Letters to the Editor for Oct. 9, 2009

Published 2:47 pm Friday, October 9, 2009

Mayor did the right thing

To the editor:

Well my husband and I made it back to Baker City on Sept. 21. I know that doesn’t mean a thing to 99.9 percent of you, however, it does mean something to our mayor and to Ms. Calder. Why you may ask? My husband and I vote.

We made it to the council meeting Tuesday night. We had to give them our support and what better way than to be there just to grin at them.

Now that being said I have to state that I was a little miffed when I read the report in the paper that the mayor didn’t give Mr. Pope time to “question” Ms. Timm. As I saw it, Mr. Pope started with a question that somehow turned into a statement. When Ms. Timm tried to respond, Mr. Pope said that he wasn’t finished. Ms. Timm wanted to know what his question was, Mr. Pope started talking over the top of her. There was an argument going on and it appeared as though it was going to get worse. Our mayor didn’t bring the gavel down right away. There was some time before the raps began.

I feel that the mayor had the right to do what was done. The three that have participated in this should be ashamed. Going about bragging isn’t an adult behavior. Working together for the betterment of others is. I just wish others would wake up and see this whole thing for what it is. It is a back-biting witch hunt.

Mr. (Richard) Langrell, you only stated what so many of us are thinking. Recall the three who have been eating at the table of hateful behavior. Mr. Pope, at the end of the meeting our mayor asked if any of the council had anything to add to the meeting. You once again had to gnaw on the bone. Just because you did something nice for someone umpteen years ago doesn’t negate the fact that what you are doing in the here and now stinks like a big rotten goose egg. Nuf said.

Lorelei Nalley

Baker City

Where’s the ‘secret’ work plan?

To the editor:

Re: Baker City Herald, Sept. 23, “Former City Councilor Urgesandhellip;”

Mrs. (Peggi) Timm has discussed a “work plan” at a recent Council meeting; she is quoted in a recent front page story, “The Council developed a work plan. The Council was not satisfied with (Mr. Brocato’s) improvement.” Further, “Brocato” in her opinion, “received a fair opportunity to follow a work plan and make improvement andhellip;”

Mrs. Timm obviously has been misled by someone. The Council never developed a work plan for the city manager during my tenure. No work plan was mentioned in writing nor verbally during, before, or after either of the two reviews. The “work plan” was never referenced in any of the scoring nor was such in any of the individually written comments. The verbal reviews given at the Council meeting during the city manager review were mostly positive and favorable. I have never had a conversation with any councilor or councilors since my employment that even resembled a “work plan”. If there was such a work plan, it truly was “secret” as even I was unaware of it.

In fact, it was privately suggested that the work plan may have been secret. Legally there can be no secret documents in Oregon city government. If the work plan was secret, then there are issues with the Council or some councilors as they cannot be legally party to a secret document. Some personnel documents are private, but any document produced by the Council would be public. This is the case even if the “work plan” was created in an e-mail or in any meeting. The city recorder, the deputy city recorder, nor the personnel office have ever seen or heard of this work plan. I have submitted a public records request to the city to determine if anyone in the city has ever seen one. Maybe the mayor can shed some light on this plan that certainly he and other senior councilors would remember?

I suggest that Mrs. Timm challenge whomever has convinced her of a work plan to produce supporting documentation. I would like to see it.

Steve Brocato

Baker City

Museum will continue to grow

To the editor:

Thank you to the 30 local residents who recently attended a planning session to update the Baker Heritage Museum’s five-year strategic plan. Many ideas were shared with enthusiasm during the evening.

The Museum Commission is also grateful to Steve Ellis, supervisor of the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, for providing the services of Heidi Bigler Cole as facilitator. Cole did an excellent job keeping the ideas flowing with a friendly, fun and effective meeting format.

Thanks, too, to Linda Haynes for taking thorough notes for three hours and to the Sunridge Inn for providing meeting space and efficient service during the evening.

The museum will continue to grow and thrive because of the strong community support. Thanks to you all!

Peggi Timm

Museum Commission Chair

Baker City

Recall vote is justified

To the editor:

A serious absence of ethics: In May of this year, when considering the adoption of a property maintenance ordinance, Steve Brocato had the code enforcement officer survey properties owned by city councilors for compliance with the proposed ordinance. Several councilors owned properties which were not in compliance.

On May 26, one of those councilors, Bev Calder, wrote a scathing letter condemning the proposed ordinance. My letter to the editor on June 22 informed readers the genesis of her ire was most likely found in the fact that she owns and perpetuates one of the worst derelict buildings in the city, located at 1620 Valley Ave. A fact which she did not mention in her letter.

She, Dennis Dorrah and two fellow counselors colluded, (with the exclusion of three of their elected colleagues) and on June 9 fired Mr. Brocato. Over the last two months, Ms. Calder with her colleagues, assured the “derelict building” language was removed from the proposed ordinance. She voted and passed that ordinance, which, in my opinion will allow her to let her building rot in perpetuity at the expense of her neighbors, while the code will require her constituents to deal with their messy yards, and cover non-operating vehicles.

Mr. Brocato’s firing for his bedside manner in dealing with the council and a few incessant complainers, may be arguable. The surreptitious and unethical manner in which he was dismissed by these councilors, is not. By conducting the above survey, (one of his last acts as city manager), Mr. Brocato tried to assure the residents of Baker of the transparency and integrity of the ruling council, qualities that by their action, prove to be very foreign to Ms. Calder and Mr. Dorrah. A recall vote is justified.

Don Williams

Baker City

Two firms could help each other

To the editor:

While Ash Grove plant manager Terry Kerby is getting ready to lay off a large number of his employees in December, Barbara Sidway, of the Geiser Grand Hotel, appears to be in the process of building and expanding the number of her hotel rooms next to Domino’s Pizza on Main Street.

If the Geiser Grand is actually expanding, and Ash Grove is shrinking its labor force for a month or two, then maybe Barbara Sidway could hire 68 of the laid off Ash Grove employees to help build and expand the Geiser Grand between December of 2009 and February of 2010. Just think how much faster the expansion of the Geiser Grand would be completed with 68 former Ash Grove employees being paid by Barbara Sidway to pound nails and swing paintbrushes at her hotel during the high unemployment winter season.

With 68 highly trained and experienced workers from Ash Grove, Barbara Sidway could get thousands of hours of expansion work done at her hotel in a matter of weeks. In return, maybe Ash Grove could give the Geiser Grand a two-month supply of free cement as a way of saying thank you (or some other equivalent).

Ash Grove could then hire back its 68 laid-off employees from the Geiser Grand in February of 2009 and nobody would have to file for unemployment benefits at the Oregon Employment Department. This could save the state of Oregon a lot of money and probably solve a major problem for both Ash Grove and the Geiser Grand.

With the current economic recession that we are all experiencing in Oregon, we must tighten our belts and find highly unique ways to help all our neighbors with keeping a job in Baker County. If Ash Grove and the Geiser Grand could help each other by preventing 68 Ash Grove employees from experiencing unemployment this winter, then it would be a very beautiful and special holiday benefit for all of our small town communities in Baker County.

Scott Ungerecht

Baker City

Ed Walter was right about recall

To the editor:

I completely agree with Ed Walter’s letter of Oct. 2, 2009 (“Recall targets wrong councilors”).

Richard A. Nase

Baker City

Who’ll we get to serve in the future?

To the editor:

Regarding the upcoming vote to recall Bev Calder and Mayor Dorrah, I feel compelled to speak out.

The fact of not liking the way someone votes should not bring on a recall. In fact, if the councilors who were against the firing of the city manager had not zealously and (to my mind) unethically sought signatures on the petition, we would have been saved the cost of this special election. It was plainly mean-spirited against these two public servants.

The other two who voted for the firing have not been subjected to such a petition. In the case of Calder, it is reputed that she does not work well with the rest of the Council.

Because she gives serious thought to and consideration of all the sides of each issue, some see this as not getting along. She is not a “rubber stamp.” If you are considering voting to recall Calder, please take the time to talk with her and get her opinion on the issues facing our community.

If people like this can be recalled, who will be willing to serve us in the future?

Barbara B. Johnson

Baker City

Council expected

Brocato to improve

To the editor:

Late Monday afternoon, I received a memo from Jennifer Watkins, assistant city manager, stating that a public records request had been made seeking a copy of a “work plan that was ostensibly provided to former City Manager Steve Brocato.” According to Ms. Watkins, “our (city) records indicate that a work plan was not adopted by the City Council” and she asked if Council members had any documents or records otherwise.

I happened to have a copy of that very document sitting on my desk.

The minutes of the May 1, 2008, Executive Session were recorded by Jennifer Watkins and were “adopted” or approved by the council during the May 13, 2008, City Council meeting. The document is signed by then-Mayor Petry and City Recorder Jennifer Watkins.

The minutes include four specific recommendations for areas of improvement which the council agreed by consensus to re-evaluate in October 2008. While it was not called a “work plan” per se, it most certainly was a list of areas needing improvement noted by the City Council and included a specific timeframe for re-evaluation.

Councilor Duman reminded the City Council about the follow-up evaluation during the Sept. 9, 2008, regular meeting. Councilor Andrew Bryan responded that although it was “his idea at the time,” he no longer felt it was necessary. Councilor Duman made a motion, which I seconded, and agreed that the performance improvements set by the Council needed to be evaluated. The motion failed and the Council refused, by a majority vote, to accept its responsibility to the citizens to effectively manage and evaluate the city manager even after agreeing that there were issues that needed correction.

The current City Council was aware of the issues identified previously. Many current evaluation comments were based on the same problematic issues. The work plan illustrates the history of communication problems. The simple fact is that the City Council is charged with managing the city manager and a majority of the council members have clearly stated why they felt the change was necessary.

Beverly Calder

Baker City