It was a long and twisting road, but the city of White Salmon has finally resolved a contentious legal issue that has divided the community for the past two years.
When the White Salmon City Council voted 4-1 to hire former Police Chief Rich Cortese to the newly-created position of public safety director last Thursday, a huge weight was lifted from the city's back. Ever since Cortese was terminated -- for no apparent reason -- from his job as chief, there has been a cloud of uncertainty hanging over the city and the Bingen-White Salmon Police Department.
By bringing Cortese back in a new role, the pending unlawful termination lawsuit finally goes away. That's good news, because despite the big hit to the city's shaky budget this settlement will result in, a jury could very well have made a decision that would have cost the city far more.
As much as a controversial issue such as this one can be, the city's move appears to be generally positive for all the parties involved. That in itself is remarkable.
Cortese gets his wish: to finish his law enforcement career in the city where it began -- White Salmon. Welcome back!
The city of White Salmon can finally stop having to invest large sums of money and countless hours in legal strategies and counter-strategies to try to defend the city.
Citizens who felt that Cortese got a raw deal -- and he certainly did -- can take heart in seeing an injustice made right. This is a credit to our community.
The Police Department can move forward, knowing that Bruce Brending will be able to continue serving as police chief, a job he has been handling very well. No longer will there be the possibility that a court could order Cortese to be reinstated as police chief, bumping Brending out and setting off a fresh round of turmoil.
Public safety will also get a boost. At a time when our Police Department is short on staff, having another highly experienced law enforcement official available to respond to emergencies and assist in other ways will be a vital plus for the community. Cortese will also assist the Fire Department in his new role.
White Salmon Mayor David Poucher and the city's attorney, Ken Woodrich, along with Cortese's attorney, Bill Eling of Vancouver, deserve a lot of credit for crafting a solution to this ongoing and potentially disastrous legal tangle. They came up with a creative approach to resolve this case in a way that brings benefit instead of more controversy and dissatisfaction.
In fact, everyone involved in this decision showed character by working together to make the best of a very difficult situation.
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