Former Mayor Gussie McRobert complained to the city that firefighter Greg Matthews had threatened her at a city event because he was upset at her for opposing a measure that would annex the Gresham Fire Department to a local fire district.
The annexation, which would transfer responsibility for providing fire protection and emergency services to a Multnomah County fire district, has been a hot button topic of late because the city would no longer have control over the services. Gresham residents will vote on the issue March 8.
Matthews, who serves as Gresham Fire Department's Public Information Officer, is also involved in promoting the controversial annexation.
According to a letter McRobert sent to City Manager Erik Kvarsten that was to be forwarded to Matthews, the former Mayor wrote, "I was so stunned that I didn't ask 'Or you'll do what?' 'What is it that I should watch: a movie, my back, my kitties or the brakes on my car?'"
Matthews' account, detailed in the report from the independent investigation, claims McRobert was the aggressor, not him. He says McRobert approached him first in a friendly manner, but then her demeanor changed. Matthews says McRobert was, "pointing her finger in his face" and said the Fire District's annexation campaign was, "a bait and switch program."
According to Matthew's account, he told McRobert that, "he could not continue to have a conversation with her about this subject as he was in uniform." Matthews said McRobert continued to point her finger at him in an aggressive manner and that he then gave her a business card and suggested that she call him and that they meet at a time when he was off duty.
Although the accounts from McRobert and Matthews about what happened that day differ greatly, the independent investigation concluded, "eye witness accounts corroborate Matthews' version of events."
"In addition, an inference can be drawn that McRobert uses the term "threaten" to describe a discussion in which another person disagrees with her, as this is the second time she has accused someone of engaging in "threatening behavior" when disagreeing with her."
