was
a perfectly reasonable re-
quest,” said Mittelsdorf.
The Port commission-
ers supported requesting
the 30-day extension to
explore other options.
“I personally don’t
have a lot of hope that
things will change, but
I’m open to trying,” said
Murray.
Mittelsdorf said it was
clear that the Port needed
to prioritize future federal
funding eligibility.
“If termination is the
only option, that is what we
would seek,” she said.
The loss of the grant
raises questions about how
the CDA will continue its
work, as well as possi-
ble sources of alternative
funding.
One option proposed
by POM secretary/treasurer
Rick Stokoe was to have
another of the CDA’s five
entities manage the grant,
especially since the Port’s
role as fiscal agent has been
brought into question be-
cause of oversight failures.
The POM also dis-
cussed a proposed sale of
100 acres of CDA property
to offset the loss of grant
funding, but the commis-
sion decided not to support
the resolution as written,
preferring more details.
There were also lin-
gering questions about the
government’s full perspec-
tive and whether more in-
formation might change the
OLDCC’s mind.
“Did we really answer
their questions? Is there any
more information we could
pass along?” asked Stokoe.
POM commissioner
Kelly Doherty said she
thought the CDA would be
looking for answers at its
next meeting.
“Whether the fund-
ing is there or isn’t there,
they need to know,” said
Doherty.
POM commissioner
Joel Peterson said the CDA
also needs to participate in
decision making.
“There’s no discussion
headed toward a solution,”
said Peterson. “That’s what
needs to happen.”
The Columbia Devel-
opment Authority
The Columbia Devel-
opment authority did in-
deed address the issue at the
meeting the following day.
Smith was present at the
Feb. 25 meeting and gave
the CDA board a recap of
events to that date.
Specifically, Smith said
the Base Realignment and
Closure (BRAC) organi-
zation was unaware of the
Feb. 21 letter and was in
the process of organizing a
meeting with other entities,
including the OLDCC and
the Army.
Meanwhile, CDA
board member JD Tovey,
who represents the Con-
federated Tribes of the
Umatilla Indian Reserva-
tion (CTUIR) on the board,
said he was concerned that
the board hadn’t been no-
tified of the Jan. 13 letter
until after it received media
coverage.
“I found out about the
letter through the media that
weekend,” said Tovey. “My
first email that I received
from anybody in the CDA
was Friday at 3:37 p.m.
about the response from
OLDCC saying they’re go-
ing to terminate our grant.
“I’m just wondering,
why did that happen, when
did people know what they
knew, and why didn’t any-
body else know?” he added.
“The Eastern Oregonian
knew about it before I even
CTUIR representative JD
Tovey at the Feb. 25 CDA
meeting. -Contributed photo
got a notification of it.”
He also pointed out that
the January CDA meeting
had been canceled, suppos-
edly due to lack of items
for the agenda, but that
the letter could have been
addressed at that meeting.
“I think that was a pret-
ty important agenda item,”
Tovey said.
Much of Tovey’s con-
fusion seemed to stem from
the timing and nature of the
response. Smith said he did
not see the letter until Tovey
forwarded it to him, but that
he had been in communi-
cation with the Port and
knew there was some kind
of issue with the OLDCC.
Mittelsdorf clarified
that the Port of Morrow,
responsible for the grant,
had responded to the com-
pliance review but did not
communicate with the CDA
board, as they did not con-
sider it necessary.
The compliance review
response was initially seen
as routine, with no issues
anticipated, since the POM
had previous reviews with
no problems.
“When we got the re-
quest for the compliance re-
view, there was no reason to
assume that we were going
to do anything other than
respond and have a similar
result,” Port Chief Financial
Officer Eileen Hendricks
said. “I have never had cor-
respondence with any CDA
board member, and it didn’t
cross my mind to do so.”
Tovey didn’t agree.
“That’s a lot of infor-
mation and a lot of time and
pretty serious accusations, I
think, that should have been
elevated to the board,” he
said. “Somebody’s at fault.
A lot of people are at fault,
and so I want somebody to
take responsibility for it.”
“At the end of the day,
I’m responsible,” replied
Smith.
The Port of Morrow is
taking responsibility as the
fiscal agent, but the ques-
tion again arose whether
they should continue in
that role.
“If the Port of Morrow
is now the bad guy, perhaps
one of the other partners can
step in,” said Hendricks.
CDA Board Chair, Port
of Umatilla representative
Kim Puzey, said further
conversations during a 30-
day extension would hope-
fully show the CDA a path
forward.
“We’re hopeful that
that can take place and,
if that doesn’t, then that
speaks to part of the con-
versation we’ll be having
in the budget meeting,” said
Puzey, “where we have a
discussion about resourc-
es and requirements, and
this may no longer be a
resource that is available to
the CDA.”
“And the Port’s posi-
tion is that if they aren’t go-
ing to allow some change,
we have to cancel before
they cancel,” said Hen-
dricks. “And we will do so.”
Tovey said he appreci-
ated the Port’s willingness
to take responsibility and
try to fix the grant problem,
but he felt there was a larger
problem at the core.
“We have an obligation
to all our constituents for all
this, and I just want to make
that clear, that this isn’t a
small thing,” said Tovey.
“This is a million dollars.
This is the operating grant.”
Tovey suggested ac-
cepting a resignation from
the Port of Morrow as the
CDA’s fiscal agent that day,
but Puzey asked that the
Port be allowed to follow
through with the process
before taking that step.
“It’s not my place to
say it, but I’m going to say
it anyway,” put in Hen-
dricks. “I guarantee you
that as soon as this gets
resolved, we will resign
as fiscal agent. I just don’t
think it’s appropriate to do
it today.”
Smith’s Response
Greg Smith recently
issued his own response to
what he termed a “bizarre”
“ambush.” In it, he said he
was hired as the CDA Exec-
utive Director in 2016 and
had not received a merit pay
raise since 2017. In 2023,
according to Smith, the
CDA board conducted staff
evaluations and directed
him to investigate salaries
for comparable positions
and negotiate the highest
possible grant award with
the OLDCC.
Smith said he did so,
finding an average salary
of $245,065 compared to
his salary of $129,027.
He said he initially asked
for $238,000 from both
the OLDCC and the CDA
board, but the OLDCC
imposed a salary cap of
$195,000, with $123,350
to be paid by the OLDCC
grant and $71,650 paid by
the CDA.
“As I was in frequent
discussion with the CDA
Board Chair about the sal-
ary negotiation, I naturally
reported this to the Chair
who responded approv-
ingly,” Smith wrote in his
statement.
Key to Smith’s frus-
tration seems to be the
fact that the loudest com-
plaints regarding the pay
increase came from Tovey
and Doherty, both of whom
joined the CDA board after
Smith said he received
direction about his pay
increase. Because his per-
formance review and the
salary discussion took place
in executive session, there
are no minutes to reflect
what took place.
On Sept. 20, a meeting
at which board chair Kim
Puzey was apparently ab-
sent, and Umatilla County
Commissioner John Shafer
was acting chair, Smith said
he was surprised to see me-
dia presence at the meeting.
“When I entered the
room I was surprised to see
representatives of the media
in attendance because the
media rarely attended CDA
board meetings and nothing
on the agenda seemed to
warrant media attention,”
said Smith.
The Gazette-Times was
not present at the meeting.
Smith said Tovey and
Doherty “leapt to the con-
clusion” that he had insert-
ed certain wording into the
OLDCC grant to “deceive
not only them, but also
the federal government
into awarding me a pay
increase.”
Without prior notice
to prepare a response, and
unwilling to discuss certain
aspects in open session,
Smith said he had no choice
but to “own it,” but that
Tovey and Doherty were
apparently dissatisfied with
his response and continued
to “malign” Smith.
“Neither suggested a
thorough investigation be-
fore accusing me of deceit,”
wrote Smith. “Neither ap-
peared to consider that their
lack of historical knowl-
edge of the budget process
or of past board directives
might inform their opin-
ions. Neither appeared to
consider that Chair Puzey,
who was absent, might
have additional insights
including the nature of my
ongoing open communica-
tion about the matter.”
In fact, the Ga-
zette-Times has received a
copy of a letter that shows
Smith was upset enough to
threaten legal action against
his accusers.
In December of last
year, Smith’s attorney,
Amanda Gamblin, sent a
letter to the Port of Morrow
lawyers threatening legal
action if mediation did not
produce results. The letter
stated that Smith intended
to pursue claims against
the Port for “denial of his
constitutional rights, defa-
mation, invasion of privacy,
and intentional infliction of
emotional distress.”
Among other things,
the letter referred to a “con-
spiracy” by three CDA
board members—POM
Commissioner Kelly
Doherty, Umatilla County
Commissioner John Shafer,
and Confederated Tribes of
the Umatilla Indian Reser-
vation (CTUIR) representa-
tive JD Tovey.
According to the letter,
the three “intentionally
ambushed Mr. Smith in
open session of a CDA
Board meeting and made
false accusations against his
professional integrity and
competence which have
been widely shared and
predictably and irrevoca-
bly damaged Mr. Smith’s
reputation.”
The letter also stated
that the CDA Board failed
to give Smith notice or an
opportunity to be heard be-
fore supposedly defaming
Smith’s reputation, voting
3-2 to reduce Smith’s pay,
and refusing to continue the
discussion during closed
session.
“Ms. Doherty and
Mr. Tovey then continued
unabated for another 20
minutes until Mr. Smith’s
reputation was destroyed,”
said Gamblin’s letter.
The Port later replaced
Doherty on the CDA board,
but Gamblin wrote that it
was too little, too late.
The letter also said
Smith hoped to come to
a “reasonable resolution”
with the Port and Doherty,
but that he would pursue
legal claims if such steps
didn’t repair Smith’s dam-
aged reputation and place
him back at his previous
financial standing.
Meanwhile, despite
hopes for the 30-day ex-
tension from the OLDCC,
tensions continue to ride
high, while the future of
the CDA’s federal funding
looks uncertain at best.
Lunch
& Dinner
Menu
3/6 - 3/12
Thursday - bratwurst tater tot nachos
Friday - popcorn chicken salad
Saturday - Chili Dog & jojos
Sunday - closed
Monday - Grilled Chicken, biscuit & Gravy
bowl
Tuesday - Chicken Dumpling Soup & grilled
cheese and bacon sandwich
Tuesday Night 6-9pm $2 hard shell tacos
Wednesday - B.L.A.T.T. Sandwich with
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