Columbia River Fire & Rescue’s chief, ousted last week in a surprise board vote, filed a $20 million whistleblower suit Thursday against the fire district, four board members and union leaders.
The federal civil rights suit alleges the district and its governing board retaliated against Fire Chief Joel Medina for reporting unchecked district credit card purchases, mismanagement of grant-funded jobs and improper classification of administrative staff to obtain higher firefighter retirement benefits. The state police and Columbia County District Attorney’s office are conducting an ongoing criminal investigation into Medina’s findings.
The board received copies of Medina’s lawsuit at a special meeting called to discuss the fire district’s deepening financial troubles, including losing its line of credit.
The board fired Medina after he made “a good faith report in the public interest about misconduct by public employees and public officials,” the lawsuit says.
The suit accuses the board of firing Medina without notice in violation of his contract, due process rights and state public meetings law.
Medina seeks unspecified punitive damages against the four members who voted to add the resolution to fire him to their Aug. 8 meeting and the three new members who voted to fire him, Richard Fletcher, Ryan Welby and Austin Zimbrick. All three were elected in May.
The board added the resolution at the start of its monthly meeting. It wasn’t on the agenda posted for the public....
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