Civics 101
Dirt dust up By Kristine Thomas Dust is flying over the placement of the dirt and sod removed from McGinnis Field. The dirt in question was scraped from the grass field to prepare for the installation of an artificial turf field, a project privately funded by the Silver Fox Foundation. The majority of the dirt was delivered by volunteer truck drivers to Silver Falls school board member Tim Roth’s farm, about two miles from the football field. Silver Falls school board member Todd White believes it was an ethics violation for Roth to receive the free dirt. Roth, along with Silver Fox Foundation President Rick Schmidt and Silver Falls Superintendent Andy Bellando, disagrees. Now it’s up the Oregon Government Ethics Commission to clear the air. On June 15, White filed an ethics complaint with the commission against Roth. “I have recently learned that Mr. Roth either solicited, or was given all of the dirt, approx. (sic) 25 truck loads according to people on the site, and it was delivered to his house, free of charge,” White wrote in the complaint.
White, Bellando email exchange Explaining he understands the new field is not a district project, White said that doesn’t negate the fact that the dirt was district property. He said a patron asked him if she could purchase the dirt. He was told in an email from Bellando the dirt was not being sold. “This dirt was given to/asked for by Mr. Roth, the board chair, but not given to, CCB #14854
Ethics complaint filed against board member over dumped dirt District gift policy Public Gifts to the Schools All gifts to the schools will become the property of the district. The superintendent is authorized to accept gifts to the district, and others whom he/she may designate will be authorized to accept gifts for particular schools on behalf of the Board. The donor will be officially thanked in the Board’s name and all major gifts will be reported to the Board and publicly announced. The Board welcomes gifts of books and other materials that meet the same standards of selection as those applied to the purchase of library materials. Silver Falls School District 4J Gifts accepted shall be used for the purpose for which they were donated.
or made available to the public,” White wrote. “This is a large financial gain exclusive to Mr. Roth and no one else. Thousands of dollars in district property going to the board chair’s property does not seem legal, or ethical.” White continued that it is his understanding that an elected official cannot accept gifts over $50 in value. “It is my understanding that a third party
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On June 9, White sent an email to Bellando inquiring if the dirt was for sale. Bellando wrote back to White that the dirt is not being sold. “Its removal is part of the project contract and is removed off site to as close of a location as possible – in this case arrangements made with Roth Farms,” Bellando replied. “If the dirt was sold to individuals then the cost of the project would likely go up and that difference would be reflected in contracted costs.” Bellando wrote to White that what is occurring is a common practice and “is in the best interest of the project and public.” Again White questioned Bellando in an email, writing, “I’m sure you can see how this might raise questions when thousands of dollars in school property is given to a board member.” Bellando responded to White that it is important to remember that the field project is a gift from the community and organized through the Silver Fox Foundation. “As such this is not a public contract so the public procurement and notice rules you discuss below are not applicable,” Bellando wrote. Bellando shared the thread of emails between he and White ln an email to all board members, “Spencer Nelson, attorney at OSBA,
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transfer of school property to a board member does not absolve them of ethics violation, even if that truly were the case,” White wrote. “The appearance of improprieties here is glaring to the public.”
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shared with me that my description of the project and our processes appeared to be in line with district policy and ethics rules,” Bellando wrote. Bellando told the board he firmly believes this project – including the removal of dirt – has been done appropriately.
Silver Fox Foundation It’s obvious from his tone that it is frustrating for Schmidt to discuss the removal of the dirt from McGinnis Field. “Nobody has questioned this project. It has been nothing but positive until this little issue came up,” Schmidt said. Explaining the timeline to raise the money and complete the project was short, Schmidt said many volunteers worked together to fund the estimated $1 million project, with $500,000 in cash donations and $500,000 in in-kind donations. One such donation was the removal of the dirt. Schmidt said about 6,000 cubic yards of dirt had to be removed from the field, estimating it at about 500 truckloads. To pay a driver to haul the dirt would cost about $100 an hour. Instead, Schmidt explained, about 10 volunteers agreed to haul the dirt. To save time, it was decided to dump the dirt at Roth’s farm, allowing about three truckloads to be dumped per hour. Schmidt estimates the Fox Foundation saved between $15,000 to $18,000 in trucking costs thanks to the volunteer drivers and the close location. “This dirt was a liability,” Schmidt said. “It wasn’t an asset. It needed to go somewhere and we tried to look at the closest location. We didn’t want to waste time. It just made common sense to take
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