News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
The long-running battle between Wild Mountain food stand owner Ky Karnecki and the City of Sisters opened on a new front last week. Karnecki filed suit Friday against the city, alleging civil rights violations by the city and slander and defamation by individual city officials.
The suit, filed in U.S. District Court, names numerous current and former city officials "individually and personally" in addition to the city as an entity. Karnecki is seeking hundreds of thousands of dollars - potentially millions - in damages, alleging economic losses and "great emotional distress."
City Manager Andrew Gorayeb told The Nugget that neither he nor any other city official could comment on the suit.
Mayor Brad Boyd confirmed that.
"We never comment on pending litigation," he said.
Karnecki opened his jerky and mushroom stand on the southeast corner of Locust and Highway 20 in July of 2011. When he opened his stand, Karnecki was granted a temporary-use permit (TUP) good for six months as a seasonal business. One of the conditions of that permit was the requirement to remove his building when the permit expired. That requirement became the focus of contention.
Over the next year-and-a-half, there was a series of testimony, reviews by the planning commission, code change requests and extensions granted by the city. Relations between Karnecki and city staff and planners were strained, as he argued that he was not being treated equitably and planners and other city officials felt he was trying to get more than he had signed on for with his permit.
The lawsuit contends that the city deliberately treated Karnecki considerably differently than it did the similar business, Richard's Produce, and another business, The Belfry, which continued to operate after a temporary use permit expired.
Richard's Produce operated on a TUP for years without being compelled to remove the stand from its site behind Space Age Gas. During the contention over Wild Mountain, planners found that Richard's Produce had been made permanent in 2000.
Karnecki's attorney, Foster A. Glass in Bend, disputes the validity of that permanent status and contend that "city records show a concerted discriminatory effort by city officials to rescue Richard's Produce while enforcing code to the letter for the first time in its history against Wild Mountain."
Grant also disputes the validity of the city's contention that The Belfry no longer needs a TUP due to a code amendment allowing its uses outright in the commercial district.
The suit makes a claim that Karnecki's civil rights were violated and his constitutional rights infringed.
Karnecki claims the loss of an $85,000 opportunity to sell his business to a party who was allegedly alarmed at his treatment, and $30,000 in lost income.
Additionally, he seeks damages on the civil rights claim "in an amount to be determined by a jury not to exceed $1 million" for his "mental anguish and emotional distress." The claim also seeks "not less than $100,000 each" from the individually named defendants. The same demand is made on the claim of violation of constitutional rights.
Other "causes of action" include slander and defamation, interference with a business relationship, and intentional infliction of emotional distress, and seek similar damage awards.
The slander claim is made against Council President McKibben Womack over Womack's reported allegation that Karnecki assaulted an individual during an altercation at the Sisters Post Office. A sheriff's deputy reportedly later stated that the other party was actually the aggressor and that there had been no assault.
Karnecki claims defamation against City Manager Andrew Gorayeb for saying there was no truth to allegations Karnecki made in a letter to the editor about selective parking enforcement. He also alleges that, in a conversation with Mike Morgan, Gorayeb called Karnecki "crazy" and said he would "crush" him.
Punitive damages can only be claimed against individuals, not a government body.
Attorney Foster Glass told The Nugget he is in the process of filing a restraining order to prevent the city from causing the food stand to be removed, although the landlord could require its removal.
Such lawsuits are commonly referred to a municipality's insurer. Public officials are indemnified for actions taken as part of their duties or pursuant to a policy.
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.
Reader Comments(0)