Harker gives his side of story

To the editor:
I want to thank everyone that has contacted me this last month. I have been approached and asked why I retired or quit the City of Portland street department. Let me set the record straight. Truth is, Mayor (Randy) Geesaman told me three days before the first of the new year that he was making some changes, and the first change was the street department.
This came after Mayor Geesaman told the entire department heads a week earlier after a Christmas dinner everyone was doing a good job and everyone was coming back the next year. Geesaman said it had nothing to do with my wife being sick or the job I did for nine years. He wanted to make a change and this change wouldn’t be the last; there would be more replacements made later. I was sorry to hear this. The city has great department heads and they do a great service for the city.
All of you that came to me on Saturday morning (Feb. 2), I share your concern about the snow and no salt being applied to the streets of Portland. After watching a car slide to a stop at the intersection of East Arch and North Wayne streets, I wondered where the street department was. I always believed in safety for all and that was always my intention whenever we received inclement weather. Sorry, I have no answer for this.
Thanks again for your prayers, cards, phone calls and concerns. Now, as Paul Harvey said, you know “the rest of the story.”
Jeff Harker
Portland[[In-content Ad]]