On Wednesday, April Fools Day, Commissioner Kevin  Stufflebean must either resign his position or file a letter of  justification with Coos County Clerk Terri Turi triggering a  special election to be held May 5. Stufflebean has publicly  stated he will not resign and The Sentinel has requested an  official statement.

According to the recall committee Citizens for Fair and  Open Government, headed by former Roadmaster Larry  Van Elsberg, a recall had been under consideration for some  time but it was the 11th hour layoff of 22 road workers  from the County Road Department on New Year’s Eve that  pushed the committee to action.

Earlier, after an executive  session, then Commissioner John Griffith along with Nikki  Whitty and Stufflebean voted to ‘reorganize’ the department  despite adequate funding through the current budget year  and with no warning to the employees or the Teamsters  Union.

For weeks, citizens stood before the Board during regular  commission meetings and citing public safety concerns  pleaded with the Board to reconsider. So many people came  each week that Whitty was prompted to use a timer, limiting  public participation to three minutes further infuriating  the public. Newly elected Commissioner Bob Main twice  made a motion to reinstate the road crew through June  when their contracts were up to allow for public input and  both times Whitty and Stufflebean let the motion die.

The two incumbent commissioners claim there was ample  time for public input and cited December 3, 16 and 31 as  dates the matter was discussed. Citizens present during  these meetings remember nothing to indicate 60% of the  road department was about to be laid off and the Board was  accused of speaking in code to deliberate obscure their  actions from the public. This perceived opacity on the part  of the Board is the main premise of the recall effort.

An unexpected consequence of the layoff and the manner in  which the Board handled it prompted Teamsters Union 223  representing the road crew to file an Unfair Labor Practices  Complaint with the Oregon Employment Relations Board.  That complaint has been accepted by the Administrative  Law Judge and will be heard at the end of June. Should the  ULP prevail it could cost the County in excess of $650,000  in back wages and benefits with no services rendered. The  County has paid over $15,000 in legal fees to outside labor  attorneys.

Amidst public outcry questioning whether 14 people can  handle 600 miles of county roads Stufflebean, who acted as  interim roadmaster after Van Elsberg resigned April of  2007, claimed an analysis had been done and the new  department would be more efficient and would easily handle  critical road safety functions. After repeated attempts by  The Sentinel to obtain copies of the analysis it was  acknowledged that no written analysis existed adding fuel  to committee assertions the road department reorganization  was ill conceived and put the public at risk.

The recent drowning death of 88 year-old Dean Caudle  after trying to drive through 4’ of water on Arago Fishtrap  Road had new Roadmaster John Rowe scrambling to  explain why barriers closing off the road were not put up  until after Caudle drowned. Former road worker Dennis  Backman said this was, “…the type of thing we were afraid  would happen.”