News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
The Sisters fire district board of directors has declared a "purported employment contract" with former board president Greg Brown to be invalid.
In a resolution adopted Thursday, February 14, the district staff was authorized to "proceed accordingly to obtain refunds of any funds paid as a result of this agreement."
The resolution noted that "no district records exist showing approval by the board of directors of an employment agreement between Greg Brown and the Sisters-Camp Sherman Fire Protection District."
Citing an ongoing federal investigation, board president Stephen Spear declined to comment on the nature of the "purported employment contract," how much money Brown may have received under its terms, or how Brown might have received any funds.
District officials have stated that the fire district is solvent and the Brown investigation will not affect plans for the purchase of new equipment.
Brown's "purported contract" was dated April 26, 2001. Then board vice president Spear's signature appears on the April 26 document.
Spear acknowledged that he signed several documents at Brown's request around that time, including employment contracts for Fire Chief Don Rowe and District Clerk Susan Houk.
But Spear insists he "did not sign a contract for Greg Brown because there was no contract for Greg Brown."
Spear said that he "was not aware that there was any employment contract for Greg Brown because we still had not received any input from our attorney regarding a contract for Greg Brown."
The fire district budget for 2001-02 does not list Brown on its salary schedule.
Although there was no legitimate contract, according to the board, the district was interested in employing Brown after the former sheriff lost his office in the November 2000 election.
According to Spear, there had been ongoing board discussion about hiring Brown as a grant writer for the district, with his compensation to be based on performance.
In fact, the board of directors sought to change district policy to make it possible for Brown to continue serving on the board while being employed by the district.
A fire district ordinance makes any employee of the fire district ineligible to serve on the board of directors. The district board, with Brown as president, acted to repeal that ordinance on December 8, 2000, according to board meeting minutes.
However, it was later determined that the repeal was invalid. No public notice was given and no public hearing took place. Additionally, no ordinance was adopted to replace the old restriction, which remains in place.
Brown, a Sisters resident, joined the Sisters-Camp Sherman Rural Fire Protection District Board of Directors in 1985. He was president of the fire district board for many years. Brown also acted as a grant writer for the fire district.
He resigned in October after his actions with the fire district came under investigation by the FBI.
Brown is also the focus of investigation by state authorities in connection with his single term as Deschutes County Sheriff.
The fire district's February 14 resolution came on the same day on which Deschutes County released results of an audit by Moss-Adams LLP of Eugene that revealed that two checks totaling $46,152.36 paid to the Deschutes County Sheriff's Office during Brown's tenure were not recorded in the general ledger.
One of those checks was from the City of Sisters. According to city administrator Barbara Warren, the $19,594 check was a payment for the city's contract for patrol services.
While it is unclear where the money went, Warren says the check definitely cleared.
"The check was cashed," she said. "As far as we're concerned, Deschutes County got it."
In a written response to the audit statement, Deschutes County Treasurer Marty Wynne acknowledged that "an investigation is being conducted which may possibly lead to criminal charges related to the disposition of those checks. Therefore, Deschutes County will not be able to release at this time any information which is related to this investigation."
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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