By RAELYNN RICARTE
News staff writer
September 27, 2007

Ron Rivers will turn a packet of new employee complaints and concerns over to the Northern Oregon Regional Correctional Facilities board of directors on Wednesday.

The Hood River County Commission Chair will also provide NORCOR officials with another copy of the Jan. 27, 2007, letter that launched an investigation into jail management practices.

“I want to make sure that no one on the NORCOR board is left out of the loop. We all need to be on the same page to make sure these problems are dealt with,” said Rivers.

He plans to keep the original letters in his possession with names intact. But he will delete any references to a specific individual on the copies furnished to the board. Rivers wants to eliminate the potential for retaliation, as feared by some of the reporting employees.

“These people have reached out to me because they don’t trust the management and the system. They appear to feel safe with me and want to confide what is happening at the jail,” said Rivers.

Within the past two weeks, he said nine NORCOR workers have contacted him via telephone, e-mail or letters. They have expressed opposition to Capt. Larry Lindhorst being promoted to the role of administrator.

That appointment was put on hold last week because the vote was taken on Aug. 23 during a closed executive session in an illegal meeting.

The NORCOR board will decide whether to completely restart the hiring process for an administrator at 5 p.m. today. The body of officials from Hood River, Wasco, Sherman and Gilliam counties will convene at a special meeting in The Dalles. They will learn if the top three finalists are still interested in the job. If not, they will discuss how to proceed with the selection process on the shortest possible timeline.

Interim administrator Darrell Hill will return to retirement on Monday. He was brought on board last spring to temporarily fill the vacancy created by the departure of Paul Barnett.

Rivers said the individual who mailed him a Sept. 17, 2007, letter did not sign it — but confirmed his identity via a telephone call. That document alleges that Lindhorst and other supervisors apply policies erratically and fail to crack down on complaints of inmate mistreatment.

For example, the author said a homosexual inmate was harassed by a sergeant about his sexual preference. His complaint was treated as a joke by management and no action was taken.

That same sergeant was accused of removing his duty belt and then entering the cell of another inmate to pick a fight.

“When he went into the cell he said to the inmate, ‘What are you going to do now; it’s just me and you.’ Wisely, the inmate did nothing,” stated the letter.

“This incident was reported to administration and nothing was done about it.”

A Sept. 18, 2007, letter sent to Rivers is signed by an employee and provides contact information. That individual works in the juvenile sector of NORCOR and claims to have been the victim of retaliation after reporting problems.

The employee cites witnessing a male corrections officer sexually harassing female staffers. That same officer was observed making sexual advances toward young female inmates.

“I have been treated in a very hostile way by some staff and management for reporting what I have witnessed and experienced. I have followed my chain of command to try to resolve these issues.

“Unfortunately, that has been very ineffective and only caused problems for me at work. I would be happy to speak with you, or anyone else, about my concerns I have brought up in this letter,” stated the letter.

A Sept. 23, 2007, letter e-mailed to Rivers in follow-up to a telephone conversation addresses “confusion in the ranks” and a “double standard” for discipline of workers in the juvenile facility and distribution of responsibilities.

“There is a general fear running around the juvenile side because we think there will be an investigation into the goings-on around here. So, others have decided that we need to support someone we know versus someone we don’t know. Capt. Larry is the one we know. At least he leaves us alone,” stated the letter.

Rivers was first approached with allegations of management misconduct in late January. He was presented with a complaint signed by one employee but representing the concerns of several workers. The documentation was investigated by the Wasco County Human Resources Department. Rivers said a subsequent report validated many of the allegations and made recommendations for a “culture” change at the jail.