John Day City Manager Nick Green

JOHN DAY — Four of the five ethics complaints filed by the Grant County Conservatives Political Action Committee and its associates have come to a resolution.

Russ Young and Zach Williams of the John Day/Canyon City Parks and Recreation District board, Grant County Digital Board Chair Josh Walker and former John Day City Manager Nick Green were all accused of ethics law violations by Paul Sweany, the leader of the Grant County Conservatives PAC.

A fifth individual, former John Day City Councilor Shannon Adair, has been under investigation by the Oregon Government Ethics Commission for a number of months. The complaint against Adair was filed by Bob Pereira, who is also associated with the PAC.

Walker was found to be in violation of ORS 244.120(2), which requires an elected official or one serving on a board or commission to publicly announce the nature of any conflict of interest, in regard to the sale of a building that was owned by his company, Mahogany Ridge Properties LLC, to the city of John Day for development as the Seneca CyberMill.

While Walker abstained from voting on or discussing the matter in his role on the Grant County Digital board, the ethics commission found three failures between November of 2020 and March of 2022 to publicly announce a personal conflict of interest.

Mahogany Ridge Properties sold the property now known as the Seneca CyberMill to John Day for $85,000.

Walker received a letter of education from the commission explaining the applicable parts of state ethics law following the negotiation of a stipulated final order. Walker could have been assessed a civil penalty of up to $5,000 for each violation of ORS 244.120 in addition to a civil penalty equal to twice the amount Walker realized as a result of the violations.

Walker contended that his violation was unintentional but agreed with the terms of the stipulated final order in order to conclude the matter.

Young agreed to a stipulated final order prior to the completion of the investigative phase of his case.

Young was found to have violated ORS 244.120(2) in addition to ORS 244.040(1), which prohibits public officials from using their public office or position to obtain a financial gain or avoid a financial detriment for themselves, their relatives or household members, or any business with which they, their relatives or household members are associated.

Young agreed to pay a civil penalty of $250 for failing to publicly announce personal conflicts of interest pertaining to work that Iron Triangle, which Young owns, did for the John Day/Canyon City Parks and Recreation District in relation to playground improvements in 2019 and work on a rental property owned by the district in 2020.

Iron Triangle responded to a public contract solicitation to perform ground preparation and excavation work in relation to playground improvements. Iron Triangle was awarded the contract as the low bidder.

Young recused himself from voting on the contract award but did not publicly announce a conflict of interest as reflected in the board minutes.

When Iron Triangle informally agreed to complete the repairs to the rental property, Young declared a conflict of interest and did not participate in discussions pertaining to the agreement. The commission found that Young did participate in discussions concerning the work on the rental property on at least two occasions following that informal agreement. Parks and recreation board minutes do not reflect Young publicly declaring a conflict of interest at those subsequent meetings.

The total cost of the repairs to the rental property was $29,997.45. Iron Triangle was paid $13,500 and given a used bike trailer valued at $8,000 for a total payment of $21,500. The remaining balance owed was donated to the parks and rec district by Iron Triangle.

Young could have been assessed $5,000 in civil penalties for each violation of ORS 244.120(2) and ORS 244.040(1) in addition to a civil penalty of twice the amount realized as a result of the violation.

Young contended that the results of the investigation, if submitted through exhibits and testimony at a contested case hearing, would not find evidence to support the alleged violations. He also stated that the Young Family Foundation has donated over $78,000 to the district over the past decade.

In order to conclude the matter, Young agreed to the terms outlined in the stipulated final order.

Williams also agreed to a stipulated final order prior to the completion of the investigative phase in his case.

Williams was found to be in violation of ORS 244.120(2) for failing to publicly declare a personal conflict of interest for work that King Inc. performed for the parks and rec district while working as a contractor for Iron Triangle in 2019 and 2020 on the same jobs cited in Young’s case.

While Williams did declare a conflict of interest and abstained from voting when the board agreed to have Iron Triangle complete the rental property repairs, board minutes do not reflect that he publicly declared a conflict on each occasion the board discussed the matter.

Williams received a letter of education to settle the matter.

Adair, the owner of 1188 Brewing Co., remains under investigation by the commission into whether she used her position as a city councilor to gain a favorable deal on land in John Day’s Innovation Gateway. Adair purchased the 2.8-acre property for $122,840. Adair was negotiating a final stipulated order with the commission but sought new legal counsel after the attorney who was handling the matter suffered some medical issues.

Adair said she expects her case will be resolved at the Jan. 5 meeting of the state ethics commission. Adair and her new legal counsel are seeking a dismissal of the complaint.

Green’s case was dismissed by the commission in March following a preliminary review.

Sweany expressed dissatisfaction with the outcome, suggesting that the ethics commission should have come down harder on Walker, Young and Williams and should never have dismissed the complaint against Green. He repeated a claim he made in March, when he said the commission allowed itself to be “manipulated” by Green’s statements during a hearing on the matter.

“Mr. Walker, Mr. Young and Mr. Williams would have been much better off fabricating a list of false accusations and slanderous assaults like Mr. Nick Green did to persuade the Oregon Government Ethics Commission to ignore the facts and recommendations of its own investigators and rendering a decision based purely upon hearsay and emotion,” Sweany said. “These three men probably could have gotten their complaints dismissed right along with Green’s.”

Green and Walker did not respond to requests for comment before press time.

Young and Williams said they didn’t believe the things they were accused of rose to the level of an ethics commission investigation. Both also said they were not satisfied with the stipulated final orders pertaining to their cases.