Marion County continues to deal with the fallout from a public sexual discrimination dispute last October, with its top officials now accused of violating civil rights and worker protections. A fired supervisor contends he shouldn’t have been fired, while another staffer is on paid leave and claiming she was blamed[Read More…]

A complaint stemming from two Marion County commissioners’ move to defund training for therapists who work with transgender people is no closer to a resolution one month later. Commissioner Colm Willis, the target of the complaint, wrote in emails this week to fellow board members of the Behavioral Care Network[Read More…]

Marion County Sheriff Jason Myers poses for a photo near his offices on June 10. (Troy Brynelson/Salem Reporter) After nearly 10 years as Marion County sheriff, Jason Myers holds two maxims about the job: there’s more to it than enforcing the law, and it demands good timekeeping. That’s likely apparent[Read More…]

The Marion County Courthouse There’s a new sheriff in town, although he has been with the Marion County Sheriff’s Office for more than two decades. On Thursday, the Marion County Board of Commissioners selected Cmdr. Joe Kast to replace outgoing Sheriff Jason Myers, who is retiring. Kast will serve until[Read More…]

Marion County Commissioner Colm Willis, worried therapists may be advocating for gender reassignment surgery in children, recently moved to defund training for clinicians who work with transgender people, according to a recently filed complaint. Willis’ concern was backed by Marion County Commissioner Sam Brentano. “We shouldn’t be recruiting, which it[Read More…]

Marion County’s top employee is retiring after more than a decade on the job to spend more time with his family, he said. Chief Administrative Officer John Lattimer has led the county’s 15 departments and approximately 1,700 total employees for the past 16 years. He announced his retirement in an[Read More…]

Marion County officials say an audit of its workplace culture, stemming in part from sexual harassment allegations that surfaced last fall, is officially underway. Marion County commissioners in early March gave the contract to Clarity Scientific, a Beaverton-based corporation. Costs aren’t to exceed $30,000. The firm will survey, interview and[Read More…]

The doors outside the Senator Hearing Room, where public works employee Jamie Namitz in October publicly announced she was sexually discriminated against at work. Namitz recently complained to the state Bureau of Labor and Industries to investigate the county public works department. (Troy Brynelson/Salem Reporter) A Marion County worker is[Read More…]