July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
Opposing views on funeral controversy (09/30/06)
Letters to the Editor
To the editor:
It's time to get the record straight. It's been a year and we need to get on with business and get it straight.
It has been stated the wastewater plant employees were troublemakers and this is not the truth. There are several points we need to clear up.
The first being that we (the Wastewater Department) were NOT notified that we were being given the afternoon off on the day of Barbara Blackford's viewing. Also we were not informed that we were being paid for attending the viewing and funeral until we were reprimanded on Aug. 11, 2005.
Mayor Hosier also told his department heads that he wanted city employees only, not spouses, to attend the viewing and funeral. But we guess that it doesn't apply to him because he attended the funeral with his whole family.
One point of this lawsuit was to bring to light that Mayor Hosier sent a memo stating that ALL city employees MUST attend both the viewing and funeral. But in truth, he didn't even know who was there and who was not. He requested a list of employees who didn't attend from the WWTP department from Crystal Chapman.
He reprimanded six employees in our department. Four of us are full-time employees, one part-time employee and one summer employee. He did NOT, however, reprimand every city employee. There were several city employees that were NOT reprimanded who did not attend both.
If he sent a memo that states ALL city employees, does that not mean all employees?
We requested a board of works meeting to appeal this reprimand and we were not allowed to attend our own meeting. We have been having a lot of difficulties getting any wastewater business done with the mayor's constant avoidance of us.
Bob Brelsford needs to know what is happening in the city regarding wastewater and that has not been happening. The mayor has canceled meetings with Bob and avoided issues just to be difficult.
This whole case has not been to disrespect the Blackford family or her friends. We have a deep respect for Barbara and her work ethic.
For instance, Dean/Crystal Chapman did attend the viewing, but were unable to attend the funeral on Saturday because of a family wedding out of town.
Finally, we are going to accept what we were seeking for the past year. This entails the removal of this reprimand and it CANNOT be used against us in the future. There will be no gag order; we can speak freely to anyone. We are paying our own attorney fees and the city (or the taxpayers) will be paying for the mayor's mistake.
We would also like to point out that Bob Brelsford should have never been reprimanded for protecting his employees.
The mayor was wrong last year. He is still wrong this year. We got what we wanted and now we want everyone to know the details.
Now the voting people of Portland need to ask themselves "what kind of mayor do you want next year?"
Crystal Chapman, Dean Chapman, Dave McGraw and Bob Brelsford, employees, City of Portland Wastewater Treatment Plant
Why?
To the editor:
I have always thought that The Commercial Review continually differentiates itself from other papers because it really seems like it is run by people who care deeply about our community. I guess that is why I don't understand how Portland Mayor Bruce Hosier keeps getting on the front page of such a respected paper because he tried to lead this community from the heart.
It is easy for people who do very little for the world to criticize those who really want to make it better. Trying to bring a community together by teaching us that we win, fail, live and die together is part of any great management team.
As someone who makes mistakes every day, I understand that when you try with all of your heart to bring your team together, you sometimes are misunderstood.
I wish we could let our mayor get back to city business, as I believe it is infinitely more important than a petty lawsuit that says it is O.K. not to be there for your teammates.
Sincerely,
Mark S. Goldman
Portland[[In-content Ad]]
It's time to get the record straight. It's been a year and we need to get on with business and get it straight.
It has been stated the wastewater plant employees were troublemakers and this is not the truth. There are several points we need to clear up.
The first being that we (the Wastewater Department) were NOT notified that we were being given the afternoon off on the day of Barbara Blackford's viewing. Also we were not informed that we were being paid for attending the viewing and funeral until we were reprimanded on Aug. 11, 2005.
Mayor Hosier also told his department heads that he wanted city employees only, not spouses, to attend the viewing and funeral. But we guess that it doesn't apply to him because he attended the funeral with his whole family.
One point of this lawsuit was to bring to light that Mayor Hosier sent a memo stating that ALL city employees MUST attend both the viewing and funeral. But in truth, he didn't even know who was there and who was not. He requested a list of employees who didn't attend from the WWTP department from Crystal Chapman.
He reprimanded six employees in our department. Four of us are full-time employees, one part-time employee and one summer employee. He did NOT, however, reprimand every city employee. There were several city employees that were NOT reprimanded who did not attend both.
If he sent a memo that states ALL city employees, does that not mean all employees?
We requested a board of works meeting to appeal this reprimand and we were not allowed to attend our own meeting. We have been having a lot of difficulties getting any wastewater business done with the mayor's constant avoidance of us.
Bob Brelsford needs to know what is happening in the city regarding wastewater and that has not been happening. The mayor has canceled meetings with Bob and avoided issues just to be difficult.
This whole case has not been to disrespect the Blackford family or her friends. We have a deep respect for Barbara and her work ethic.
For instance, Dean/Crystal Chapman did attend the viewing, but were unable to attend the funeral on Saturday because of a family wedding out of town.
Finally, we are going to accept what we were seeking for the past year. This entails the removal of this reprimand and it CANNOT be used against us in the future. There will be no gag order; we can speak freely to anyone. We are paying our own attorney fees and the city (or the taxpayers) will be paying for the mayor's mistake.
We would also like to point out that Bob Brelsford should have never been reprimanded for protecting his employees.
The mayor was wrong last year. He is still wrong this year. We got what we wanted and now we want everyone to know the details.
Now the voting people of Portland need to ask themselves "what kind of mayor do you want next year?"
Crystal Chapman, Dean Chapman, Dave McGraw and Bob Brelsford, employees, City of Portland Wastewater Treatment Plant
Why?
To the editor:
I have always thought that The Commercial Review continually differentiates itself from other papers because it really seems like it is run by people who care deeply about our community. I guess that is why I don't understand how Portland Mayor Bruce Hosier keeps getting on the front page of such a respected paper because he tried to lead this community from the heart.
It is easy for people who do very little for the world to criticize those who really want to make it better. Trying to bring a community together by teaching us that we win, fail, live and die together is part of any great management team.
As someone who makes mistakes every day, I understand that when you try with all of your heart to bring your team together, you sometimes are misunderstood.
I wish we could let our mayor get back to city business, as I believe it is infinitely more important than a petty lawsuit that says it is O.K. not to be there for your teammates.
Sincerely,
Mark S. Goldman
Portland[[In-content Ad]]
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