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Wednesday, November 22, 2023
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CRFR Update
Investigations, interim fire chief, and financial issues WILL LOHRE Country Media, Inc.
I
n an eventful Columbia River Fire & Rescue (CRFR) Board meeting, the results of multiple investigations were delivered, and the district named a new interim Fire Chief. At the meeting on Nov. 14, Deputy Chief Eric Smythe was appointed as the interim Fire Chief after the district’s board received the results of an independent investigator into claims of a hostile work environment and a Vote of No Confidence. Smythe was appointed because the district opted to fill the interim position in-house rather than incur further expenses by selecting one of the two outside candidates that they interviewed for the role. Coming into the role, Smythe said they have a lot of irons in the fire, and they are awaiting the decision of the arbitrator to best understand the full scope of the financial challenges facing the district. “There’s things that need to be investigated, things that need to be corrected. We want to ensure that we are as transparent and open as possible in regards to the operation and financial stability of the organization,” Smythe said. “And things that were beyond my control, that currently are potentially in my control to correct, and that is the direction that the staff and I, along with the board, and hopefully our local represented union group, can come to the table and move this organization forward. We cannot do it unless all three of us are on board.” Smythe emphasized that they
Investigator Jim Band presents his findings to the board on Nov. 14.
will continue to meet the responsibilities that are required to ensure the safety of the community. Investigation results During the meeting, the CRFR board heard summaries of the findings of two investigations conducted by Jim Band Investigations and Consulting LLC. Band was initially hired in August of 2023 by Acting Chief Jimmy Sanchez to investigate claims of a hostile work environment in the district. In early October, the board of directors and Sanchez requested the scope of the investigation be expanded to include the claims made by the St. Helens Professional Firefighters Association in their No Confidence Vote against Deputy Chief Smythe and Division Chief Sanchez. The build-up to these investigations has included months of turmoil
for the district. In April, the St. Helens Firefighters Union made a Vote of No Confidence against then-Fire Chief Joel Medina. Just before the Vote of No Confidence was delivered, three former employees filed a lawsuit against Medina and CRFR for sexual harassment, retaliation for reporting sexual harassment, and creating a hostile work environment based on sex, among other claims. A second, amended Vote of No Confidence from the union was filed Aug. 7. The second Vote of No Confidence expressed concerns over Sanchez, Smythe, and then-Board Director Gary Hudson. In May, new board members Austin Zimbrick, Rick Fletcher, and Ryan Welby were elected as CRFR Directors. In their second meeting on the board Aug. 8, they motioned to terminate Medina effective immediately. Medina filed a whistleblower suit for almost $20 million against
Will Lohre / Country Media, Inc.
the fire district, St. Helens Professional Fire Fighters Association IAFF Local 3215, board members, and union leaders, among others on Aug. 17. Hostile Work Environment In his presentation to the board, Band said that his job was trying to determine whether there was a hostile work environment and if there was, who’s fault it was. “As I started interviewing people, I learned quickly this has been a hostile work environment for everyone for a considerable period of time,” Band said. During this investigation, he only spoke to management employees during the process of his investigation. Band said that he hasn’t seen a leadership group “as fractured” as the one at CRFR. Regarding the hostile work environment complaint, Band said
that there were people who feared for their jobs before Medina was removed. After Medina was fired, “there were a number of people who thought they could get fired at any point.” “You’ve got people working directly under [Medina] and they’re not on the same page; they’re all operating based out of fear. Even the people who were seen as most affiliated with [Medina] were worried about their own jobs,” Band said. Band said that the culture created by the leadership was one where no one felt safe within their jobs. Band said that Medina’s arrival in the community was the catalyst for the chaos of the last six months. “It became white hot around here. It’s like somebody threw a hand grenade in the middle of the community. And that caused this gigantic storm that everybody felt,” Band said. “The fault of that, the real core, the root cause of where all this came from was everything that happened in the wake of your former fire chief. And that is based on what everybody told me.” Band said that it was a hostile work environment not only for those who made the complaint but for everyone within the district. Band did not interview Medina for a variety of reasons, including the pending litigation against the district. In his report, Band stated that Medina was “the cause of the negative culture being experienced at CRFR, and the actions of the community and the result of the election were the effect.”
See CRFR Page A5
None injured during shooting at Pro Automotive WILL LOHRE Country Media, Inc.
At about 11: 15 a.m., a robbery suspect from Washington County was located at 50038 Columbia River Highway in Scappoose at Pro Automotive & Diesel. Staff confronted the suspect as he carried out suspicious activity in the business’ parking lot. The suspect fired a weapon at a civilian before fleeing toward Portland. The following is a news release from the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office: On November 20, 2023, Washington County issued an Attempt to Locate (ATL) for a robbery suspect who had forcibly taken a car in Portland. Washington County shared that the car’s owner could track the automobile’s movement via his laptop, which was still in the car. At that time, the car appeared to be moving towards Columbia County. The Columbia County Sheriff’s Office, Oregon State Police, Scappoose
Police, and St. Helens Police began searching for the suspect vehicle. At about 11:14 a.m., dispatch received a 911 call from Pro Automotive, who indicated that a male subject matching our suspect’s description had tried to steal a car from the business before firing shots at the employees. There were no injuries as a result of the gunfire, and the suspect fled toward Portland in a black Jeep Grand Cherokee. Law enforcement located the vehicle, and a short pursuit ensued. Police officers deployed a spike strip to disable the suspect’s vehicle, ending the pursuit. The suspect, identified as 28-yearold Buomkuoth Chuol from Portland, was taken into custody and lodged in the Columbia County Jail. The investigation is ongoing. Hearing from the owner
The Chronicle spoke with Pro Automotive owner Adam Ofstad about
Courtesy photo from Columbia County Sheriff’s Office
The scene of where the shots were fired at Pro Automotive in Scappoose.
the ordeal. While no one was hurt, Ofstad was justifiably shaken up. “Super scary. We’re just really thankful none of us got hit. [It was] a terrible ordeal,” Ofstad said. In recent years, Ofstad said that they have seen a massive uptick in the number of incidents regarding the security of customer vehicles since the beginning of the pandemic. “We have frequent attempted ne-
farious activities here. We have about zero completion. Because it’s just like this day and night,” Ofstad said. “We have made it known that this kind of stuff doesn’t get far at Pro. I can tell you there’s been 15-plus felony cases that have been tried and fully charged in our Columbia County courts here for people attempting this kind of activity at Pro.” Prior to the pandemic, Ofstad said that there were virtually no issues with criminal activity. Starting in the pandemic, Ofstad said they experienced a volume of three incidents a week. Ofstad credited Scappoose Police Department, and especially Columbia County Sheriff Brian Pixley for offering support to his business to curb the number of crimes committed. To protect his customers’ vehicles and his business, Ofstad said they use “28 cameras, motion sensors, three people at night full-time watching motion sensor cameras.” During the day, all of the staff
are on guard for potential criminal activity because “this is the criminal climate we’re in now.” Ofstad said they now have a coordinated response with the staff to “thwart” criminals. Ofstad described what the impact of these repeated offenses have had on him and his business. “That’s it, being a business owner in this climate down here where you happen to work on what is also the bait for all these criminals. They are here to steal the rigs or steal the parts off them,” Ofstad said. “We need more deputies on the road. We’re going to continue to do what we have to do to keep our business open. I feel bad for my guys; we had some close calls for them, for sure freaked them out, and freaked out their families. We’re extremely fortunate no one got shot on this one.” Follow this developing story on thechronicleonline.com and in the Wednesday print editions of the Chronicle.
Elks give back to children in need WILL LOHRE Country Media, Inc.
As part of the Warm Welcome to the Library program, the St. Helens Elks Lodge #1999 donated over 150 pieces of warm weather gear, including coats, hats, and
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scarves, to Head Start students and their siblings in an event at the St. Helens Public Library. The three-hour event was held on Nov. 18. The goal of Warm Welcome is “to promote literacy and the free services of the library to low-income students and families” while also providing them free warm-weather clothing items, according to Elks Grant Coordinator Annette Pixley. “It was really heartwarming. There were a lot of children who came in, and you could see that there was a need. They were super excited to get to pick a new coat,” Pixley said. The Elks held a similar event in October for Scappoose Head Start students. Pixley said there were about 50-60 kids at the St. Helens event and seven in Scappoose. The Warm Welcome program is St. Helens Elks Lodge #1999 through a $3,000 grant received from the Elks National Foundation. Pixley became the Grant Coordinator for the Elks Lodge this year, and she said there are grants “specifically available from the Elks National Foundation that we can use here in Columbia County.” “I went and applied for the grants. This is intended to be a
Courtesy photo from Annette Pixley
The Elks staff with the gathered assortment of donated warm clothes.
program that we do year after year after year. This is the first year of the program, and as long as it goes well, we can continue to apply for the grant every year,” Pixley said. Though the program only happened in Scappoose and St. Hel-
ens this year, Pixley said that the Elks hope to expand the program to Head Start students in other areas across Columbia County. “Our intention is to reach out to Clatskanie, Vernonia, and Rainier next year and do this for all the cities in Columbia County
next year,” Pixley said. In addition to supplying warm clothes for the winter months, students also got to learn more about what the public library can offer them. Pixley said that before
See ELKS Page A11