The Northern Wasco County Parks and Recreation District board voted 3-2 Thursday, Aug. 28, to fire Executive Director Scott Green, who said he is now considering suing.
The vote comes in the midst of a $3.9 million project to replace the Ted Walker pool.
Green has been on paid administrative leave since Aug. 4 as a sexual harassment allegation against him is investigated, he confirmed.
Board members have also been increasingly concerned with the timeline of the pool project. Former District Director Karl Cozad has been brought on as interim executive director, in part to help with the pool project.
Board members voting for termination were Catherine Whalen, Nikki Lesich and Travis Dray. Voting against were Marcus Denney and Dean Dollarhide.
The vote came after an hour-long closed-door session.
Nothing else was said after the vote was taken.
Board members and their designated spokesman, the district’s attorney, Tom Peachey, could not be reached for comment as of press time Friday morning.
Asked after the meeting if he was surprised by the vote, Green told the Chronicle, “a little — actually, quite a bit.”
Later, he said, “I’m really upset because I feel I’ve been wronged by the district. I’ve brought this district so far.”
He said he’d brought in nearly $2 million in improvements to the parks district in his eight years as director, not including the pool.
Indicating he was well-thought of in the community, he said he’d generated “a quick list” of 120 character witnesses who would speak positively of him. He said that he could come up with just as many more given more time.
“I don’t want to hurt the district, but I’m not going to lay down to be trampled,” he said.
He said he was considering suing for wrongful termination, but would wait a week to let his emotions settle before making a decision.
He said it was standard procedure to allow someone to resign.
Asked if he would have resigned if given that option, he said, “I certainly would’ve heavily thought about it.”
Green said he’d earlier given the parks attorney and Whalen three options: he would return to work if a certain other district employee was fired or paid to leave; he would resign if given a severance package to allow him to relocate; and if he was terminated he would consider it wrongful termination and consider suing.
Green said when he started as director, the district was $179,000 in the hole and was being considered for dissolution. He brought it into the black in the first year and has kept it there.
Green said in his 28 years of work in parks and recreation, “I’ve never had a bad review in my life.”
He said he’d actually received a good evaluation from the board earlier this year, which was quickly followed by a bad evaluation.
He said he was facing a sexual harassment allegation from an employee and was prepared to take a lie detector test. “I have nothing to hide.”
Green said problems in the district started with the pool project, which voters approved last November.
He said he told the board that he’d need help to do the pool project, since it would take much of his time. He said adequate help was not provided.
Once detailed number crunching began, and a soil test was taken at the pool site — showing a mixture of basalt, fractured rock and fill — it was clear the pool could not be built to specifications to “appease” The Dalles Swim Team, he said.
It would take nearly another $2 million to meet those specifications, he said.
Those included making the pool deep enough to allow out-of-water starts at both ends of the pool, installing a bulkhead to create flexibility in pool lengths for competition and adding a warm-up pool.
Green said he’s never worried about the timeline or cost of the pool project, and is confident it will be finished on time.
Initial expectations were that the pool work would begin in June. That timeline has changed and demolition has not yet begun.
Contracts for that work are expected this week.
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