News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Sheriff Les Stiles discusses Greg Brown's guilty plea at a press conference, flanked by commissioners Tom DeWolf (left) and Mike Daly. Photo by Jim Cornelius
Greg Brown had a lot of supporters in his hometown of Sisters.
Through two bruising election campaigns for Sheriff in 1996 and 2000 -- even in the face of state and federal investigations and rumors of wrongdoing -- many in Sisters continued to believe in Greg Brown, a career lawman and long-time president of the local fire district board.
That belief was shattered by Brown's admission in federal court on Wednesday, October 16, that he had systematically embezzled some $575,000 from the sheriff's office and Sisters-Camp Sherman Rural Fire Protection District over a period of years.
"I was shocked," said former Deschutes County Sheriff's Sergeant Rich Shawver. "Frankly, I wanted to believe in the man -- I did believe in the man -- right up until yesterday.
"I'm shocked, saddened and angered all at once," Shawver said.
Shawver, who ran the Sisters sheriff's substation before his retirement two years ago, considered Brown "the greatest administrator I ever worked for."
That's still Shawver's opinion.
"I still really believe that today," Shawver said. "He gave me the tools I needed to do my job and he left me alone to do my job."
For a long time, Shawver believed that the investigations and rumored allegations were the work of political enemies -- of which Brown had his share.
"I really put a lot of it on politics," Shawver said. "I put a heck of a lot of it on politics."
But the allegations turned out to be true and the reality of Brown's criminality cast a stain upon any good work that he did as sheriff and with the Sisters-Camp Sherman RFPD.
"I personally feel like everybody else -- betrayed by it," said Sisters Fire Chief Don Rowe.
The scope of the betrayal was breathtaking. Brown took opportunities to steal large amounts and small and took advantage of his control of the district's books to artfully cover his tracks.
"At the beginning (of the investigation) when I saw how much it was I was surprised at the amount and how long it went on," Rowe said.
Brown's theft of $403,431.49 from the Sisters-Camp Sherman RFPD occurred at the same time Brown was writing grants and planning equipment purchases that helped the RFPD become one of the best-equipped and best-trained emergency services organizations in the region.
For some, the good that Brown did for the district even as he systematically diverted funds and lined his pockets helps define the tragic irony of Brown's downfall.
"If he'd just used his talent straight all the way along, there would be no problem and he would be loved," said long-time RFPD board member Chan Cathcart of Camp Sherman.
Some now wonder whether Brown's public service was ever motivated by anything other than the opportunity to steal. Others now question their own judgment after believing so strongly in a man's character and finding out that it was so badly bent.
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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