Ethics Complaint In North Plains Latest In String Of Questionable Actions By Current Power Players

UPDATE:  A few hours after we published his story, the North Plains City Council called an Emergency Meeting and hurried to hire new City Manager Bill Reid, AFTER they received the Ethcis Complaint against him.  Not only that, but they added a poison pill to his contract that would require a massive penalty if he were fired or let go.  What this meeting and urgent hiring did was confirm that the new City Manager has made arrangements with the current Council to carry out their Growth initiatives.  If a new Council and Mayor unfavorable to those aspirations come in, they can do nothing to get rid of Reid without paying a tremendous financial price. God, will this BS ever end? https://www.newsbreak.com/forest-grove-news-times-1490218/3655586955552-north-plains-city-council-approves-finance-director-to-step-up-as-city-manager

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North Plains, OR – An ethics complaint filed on October 24th alleges that current North Plains City Councilor and mayoral candidate Russ Sheldon directed city staff, specifically finance director and soon-to-be city manager Bill Reid, to send threatening letters on city letterhead to his opponents. The complaint states that Mr. Sheldon accidentally included his opponents on an email directing who the letters should be sent to, thus providing evidence of his involvement.

Oregon law prohibits elected officials from requesting or demanding that city staff perform political activity while on the job. It also prevents staff from engaging in such activity, whether directed to or on their own initiative. The complaint alleges that both Mr. Sheldon and Mr. Reid violated this law by coordinating the letter.

Furthermore, the complaint highlights the city letter itself as an attempt by city staff to use city resources and state power to influence the election through intimidation.The letter claims that a video posted on the Save North Plains website, which showed a pile of trash on city property and demanded the city clean it up, was untruthful and evidence of criminal trespass. Save North Plains disputes this, stating that the land is public property and was not marked with “No Trespassing” signs until recently. They claim to have timestamps proving the video was shot in the summer of 2024, and emails from October 18th show Mr. Reid acknowledging the need for cleanup and offering to help coordinate a volunteer work day. Pictures taken after the letter was sent allegedly show trash still present on the property.

The complaint criticizes the letter for being vague and threatening, and argues that city staff overstepped their bounds by attempting to dictate what can and cannot be said in an election.It also points out that the city’s lawyer did not sign the letter or cite any broken campaign laws, suggesting that city staff acted without council approval.

Some associated with Save North Plains believe this is a clear attempt by Mr. Sheldon to manipulate the election. The complaint includes further evidence of the city’s unfair treatment of campaigns and collusion between city staff and current elected officials. Aaron Nichols, a volunteer for Save North Plains and filer of one of the complaints against Mr. Sheldon, expressed disappointment that professional city staff would participate in such actions. He believes Mr. Sheldon used city resources to intimidate opponents and sway the election, demonstrating disrespect for the democratic process.

At this point, with this serious claim being made, the current City Council needs to put Bill Reid’s contract on hold.  They can not commit the City to an employment agreement with someone accused of a complaint of this nature.  Or if they do enter into it, they need an out-clause if he is found guilty of unethical behavior.  

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Here is the Full Complaint and a link to the leaked emails that were accidentally sent to the Friends of North Plains Smart Growth.

111 Emails CCD by Accident to FNPSG

ARE YOU TIRED OF THE NORTH PLAINS BS – WANT TO SAVE YOUR TOWN?  VOTE FOR THESE 4

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Ethics complaint in North Plains alleges illegal collusion between mayoral campaign and city staff 

North Plains, OR After nearly a year of heated politics and only a few weeks away from a contentious election, a new ethics complaint may change the future of North Plains. An ethics complaint filed Thursday, October 24th alleges that Russ Sheldon, a candidate for the Mayor of North Plains directed staff, particularly City finance director and soon to be city manager Bill Reid, to send threatening letters on city letterhead to his opponents. According to the complaint, Mr. Sheldon provided the evidence of his involvement to the same opposition candidates he planned to intimidate by accidently ccing their campaign on an e-mail directing who the letters should be sent to. 

Oregon law prevents any elected official from demanding or requesting that any paid staff perform any political activity while on the job. Further, no paid staff may engage in such activity either when directed or on their own initiative. It seems that Mr. Sheldon and Mr. Reid both ignored this rule when coordinating their letter. But, though this by itself would be a serious violation of campaign law, the complaint also highlights the city’s letter itself as an attempt by the city staff, using city resources, and state power to sway an election by intimidation. While cities often issue their own fact sheets or explainers on social media, directly telling candidates what they can and cannot say seems not only illegal but to push at the limits of free and fair elections. 

The city’s letter states that a video showing a pile of trash on city property and demanding the city clean it up posted to Save North Plains’ website was untruthful and is evidence of criminal trespass. This is disputed by the Save North Plains PAC to whom it is addressed. They say that the land is public property and until very recently, was not marked No Trespassing. Indeed, the sign that is currently there is new and is unlikely to have stood since the winter of 2023 as the city claims. The PAC says the video was shot in the summer of 2024 and that they can show such evidence from timestamps. Save North Plains also provided a chain of e-mails between some of their volunteers and Mr. Ried from October 18th where he acknowledged the need for a clean up and offered to help coordinate a volunteer led work day on the situation. Most glaringly, pictures taken the day after the letter was sent show multiple pieces of trash lying around the property and coyotes hanging around the derelict house. 

The letter itself is, for a city document, surprisingly vague and does appear to be written to threaten rather than achieve any particular action. And city staff both trying to determine what can and cannot be said in an election and demanding that a campaign for city office apologize for something they feel to be untrue and then using city resources to try to achieve such a political end does directly contravene a memo sent to council by the city’s lawyer earlier in the election cycle outlining acceptable campaigning for elected and appointed officials. It is notable that the city’s lawyer did not sign this letter or cite any campaign law that was broken – this appears to have been done by city staff without the blessing of the city’s council.

Some affiliated with the Save North Plains PAC see this as a clear attempt by a candidate to throw an election in his favor. In the complaint, they offer further evidence of unfair treatment of the campaigns by the city and further evidence of collusion between the city staff and current city electeds in the campaign. “From what we’ve been able to dig up so far, the city staff seems have acknowledged the obvious truth – that there is still a trash problem on this city owned property – until they were pressured by Mr. Sheldon to think otherwise” said Aaron Nichols, a volunteer for the Save North Plains PAC and the filer of one of the complaints against Mr. Sheldon. “While Mr. Sheldon has shown a lack of understanding of the democratic process – insisting that those who didn’t vote in May were “tacit supporters” of his plan for massive growth that was rejected by the voters by a more than 40 point margin – this is still shocking. It seems, from the accidentally leaked email, that Mr. Sheldon was using the apparatus of the city, city staff, and city resources to intimidate his opponents and try to sway what looks to be a close election. It’s incredibly disrespectful of the democratic process and, if it is proved, is almost surely illegal. I am incredibly disappointed that professional city staff including [current interim city manager] Rob Drake and Bill Reid would go along with it.” 

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