the rest of the story

This page is about Dean Muchow and his history in Union, OR, and other places.

GOLD HILL POLICE CHIEF CONFESSES TO BLOWING UP SPACE SHUTTLE

Muchow calls new allegations 'frivilous'

By sanne specht
Mail Tribune

GOLD HILL — Two state agencies are reviewing allegations of unethical and unlawful conduct brought against Police Chief Dean Muchow.

The Department of Public Safety Standards and Training outlined 13 allegations — including misappropriation of city funds, perjury, failure to perform the duties of his office and "bugging" city facilities — in a letter to Jackson County District Attorney Mark Huddleston dated June 2.

"Because of the seriousness of the allegations, DPSST is concerned," wrote Theresa King, professional standards coordinator.

Muchow dismisses the allegations as "frivolous, groundless and false."

"They might as well say I blew up the space shuttle," said Muchow.

A copy of the letter was sent to the Oregon Department of Justice and the Government Standards and Practices Commission.

DPSST is responsible for ensuring public safety officers meet state physical, emotional, moral, intellectual and fitness standards. It has the power to revoke an officer's license for felony convictions or impeachable offenses such as lying under oath, said Marilyn Lorance, standards and certification supervisor. Officers also can lose their license for failure to meet minimum standards of moral fitness or falsifying documents to DPSST, Lorance said.

"Our role right now is simply fact-finding," Lorance said.

City Councilman Gus Wolf said he was one of the complainants against Muchow. Wolf contacted the regulatory agency because of his concern about the state of the police department and the actions of Muchow, he said.

"We aren't handling this well at a City Council level," said Wolf. "I am concerned as a council member and as a private citizen at the things I am hearing from community members and personally witnessing."

Several of the complaints fall outside the purview of the DPSST, Lorance said. However, the agency is in the preliminary stages of investigating a specific allegation that Muchow lied under oath while testifying in a case in McCall, Idaho, when he was a deputy there, she said.

Jamie Shropshire, former McCall county and city prosecutor, said she was cooperating with DPSST's request for information regarding the allegation.

"I really can't say more than that," she said.

Muchow said he has written responses to the allegations to both the DPSST and to Government Standards and Practices. But DPSST has not yet received Muchow's explanations regarding the allegations, Lorance said.

Lorance said of 224 cases opened in 2005, 71 resulted in the revocation of certification and five resulted in a denial of revocation. The rest either did not warrant further investigation or remain open.

Government Standards and Practices Director Pat Hearn said his agency is reviewing allegations that Muchow received free meals from local restaurants as well as other complaints that allege the public official used his position for personal benefit.

The agency has received Muchow's written response, Hearn said.

The allegations and Muchow's statement are under preliminary review. Results will be available on Aug. 18, said Hearn.

The agency will either initiate an investigation or determine there is no cause to go forward, said Hearn. If an investigation is warranted, it must be completed within 120 days, he said.

City Councilwoman and police liaison Kathleen Price defends Muchow's performance and character and said Wolf is unfairly harassing a city employee.

"To me they are unfounded, improper and outrageous allegations," Price said.

Muchow has fought several legal battles during his 20 years as a police officer. Union County District Attorney Martin Birnbaum filed misdemeanor charges against Muchow in September 2004 alleging official misconduct and theft after Muchow resigned as chief of police in Union, near La Grande. Two of the charges were dismissed, and Muchow was found not guilty on two charges of official misconduct in a short jury trial.

In December 2005, Birnbaum again filed a criminal case against Muchow for the alleged theft of a set of stairs. After failing to get an indictment on the felony charges, Birnbaum filed a motion for dismissal on May 19.

Muchow said he is at a loss to explain why he has had to face so many charges and complaints.

"I just don't know," said Muchow. "I guess good cops bring out the worst in bad people."

It is not known how the District Attorney's Office will proceed with the allegations put forth in the DPSST letter. Huddleston is out of town until July 31 and was unavailable for comment.

Reach reporter Sanne Specht at 776-4497 or e-mail sspecht@mailtribune.com.

A closer look at the letter sent to the Jackson County District Attorney's Office

The following are some of the allegations against Gold Hill Police Chief Dean Muchow outlined in a letter by the Department of Public Safety Standards and Training:

That Muchow has used his city cell phone for personal business on numerous occasions. When asked for a copy of the billing, Muchow refused to provide the information, saying it was confidential police business.
That there may be a disparity between when Muchow and his subordinates were actually working and dispatch records showing when the officers were logged on duty and responding to calls.
That his use of a credit card in spring 2005 to pay for meals, alcohol and gift cards "demonstrates an ongoing history of Muchow misappropriating other's property."
That instead of performing his duties, Muchow routinely sits in the local coffee shop and barber shop gathering support for his political endeavors.
That city facilities may have been bugged. Complainant "bases this belief on various occasions in which Muchow was not present during confidential conversations, yet he is aware of the content of such conversations."

Muchow
Not Guilty!

La Grande 1/13 (URNS) – After two days of trial, a five woman/one man jury found Dean Muchow unanimously "Not guilty" after only 20 minutes of deliberation on Wednesday. This followed Judge Wasley’s judgment of Acquittal on a second charge on Monday. Muchow received hugs and handshakes from nearly all the jury members as they left the courtroom.

The two counts filed by Union County District Attorney Martin Birnbaum and tried by Deputy District Attorney Laurie Schmidt referred to "charging travel expenses to the City of Union or using a City vehicle when the purpose of the travel was personal rather than business."

An October 2003 trip in question, the subject of Count Two, was a trip required to be taken to an independent physician by the City’s workers comp insurance company. The Deputy DA tried to prove it was a personal trip. Judge Wasley, who said he had worked with workers comp matters for four years, pointed out to the Deputy DA that this was an employer/employee relationship and not a criminal matter, and found for acquittal on Count Two on Monday.

Defense Attorney Wes Williams was obviously elated with the jury’s "Not Guilty" verdict on Count One on Wednesday, which completely vindicated Chief Muchow regarding his travel to the State crime labs in Salem and Portland in July 2003. Later, Williams said, "It’s a classic case of an investigator presuming guilt and the D.A.’s office presuming guilt and [neither] conducting a thorough investigation." He added, "That’s the problem we need to address in our society. What I’ve seen is a presumption of guilt, so instead of [the prosecution] hitting a case with an open mind and looking at all the evidence and trying to figure out where the evidence leads, there is a focusing on evidence that presumes guilt." Williams said his daughter asked how this happens, telling her that "Instead of looking at all the facts and lining them up and then reasoning from facts to a conclusion, they have their conclusion and only look at facts that support the conclusion." Williams said he "sees that happening more than I care to admit."

Mr. Williams presented a clear, concise, step-by-step picture of the facts in the case to the jury. His foam board exhibits, about 48" x 48", included a gas receipt, restaurant receipt, a map and time sheet, a letter from the City’s workers comp insurance company, and a memo from Muchow to Searles among other exhibits, and left no doubt as to the time or location of Muchow during the events in question.

First testifying for the defense on Wednesday was Union Mayor Debbie Clark, an expert in workers compensation, which was brought up in Count Two. Clark was sworn into office as Union’s Mayor only two days previously. Also testifying on Chief Muchow’s behalf was Union City Councilor Roger Clark, to whom Muchow had given reimbursement checks to turn into the City in 2003, and had full knowledge of Muchow’s activities for the July 2003 trip. Clark, a member of the City’s Finance and Administration Committee, testified that Muchow did not owe the City any money.

On Count One, Muchow had a job interview in North Plains on Monday July 7, 2003, and the same day was going to take DNA evidence of two crimes to a lab in Salem. However, when he arrived at the Salem lab, he was told the lab did not accept DNA evidence. Given directions to the Portland lab, he headed back through Gladstone to gas up and pick up his belongings at a friends house where he spent Sunday night. Heading to the Portland lab, he hit rush hour traffic and arrived at the lab shortly after it closed. Muchow drove back to Union and later mailed the evidence to the lab.

The State contended that Muchow used the trip for personal gain, alleging that it was a personal trip for the job interview and that he never intended to or went to the Salem crime lab. However, a cell phone record proved that Muchow was in Salem just after 3:00pm on July 7. The State also contended that Muchow was in Gladstone at 1515 hours (3:15pm) which would have given him almost two hours to get to the Portland lab. Williams proved that the gas receipt actually read 1615 hours (4:15pm) which gave Muchow only 45 minutes in rush hour traffic to reach the lab.

Attorney Williams elicited that it was former Councilor Jack Zimmerman, who was recalled in an election last year, former City Administrator Bill Searles, who resigned last year after the recall election, and the two Union Police Officers who made the allegations against Chief Muchow.

Under oath, Searles denied that he instigated charges of official misconduct against Muchow or that he had any knowledge of Muchow going for a job interview. When questioned about signing Muchow’s time sheet for July 7, 2003, Searles testified that he checked and signed employee time sheets for addition and coding only, not to verify that an employee was actually working on the days they noted on the time sheets.

Testifying on his own behalf, Dean Muchow, Union Police Chief from April 1997 to November 2003, went through events from junior high school to his job as Union Police Chief. He related citing the parents of Bill Searles in late 1999 or 2000, before Searles became City Administrator, on a felony charge. According to Deputy District Attorney Schmidt, a civil compromise was reached in the case resulting in no conviction for Searles’ parents, although they had to reimburse the victim. In testimony, Searles declared that his parents never told him about the citation and he never knew about it until after he placed Muchow on administrative suspension. He added that he asked for and received the police file on his parents from Officer Ronetta Prince so he could see what events took place.

In another incident a few years later after Searles had been hired by the City of Union, Muchow said, City employees and officials came to him to complain that Searles had given himself a $3,000 raise without Council approval. Muchow said he spoke with the reporting parties and staff DA, and sent the District Attorney a report. He said that Searles was not aware of the investigation, and a few weeks later Council voted 4 to 2 to retroactively affirm the raise. Muchow said the raise, which the City budgeted for but had not yet authorized when Searles took the raise, caused upheaval in the community.

Muchow testified to the events of a July 5, 2003 sex abuse case against a young child, which caused him to drive the DNA evidence he had collected on July 5^th to the Salem, then Portland, lab on July 7 along with some other DNA evidence from another case. OSP Officer Pat Montgomery, testifying for the prosecution but helping the defense, verified that he takes evidence to a crime lab as soon as possible after a crime has been committed and quite likely before any legal action has been started by the District Attorney’s office. [The Union Republic declines to offer details about this case which involved juveniles. /Ed.]

It appeared that perhaps one of the turning points in the trial was when Attorney Wes Williams said he and Mr. Muchow determined that Muchow may have overpaid the city for gas and, hypothetically, the City may owe Muchow some money. The State contended that Muchow used a City credit card without authorization, although former Mayor Dave Thomas testified that he had given permission to Muchow not only to use his credit card, but to sign his name and that he was fully aware that Muchow was going to a job interview, as well as taking DNA evidence to the crime lab on Monday, July 7.

Muchow paid for his own meal and snacks on the way home from the Portland crime lab but did not charge the City for them. He also did not bill the City for his drive time to, or the time spend at, the job interview. He said after he returned he gave receipts to the City Recorder and asked that she let him know what he owned the City but never received an answer, although the City Recorder said she received only one receipt and disputed the rest of the information. After Muchow received a $30 per diem check from the City’s workers comp insurance company, he endorsed it and turned it over to the City to cover the cost of the gas, which was less than the $30.

In his summation to the jury, Attorney Williams pointed out that the State could not say what amount they thought Mr. Muchow owed the City, "because they don’t know what it is." He said "They can’t say what they think Muchow did, they can’t say how much money the City may have been out of because they’re not out a dime. They’re not out anything. If there was, there would be evidence." Williams then took the jury through each piece of evidence that he said he would prove during his opening statement.

Mr. Williams continued saying, " He’s given all the receipts and now they’re trying to hang him. He wasn’t in an official capacity. Not in uniform, no badge, no gun, [and] in his personal car. Now we know, thanks to Muchow, he didn’t even use City gas when he drove to North Plains and back. So that element doesn’t prove out. He is not guilty!"

In her closing remarks, Deputy District Attorney Schmidt said that "If the State knew everything before coming to trial... theories change from time to time." She said, "The State never rested if he was in Salem or not and it doesn’t matter. The State never rested on 1615 or 1515." She said Officer Prince took receipts to the Oregon State Police, not Mr. Searles. She added that the State showed this happened in Union County on or about July 6, 2003, he was a public servant, performed an acting knowingly, acted in an official capacity and in an official position, and the act was done with the intent to obtain a benefit.

Ms. Schmidt concluded by saying that the State had no obligation to say how much money was owed to the City and that various elements, such as the time Muchow was in Gladstone, were irrelevant. She said the issue was that someone in a position of authority used that position for personal gain.

Judge Wasley finished giving instructions to the jury about 3:43pm, and gave the jury the copy of instructions as they went to deliberate. The Judge, Attorneys and Mr. Muchow then left the court room. About 20 minutes later, the jury signaled that they had a verdict. It took about another 15 minutes to corral the Judge, Attorneys and Muchow back to the courtroom and to bring the jury back in.

The jury foreman handed Judge Wasley the form upon which the jury was obligated to indicate their unanimous decision. After reviewing the form the Judge read, "We the jury, being duly impaneled and sworn. . . do hereby find the defendant, on the charge of official misconduct in the first degree, not guilty."

REPORTER:Are the stairs still attached to your home in Union?

MUCHOW: "They shouldn't be. But they could be."

In January, Birnbaum said he was proceeding with the case against Muchow because as a prosecutor he had a duty to hold police to high standards.

"If the public can't trust the police officers to follow the law, why should they follow the law?" Birnbaum said at the time.

UNION DISTRICT ATTORNEY SETS THE RECORD STRAIGHT ON STOLEN STAIRS

published in the LaGrande Observer letter section

Setting the Record Straight

To the Editor,

In the three years that I have served as Union County District Attorney, my policy has been to try cases in the courtroom and not in the newspaper. Jim Bovard's recent letter to the editor, however, calls for a response because his statements regarding the district attorney's office are not accurate.

The owner of the mill told me that he had intended using the stairs in question, in his barn. He never mentioned salvage. Instead, he said that when he first found the stairs missing he went to then-Police Chief Dean Muchow to file a complaint.

Dean told him that he himself had removed the stairs to use in the Union City Hall, that the stairs were installed in one of the rooms upstairs. Dean said that he'd show the owner the stairs but that the room was being used for a meeting that he couldn't interrupt.

The owner further told me that the other city employees were surprised by the story. They claimed that the stairs had never been in the City Hall, that because of their length, let alone their weight, they couldn't possibly be manuevered around some of the corners in the building.

When found and photographed by Police Chief Lee Bertsch, the stairs were securely attached to a building owned in Union by Dean Muchow. The owner's major disappointment ws that he felt that Muchow hadn't told him the truth.

Those are the facts that I was given and upon which Dean Muchow was charged with first-degree theft. Dean's lawyer tells me that the case is being civilly compromised, a legal process in which the parties come to an arrangement and take the case out of the criminal justice system.

Martin J. Birnbaum

Union County District Attorney

A GOOD DOG BRINGS THE PAPER..AND YOU CAN READ IT.

when police patrols prevent crime we are happy

THIS DOG BRINGS A CHEWED PAPER thinks it is good

when we pay for police patrols and get burgled we are unhappy

"WE'RE ON TOP OF THAT ONE"

"The more break-ins we get, the more evidence!"

Good News for the Censored & Censored Automotive Repair

3 Break-ins in a row "We're on top of it" says Chief

A local automotive repair shop that had to put "Thank You Gold Hill Police" on their building in order to disassociate themselves with this website, has reason to rejoice.

The Entrails report may have made the owners squeamish, and for good reasons, Muchow has nothing but time on his hands to organize boycotts and hate groups in Gold Hill while he looks for employment elsewhere.

At some point after the story appeared in the Entrails, quoting an employee who stated to that "He is a joke, he didn't even take fingerprints.", Muchow did return and take fingerprints. the "THANK YOU" sign soon appeared, giving the impression that perhaps the criminals who broke in the doors, stole a car loaded with tools and damaged another vehicle, had been apprehended.

I would suggest that the spotlight on the Chief's investigation has forced him to actually do his job.

Unfortunately for that establishment, it was re-visited by, we assume the same personnel, who had plenty of time to work on the roof of the building, pulling off a pipe and using it in an attempt to pry off the heat pump, and damaging the new roofing materials. It appears that, unable to gain entry, the group continued down the street where they ripped the leather upholstery in another vehicle.

This is not a group that is depending on stealth. What are they depending on?? they can apparently count on not being interrupted by a police patrol.

"Contrary to public opinion, we are right on top of it" said Chief Mucow recently one morning on his gossip rounds.

One can't help but question whether or not Muchow has ever put it together that criminals break-in to businesses at night when it is dark.

One also might question if the City of Gold Hill is paying out $13,000 per month for law enforcement, why we don't have regular patrols at night. That a group of criminals that were already identified, could feel so comfortable as to stand on top of a roof for hours on the main street of town pulling off pipes and prying off roofs, indicates that our $13,000 doesn't even buy us the deterrent factor.

The only officer that puts in night duty is the unpaid officer Chris Hanson.

Hank Hobart we are told, is not a patrol officer any more and according to the Chief "Does a lot of his work at home, filling out reports."

And no respectable burglar need to fear being discovered at work by Chief Muchow, unless he is breaking into Pattis in broad daylight.

Crooks are stupid, that is why they are crooks. If they were not stupid, they would be corporate lawyers. They are easy to catch, but you have to actually come to work to catch them. The idea behind paying for law enforcement is to make Gold Hill and unattractive place for criminals to practice their trade.

APOLOGY:

Our sincere apology to the recently robbed business in Gold Hill for publishing your business name or the fact that someone on the premises actually criticized the Chief . The threat of a boycott by police supporters is very real and something that Muchow has been involved in the town where he formally worked before resigning in exchange for keeping his past secret.

Below is a letter from UNION REPUBLIC in Union March 22, 2004.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

dated March 22

I'd like to give more information on the "boycott" that Dean Muchow wrote in his letter. First of all, the petition had nothing to do with not patronizing any of the businesses that had petitions. We quit patronizing those businesses because they belonged to TOTAL. Our opinion is that the TOTAL group used misleading information to recall two very dedicated Council Members and now are trying to change our form of government because they want to "get rid" of City Administrator Bill Searles. My wife and I both believe the tactics of TOTAL PAC have critically hurt good people in our city only to get their way........

Signed by MIKE LOWREY

SOUND FAMILIAR YET?

HOW ABOUT THIS LETTER FROM MUCHOW?

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

dated March 20, 2004

Police arrest man riding on train

A Central Oregon & Pacific Railroad train was stopped near Twin Bridges between Gold Hill and Rogue River after Gold Hill Police Chief Dean Muchow noticed someone riding the line, says Mark Wohlers, a COPR administrative manager.

After the northbound train was eventually halted Tuesday afternoon, Rogue River police detained the suspect, Wohlers said.

Jackson County sheriff’s deputies arrested a 25-year-old Grants Pass man, charged him with criminal trespass and lodged him in the county jail, said Deputy Jeff McGrath.

McGrath said the man was "very cooperative" and admitted to having previously hitchhiked from Medford to Grants Pass.

"He said it was something he’d done before and hadn’t gotten caught," said McGrath. "But he said he knew it was wrong and that he wouldn’t do it again."

Train hopping — a fairly common practice among transients, according to Wohlers — can pose potential hazards to both the nonpaying passenger and the railroad crews. Many times the hitchhikers ride undetected, he added.

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"A lot of times they hop on trains that are 50 cars long and we never even know they’re there," said Wohlers.

The railroad has declined to press charges against the man — who may end up being released on his own recognizance, added McGrath.

"It’s nothing too exciting," says Wohlers. "It’s not like we had to do an emergency stop."

NEXT STOP............NEW MEADOWS, IDAHO..........TOOT TOOT...........

That's Encouraging??

Here's a saying for you, to quote Chief Muchow in the AP article below :

"There's an old expression that if you are not making mistakes, you're not doing anything"..........I never heard that one, is it a family thing?

What I am afraid I am hearing is "When I'm doing anything, it is probably a mistake" or "Most of what I do could be catagorized as a mistake".

Okay, give the guy a break, that's what passes as wisdom in his family.

Here's one..........."You can fool all the people some of the time, you can fool some of the people all the time, you can fool the people like Christine & Eugene Askisin any time you find a low enough common denominator, and you can hardly ever fool me for long."

So we have a Police Chief that hides his personnel file, successfully from the Gold Hill City Council and has been brought up on numerous criminal matters.

Then we have Officer Hobart who was fired in Sutherlin for Moral Tupitude.

And quite frankly, these people should not be wearing police uniforms in this town. The reason I say this is because I do not believe that most of my neighbors have the same kind of sordid pasts that both of these men bring to the table. I believe that very few of my neighbors have been fired for moral turpitude. I believe very few of my neighbors have personnel records that need to be buried alive in a cat box.

It just isn't good policy to give law enforcement over to persons who have demonstrated that they have lower standards of deportment than the people they are being asked to police.

How then can the Gold Hill City Council, who are also my neighbors, bring these persons into this town and invest them with the trust that is due to a police officer? These men are not the same caliber as the men who work for the Sheriff and they are not the caliber of person that is hired by OSP. They are a breed of their own and apparently get passed from one unsuspecting community to another, subterranean like.

You Councilors do understand the damage that can be done to your neighbors by these men, correct?

The Chief has lied repeatedly to members of the Council, both in and out of the public meetings and yet they sit their like scared rabbits and let him walk all over, not just the City government, but the people themselves.

Scott Baker threatens a recall and the ones threatened, capitulate? Just like that? Scott Baker can not even spell Council, from the reading of his application to the Council, he appears to be both semi-illiterate and to not own a dictionary.

The perfect irony, Scott Baker, 5th generation public employee, a man who repeatedly states that he wants to "slap summon upside the head" to translate to English "slap some one upside the head", even in Council meetings, he "s'ports the police" does he? What about the law? does he know that it is illegal to "slap summon upside the head"? This is your typical "police supporter" of Gold Hill today.

We know what they really mean, "We support the police no matter what they do, and anyone who wants accountablity is agin the police and we're agin thum".

That is a sorry state of affairs.

Associated Press article published Friday October 15, 2004

Police Chief's File Reveals Criticsm

UNION, Ore.-- The Union police chief's resignation last year came amid questions about his job performance in cases involving children.

The information became known this month after The Observer newspaper in La Grande obtained a personnel file on Dean Muchow, the former chief who was indicted Sept. 1, on misdemeanor charges including official misconduct and theft.

The documents had been kep secret for almost a year because of a confidentiality clause in a settlement between Muchow and the city. The newspaper filed a request for the information through Oregon Public Records Law.

Union County District Attorney Martin Birnbaum said he decided the file should be made public because of Muchow's continued involvement in city politics.

The files show that hostilities between Muchow and then-City Administrator Bill Searles reached a breaking point on October 17, 2003, when Searles placed the chief on paid administative leave, pending a hearing before the city council.

In a formal written complaint, presented to Muchow at his suspension, Searles said Birnbaum and Union County Juvenile Director Jim Brougham were concerned about the chief's handling of certain investigations.

One case involved a juvenile who was said to have reported that his stepfather was abusing his mother. The child reported the alleged abuse to his teacher.

It was alleged that Muchow went to the home and interviewed the stepfather in front of the boy. Moreover, there was a complaint that he revealed the identity of the teacher to whom the boy had confided.

In another case, complaints were made the Muchow improperly obtained evidence from an alleged female juvenile sex abuse victim. Muchow said the victim's mother actually obtained the evidence.

A third case was about an unattended child who fell from the stands at the Eastern Oregon Livestock Show. Officials complained that local police took no action in the case, and did not follow it up.

In reponse to the complaint, Muchow denied having questionable professional judgement, and denounced the complaints from variousl agencies as hearsay and innuendo.

"There is an expression that if you're not making mistakes, your not doing anything," he wrote, "I admit I make mistakes as I go about my job. I have made none to the extent that Bill Searles alleges I have not been malicious or vindictive or illegal as he would have the council believe believe."

Muchow could not be reached for comment and his lawyer refused to comment.

Muchow filed to run for city council this year, but later withdrew the application. Searles has since resigned as city administrator.

UNION DISTRICT ATTORNEY SETS THE RECORD STRAIGHT ON STOLEN STAIRS

published in the LaGrande Observer letter section

Setting the Record Straight

To the Editor,

Martin J. Birnbaum

Union County District Attorney

HEADS ROLL IN UNION, MUCHOW SUPPORTERS ARE RECALLED.

MAYOR AND COUCILOR HUSBAND GO DOWN ...

(Editors note: the mayor/husband team in Union were typical "my guy right or wrong" supporters of their former Police Chief Dean Muchow. Muchow left the employ of the city of Union after complaints of improprieties against Muchow surfaced. Muchow and his attorney tendered Muchow's resignation in exchange for the Councilor's promise not to discuss the complaints against him. Muchow then became a driving force in TOTAL, a local group formed ostensibly to "support the police". According to Chief Petitioner Bobbi James "It will take years for this community to recover from the damage that he (Muchow) did here. Some wounds will never heal."

The newspaper quoted here is THE OBSERVER that serves Union and Wallowalla Counties and should not be confused with that silly local paper "The Observer" that Dean Muchow is writing in and delivering out of the Gold Hill Police car.

UNION VOTERS RECALL MAYOR, COUNCILOR

Published: February 15, 2006

T.L. Petersen

The Observer

One year, one month and almost two weeks after being sworn in as mayor of Union following a contentious three-way election, Deborah Clark has been recalled.

Union voters Tuesday recalled the mayor and councilor Roger Clark, the mayor's husband.

Deborah Clark was recalled by a vote of 582 to 239, with six undervotes. Roger Clark was recalled by a vote of 571 to 256, according to unofficial results from the Union County Clerk's office.

All total, 1,265 ballots were sent to registered voters in Union. The 827 ballots cast count for 65.27 percent of registered voters.

Roger Clark, contacted this morning at his business, chose to make no comments at this point.

Barbara James, a former city council member and a strong opponent of the Clarks' style of government, said she had a strange moment Tuesday afternoon.

"I was sitting here (at her Union home) and a great peace came over me," she said. The peace was so great, she said, she dozed off.

With the recall apparently successful, James said her hope is that the community can find a way to move ahead and work toward the unity that helped win Union the Governor's Cup in the late 1990s for community progress and development.

"I'm sure this isn't going to end all the problems," she said. "I'm sure it's going to take time to heal."

Looking forward to finding an acting mayor and filling a council position, James said she hopes the remaining five council members will be "very careful" about who they appoint. There is, she said, a number of people who would serve the city well without being either strong supporters of TOTAL — the Take Back Our Town and Leadership group that was formed and led by Deborah Clark — or those opposed to TOTAL.

Joe Wrabek, Union city administrator, noted that the results of the recall election are technically still unofficial this morning, although he expects to get a more formal abstract of the election from Union County Clerk Nellie Bogue Hibbert later today.

A special council meeting is planned for 7 p.m. Tuesday, Wrabek said. At that point, City Council President Dick Walker will effectively take over as acting mayor

The Union City Council then has multiple choices. They include having Walker continue as acting mayor if he chooses, appointing another council member acting mayor until the election in November, making an appointment from the community to fill Roger Clark's council seat, seeking applications for the council seat, or various other methods.

October 14, 2005: NEW POLICE CHIEF GOES AFTER CITY FUNDS WITH BOTH HANDS, DEPLETES GAS FUNDS IN FIRST HALF OF FISCAL YEAR. OFFICERS TURN TO MOTORING PUBLIC FOR SALARYMONEY.

NOVEMBER 20, 2005: POLICE DENY 900% INCREASE IN TRAFFIC TICKETS AS DEPARTMENT FUNDING.

GOLD HILL POLICE CHIEF GETS TO KEEP OTHER MAN'S STAIRS, MAKE COUNCIL WOMAN PROUD

CITY COUNTY INSURANCE RAISES GOLD HILL'S DEDUCTIBLE TO $10,000..COUNCIL WOMAN DON'T CARE

In another mouth dropping episode of the never-ending tale, Councilwoman Kathleen Price is trotting out her "boy" Chief Dean Muchow's charges for felony theft being dropped in Union County, a case that had nothing to do with Gold Hill, while she is silent on the fact that the City of Gold Hill has just received notice from CCIS that the insurance deductible will be raised to $10,000 due to the Police Chief's recent antics in trying to recall his supervisors on the Council.

Price apparently feels that no price is too high to keep this gem of a chief employed in the city.

Price is vehemently looking to hang the blame anywhere except on herself and her "no accountablity cronies" on the Council.

Muchow was quoted in the Mail Tribune article that he attempted to quash the charges in a civil compromise in order to make himself more presentable as a job applicant, but when that job opportunity fell through, he "put the skids" on paying the owner of the stairs. That would seem to indicate that Muchow was interviewing for another job as early as February.

While Muchow continues to use up Gold Hill taxpayers funds to search for work elsewhere, taking our police car and using our gas, faxing applications from City Hall to Culver, OR in search of some place as stupid as Gold Hill that will let him light there, Prices continues with their mis-guided "no accountablity" policy.

Even from a distance three facts still remain clear in the tale of the stairs.............

I.the stairs never belonged to Dean Muchow,

2. he never paid for them

3. he had them attached to his house.

That he was interviewing for a job other than the one he has in Gold Hill as early as last year, maybe that is why he didn't bother to put the police levy on the ballot.

That he admits that the stairs shouldn't be on his house but "they could be", that is priceless.......and I'll leave it at that.

By Sanne SPecht
Mail Tribune

GOLD HILL — The Union County District Attorney's Office has dropped a criminal case against Gold Hill Police Chief Dean Muchow for the alleged theft of a set of stairs.

Now Union County District Attorney Martin Birnbaum faces a possible investigation by the Oregon State Bar Association based on a complaint from Muchow.

A court document obtained by the Mail Tribune shows Birnbaum filed a motion for dismissal on May 19 and it was signed by a Union County judge May 25. The Mail Tribune also obtained a copy of a letter from the state bar to Birnbaum, asking him to answer to Muchow's claims.

A former Union police chief, Muchow has steadfastly maintained his innocence against Birnbaum's December 2005 allegations that he committed felony theft and criminal trespass at a defunct mill site.

"This was the outcome I expected many months ago," Muchow said.

Birnbaum did not immediately return phone calls seeking comment Tuesday afternoon.

In an affidavit filed Dec. 23, Birnbaum alleged Muchow told the owner of the site he had taken the steps, valued at $2,500, for use at Union City Hall. A police investigation discovered the steps were affixed to property owned by Muchow in Union, the affidavit said. The alleged theft and trespass occurred sometime between Jan. 1, 2002, and Dec. 31, 2004, court documents show.

Muchow disputes the value of the steps, and said he initially attempted to work it out with the owner as a civil matter because he had a pending job offer and wanted a quick resolution. However, Muchow said the case's adverse publicity cost him the job, and he and the owner did not come to terms.

"I put the skids on it as soon as I realized there was no job hanging in the balance," said Muchow.

In January, Birnbaum said he was proceeding with the case against Muchow because as a prosecutor he had a duty to hold police to high standards.

"If the public can't trust the police officers to follow the law, why should they follow the law?" Birnbaum said at the time.

But the DA's attempts to have Muchow indicted by a grand jury and get warrants from two judges failed.

A few weeks ago, Muchow filed a misconduct complaint against Birnbaum with the Oregon State Bar, he said.

In a June 16 letter to Birnbaum from Scott A. Morrill, assistant general counsel for the state bar, Morrill requested a meeting with Birnbaum by June 30 to get his side of the story. "Mr. Muchow feels you attempted to prosecute a criminal charge against him that you knew was not supported by probable cause," Morrill wrote.

Morrill could not be reached for comment.

"Only Mr. Birnbaum knows why this went on for so long," Muchow said Tuesday. "I was never contacted or interviewed by anybody in the DA's office or any investigating office. That is unheard of."

This is the second time Birnbaum has filed charges against Muchow. In September 2004 in a separate case, Muchow faced misdemeanor charges including official misconduct and theft after resigning as chief of police in Union. Two of the charges were dismissed, and Muchow was found not guilty on two charges of official misconduct in a short jury trial.

Muchow did not immediately contact the press after learning his case had been dropped because he was hoping the Union DA would issue a press release. Birnbaum did not, he said.

"I was waiting to see if (Birnbaum) would be as zealous in his exoneration as he was in his condemnation," said Muchow. "Certainly I have been angry about it for these past months. I don't hate the man. But I think he made some very bad decisions."

Gold Hill Councilwoman and council/police liaison Kathleen Price said she was happy to be the one spreading the news of Muchow's vindication. Price provided the Union County court document and the state bar letter to the Mail Tribune Tuesday.

"I feel that the chief is a good cop," said Price. "This has proven that he has never been in the wrong. Dean Muchow has shown a lot of strength and courage."

As for the stairs, Muchow said he does not know where they are, or even whether they are still attached to his property.

"They shouldn't be," Muchow said. "But they could be. I honestly don't know where they are."

E-mail reporter Sanne Specht at sspecht@mailtribune.com