By GARRET JAROS/YachatsNews
WALDPORT — The normally empty parking lot was packed with cars prior to the Waldport city council meeting last week and the standing-room only chamber swelled by Waldport Beachcomber Days volunteers signaled something was in the air.
The public comment portion kicking off Thursday’s meeting began amicably enough with Beachcomber volunteer Jason Vorderbrueggen reading a statement praising a “productive and collaborative” meeting with city officials the day before to address concerns about financial issues with the nonprofit’s bookkeeping.
Then came the firestorm.
First, Beachcomber Days vice president and Waldport Middle/High School principal Amy Skirvin announced her resignation from the organization while scolding the city for perpetuating false and harmful allegations.
Next came Waldport Irish Booster Club president Ashley Catalfamo criticizing the conduct of city manager Dann Cutter, followed by Beachcomber secretary TiAnne Rios accusing Cutter of slander, racism and sexism.
It was the second city council meeting in two months packed by Beachcomber officers and volunteers upset about the city releasing a statement in early October stopping the group’s use of city property until it cleared up questions on a variety of funding and legal reporting issues.
“We ask everyone to be patient and not rush to judgment,” the statement said. “These volunteers are our neighbors and friends – please let the process work.”
But the statement also said Beachcombers’ financial reports and disbursements “create concern regarding Waldport Beachcomber Days’ qualification as a 501c3 charity and are in direct violation of IRS rules.”
“As such, the city has notified the Beachcomber board president of these concerns and has withdrawn its authorization and support for the Beachcomber organization’s activities within the city while they work through these issues.”
In the last three years, the nonprofit has become the largest and most visible civic group in town, revitalizing and organizing the three-day Beachcomber Days celebration each June, the Waldport Wednesday Market, a Halloween Trunk-or-Treat event, and a variety of Christmas activities each December.
Public comments
In his opening statement Vorderbrueggen said the group met with city officials Wednesday, was “happy with the plans we made to move forward” and that a city-requested financial review of the organizations 2023-24 fiscal year should be completed within a week. He also requested Cutter reinstate agreements for Beachcomber events before the council’s December meeting if its reports meet city standards.
Councilor Greg Dunn attended Wednesday’s meeting and characterized it as “great.”
Then Skirvin and her husband, Jeff Skirvin, the popular high school forestry teacher and football coach who helps lead the timber show, made their way to the podium.
“We are here to speak on the matter that has deeply affected both my personal and professional life as well as the reputation of the organizations I have served,” began Skirvin. “As some of you may know, I will be resigning from my position as vice president of Waldport Beachcomber Days and from my role with the timber show as soon as the unfortunate situation is cleared up
“I would like to clarify the circumstances around my departure as it was driven by false allegations that have been publicly circulated,” said Skirvin. “Allegations that I believe were not only unjust, but have caused significant harm to both my personal integrity and the well-being of the community organizations involved.”
She went on to say recent accusations brought against the nonprofit’s board, volunteers and donors “without proper facts” damaged people’s reputations and were misrepresented.
“I am here today to make it clear that these allegations are untrue,” Skirvin said. “They’ve been spread without proper evidence or substantiation and have resulted in significant personal and professional consequences that could have been avoided with proper due diligence and a fair due process by the city.”
The harm caused by the allegations, she said, undermines the trust the community places in its leaders and volunteers and creates an environment of fear of being targeted for would-be volunteers.
Skirvin added she was deeply frustrated and felt it personally hurtful that the city made its “false allegations” public, which damaged reputations and distressed individuals and the organization. And she called into question the city’s actions, suggesting the city should undergo an audit of its processes.
In her statement to the council, Catalfamo called out Cutter for going “far beyond the bounds of professionalism,” dividing the community and engaging in “unfounded accusations, unwarranted personal attacks” and being driven by impulse rather than sound judgement.
“This pattern has led to what many in our community describe as a witch hunt against those who strive to serve and support our town,” Catalfamo said. “His word has proven to be unreliable, his promises untrustworthy and his leadership fraught with antagonism rather than alliance.”
She went on to say what happened with Beachcombers and its timber show, their volunteers and donors “is revolting and demoralizing.”
The city’s Oct. 3 news release about its action and a detailed letter to the community on its website Oct. 10 named no individuals – neither board members, volunteers nor donors.
Rios began her statement to the council by citing her decades of volunteer work with a multitude of groups and organizations including 4H, Girls Scouts, managing the Waldport Wednesday Market and serving as president of the Friends of the Waldport Library.
She went on to say that the letter Beachcombers received from the city Oct. 3 halting permits and permission for activity on city property stated that “an in-depth investigation” revealed she was “acting fraudulently.” Since then, Rios said, she has heard that Cutter “continues to slander me in conversations by saying I am under investigation for fraudulent accounting.”
Rios asked to see any documents showing where the council directed Cutter to investigate her and Beachcomber Days. She questioned the right of any investigation and said if there was one it should be confidential.
“Sadly, I am aware city employees have made disparaging, baseless comments about me in meetings, in public and on social media,” Rios said.
She added that after all her years of service she has no idea why the city manager is slandering her and that it “feels like racism.” She called on the council to investigate Cutter and that city employees be included for harassing her on social media, in public meetings and while working.
Rios, who announced on social media she had resigned from 4H and the Girl Scouts shortly after the city’s initial inquiry into Beachcombers finances, admitted she is not perfect, has made mistakes but corrected them to the best of her ability.
Before leaving the podium, Rios said that “gossip kills” and council is complicit in allowing it to continue. And then, she said, “Mr. Cutter, keep my name out of your mouth unless I am in the room.”
Council response
Neither Cutter nor councilors replied directly to Skirvin, Catalfamo or Rios, who left city hall after their testimony along with nearly everyone else in attendance.
Cutter and councilors did however comment briefly about what they heard before entering into an executive (closed) session following their regular meeting.
“Repeatedly today I heard multiple comments about how I was attacking somebody,” Cutter said. “How I was going after somebody. I was accused of both sexism and racism. And I will say absolutely we are doing our financial due diligence.”
He said he was sorry for mentioning “a specific member” in a closed-door meeting, but then alluding to the executive session added “You will hear later today exactly what evidence we have.”
Cutter added that it was important to ensure the city is not giving money for any fraudulent activity.
“We had a very good meeting yesterday and I think we’ve got a good pathway forward with Beachcombers,” he said. “But I think we have some decisions we have to make — you have to make — to give me direction.”
Dunn noted that no documents generated by the city mentioned any individuals. Councilor Susan Woodruff made clear volunteers were never mentioned and that everyone — including the council — are volunteers.
Epilogue
YachatsNews reached out to Cutter and several councilors for comment following Thursday’s meeting. Dunn, Woodruff and Cutter responded.
Woodruff said the city manager is doing what the council instructed him to do and that she believes the process is not yet complete and must be finished. How things progress depends in part whether Rios formalizes her complaint by signing it, which is required by the city to take action.
“That would be a hearing for the council with the city manager as far as looking into what he has supposedly done and whether it was warranted or not,” Woodruff said. “And he could request that to be an open hearing or a closed hearing.”
Woodruff does not feel Cutter slandered Rios and does not believe what Rios said is true. She added that after the city’s public statement in October, many people began calling Cutter with information.
Woodruff adamantly refuted Rios’s claim of racism and sexism.
“And his staff, I heard, was really incensed about her statements because they work with him all the time and he certainly does not exhibit anything like that, no matter who he is talking to,” Woodruff said. “So no, I do not believe that at all. I think it is a convenient accusation in this day and age.”
Woodruff also responded to whether claims by Skirvin and others of false allegations, improper facts and no due diligence could be attributed in part to information not yet revealed to the public.
“I believe that is the case,” she said. “I don’t know. There is some indication that maybe at least one of them (board member) does know some of this but because of friendship or whatever, chooses to just kind of ignore it. I don’t know how much there is of that or how much is just ignorance of what nonprofits can and can’t do … Hopefully this is all just ignorance of what’s required of nonprofits and nonprofit directors, because they are all financially responsible.”
Woodruff said it is important at some point during the process for the city to be able to release more information “because I think what has happened so far is we just sit there and get browbeaten and accused of all sorts of things and that just leaves the city in a very undermined position.
“The bottom line is, we just asked for a report of how the money is spent,” Woodruff concluded. “And that’s what started it all. Because what was turned in just didn’t make any sense. And wasn’t correct.”
Dunn said all the accusations against Cutter are “absolutely not” true.
“Our city manager is doing what we pay him to do, which No. 1, is protecting the interests of the city and also to make sure that taxpayer’s money is not being wasted and is going to where it should be going,” Dunn said.
The path forward lies in making sure any miscommunication is corrected.
“There’s a lot of accusations that are going around that are untrue, unfounded,” Dunn said. “And I think at the end of the day, people just need to understand this is nothing more than a checks and balances for the city. They wanted money, we did our checks and balances, we found some errors, we’re asking for those errors to be corrected or answered for those errors.
“And really that is the bare bones of the issue and it got drawn out into other things that are not factual and are not true at all,” he continued. “This isn’t a witch hunt. We’re not after Beachcombers. This isn’t a race issue. This isn’t a slander issue.”
Dunn said the city truly wants to work with Beachcomber Days, which he called an important community organization “so that things can get back on track and everyone is happy.”
Dunn said Beachcomber leaders and volunteers are attacking the wrong people.
“They should be directing it at us because Dann is doing what we pay him to do,” he said. “And that is make sure that the city runs smoothly. Make sure that any taxpayer money is being spent legitimately. And that if there’s any issues, he investigates or looks into those and takes the appropriate action.”
Cutter said he provided two letters to the board of Beachcombers, neither of which mentioned any individual. The press release explaining the city’s action also “mentioned absolutely no individual”
“And we’ve released an explanation on our website of exactly the documents that we founded our conclusions to request additional financial information,” Cutter said. “In all of these correspondences, we have not mentioned a single individual – purposefully. At no time have we engaged in any specific investigation of an individual again – purposefully.”
But Cutter said the city received numerous contacts after the information became public about an individual board member.
“And when we brought that to the attention of the president of the board, they were more concerned that we had gotten this information than if the information was true,” he said.
Cutter said it is hard to be accused of some fairly vile things when the city has gone out of its way to protect the individuals involved.
“At some point we will, because they are public documents, release the results of those records that have been communicated to us, which paint a very different story than what is being portrayed,” Cutter said.
- Garret Jaros is YachatsNews’ full-time reporter and can be reached at GJaros@YachatsNews.com
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