OR Union-Backed Fire Board Candidates Didn't File Contribution Report, State Says

The St. Helens Professional Fire Fighters Association Local 321 failed to properly report the source of a $6,000 contribution for the May election of three new Columbia River Fire & Rescue board members, according to a complaint to the state Secretary of State’s Office.

The three union-backed candidates also never reported any contributions from the union, which paid for posters, mailers and signs promoting their candidacy for a board seat, according to state records.

The questions raised about campaign finance reporting come amid major strife in the fire district, which is facing an ongoing criminal investigation into allegations of unchecked credit card spending and improper pension classifications and benefits. Earlier this month, the board abruptly fired the fire chief without any prior public notice and in violation of the chief’s contract, and a board-appointed interim chief resigned days later. The district also is awaiting an arbitrator’s ruling on a disputed contract.

Columbia River Fire & Rescue, the county’s largest fire department covering a slice of a sprawling territory on the edge of the metro area, provides firefighting and emergency medical care to over 27,000 people with 35 full-time paid firefighters.

The former board president who lost re-election in May to one of the union-backed candidates filed the complaint with the state about the $6,000 contribution.

The local union reported it received a $6,000 contribution from the Salem-based Oregon Professional Fire Fighters Political Action Committee on April 2, but that committee didn’t report making any contributions to the St. Helens union for a 2023 election.

State records suggest that “one of these two organizations has violated their reporting obligations,” wrote Hans Feige, the former board president in his complaint.

The Oregon Secretary of State’s office has initiated an investigation into the complaint, according to Luke Belant, deputy director of the office’s elections division.

While Oregon does not limit contributions, all contributions and expenditures related to a candidate are required to be disclosed.

Lisa Davis, office manager for the Oregon Professional Fire Fighters Association, said the association’s political action committee didn’t provide the $6,000 to the local St. Helens union.

“I think they are amending that,” Davis said Thursday, referring to the local union.

She added that the local union had obtained the money from the Oregon State Fire Fighters Labor Council’s general operating fund.

Jeff Lockhart, the local union’s treasurer, said he had made a mistake in the report to the state and is working on fixing it.

“I reported the donation as coming from their PAC fund by mistake,” he wrote by email Thursday. “It was a simple clerical error, nothing more.”

He said the donation actually came from the Oregon State Fire Fighters Council’s “soft money.”

According to its website, the Oregon State Fire Fighters Council works on legislative issues that impact working conditions, wages and benefits for firefighters, while the Oregon Professional Fire Fighters Political Action Committee funds lobbying and supports candidates and measures that impact working conditions for firefighters.

St. Helens Professional Fire Fighters separately reported to the state it spent $3,274.72 in April and May for yard, highway and billboard signs, as well as other campaign materials, including buttons and advertisement, at Paulson’s Printing. It also spent $812.53 for U.S. postage for campaign mailers, and $840 for Facebook, Instagram and other online social media advertising.

While it received $6,000 in contributions, the local union said it spent $4,094.21 this year in campaign expenses.

The local fire union distributed and displayed signs, mailers and fliers in the local community in support of Austin Zimbrick, Richard Fletcher and Ryan Welby for the fire district board seats leading up to the May election.

Yet Zimbrick, Fletcher and Welby never reported receiving any contributions from the local union for their campaigns.

The union-backed mailings that went out to local residents promoted the three candidates, Zimbrick, Fletcher and Welby, with their photos, and described them as “community focused,” and “passionate about improving fiscal accountability and working conditions.”

Zimbrick was the only one of the three candidates who filed that he had received any campaign contributions.

In his initial candidate filing, Zimbrick checked a box that he didn’t expect to spend or receive contributions of $750 or more. But in late March, he reported to the state that he was treasurer of a “Friends of Austin Zimbrick Committee,” which received a single contribution of $829.00 from St. Helens resident Cheryl D. Breslin for campaign signs.

An advertisement with the coordination of a candidate would be considered an in-kind contribution, which would require the candidate to report the transaction, according to Belant.

If the ad is produced without the coordination of the candidate, the candidate would not be required to file a report but the labor organization would, he said.

A candidate is required to record total contributions and expenditures that exceed $750 during a calendar year.

Phone and email messages left for Fletcher, Welby and Zimbrick Thursday were not immediately returned.

In July, the three new fire district board members on the five-member board were sworn in. At their second board meeting earlier this month, the three voted to fire Chief Joel Medina and immediately appointed battalion chief Michael Gorsuch, who was attending the meeting virtually, as interim chief.

Welby had introduced the two surprise personnel-related resolutions to the agenda without any prior notice, and the chief’s termination was ordered to take effect upon passage of the resolution, without any prior notice to Medina or time to challenge it in violation of the terms of his contract. Medina has since filed a $20 million whistleblower suit against the new board members and the union.

Three days later, Gorsuch resigned, saying he was overwhelmed and underprepared. In a resignation later, he cited threats he received and wrote, “it only takes a few bad apples to bring you down.” Gorsuch had faced immediate pressure to fire finance chief Jimmy Sanchez and deputy chief Eric Smythe, according to sources familiar with the maneuvering by the board. Sanchez and Smythe have both worked closely with Medina.

After Gorsuch’s sudden departure, Smythe briefly stood in as interim chief before he took medical leave. Now Sanchez is acting chief.

— Maxine Bernstein

Email [email protected]; 503-221-8212

Follow on Twitter @maxoregonian

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