Friends and supporters of Commissioner Kevin Stufflebean have come together to raise funds and fight the recall effort launched in January by Citizens for Fair and Open Government. Kathe Stufflebean, wife of the beleaguered commissioner, wrote a letter of support this week in defense of her husband by blaming recall petitioner and former roadmaster, Larry Van Elsberg.

When the road master resigned, Kevin had to step into that position until a new road master could be hired. During this time, Kevin’s work hours were often from 6 a.m. to 8 or 10 p.m. One day Kevin put 400 miles on his personal vehicle.

While his wife is touting his work ethic, Stufflebean continues to cry discrimination and accuse committee members of attacking his family.

They claim they’re recalling because of road layoffs and lack of transparency, but they discuss every issue but that,” Stufflebean said. “They’ve attacked my family, attacked my ethnicity, driving by my house, taking pictures of us constantly. I had a man in my office screaming at me, telling me he was going to do everything he can to bury me. My clerk follows the blogs, and they ask whether I have my green card. I’m a Coos County native.

Asked about these claims, Van Elsberg and recall committee members say they do not condone such conduct and have no knowledge of these events and hope Stufflebean called police. The clerk, Bobbi Brooks, sent an exploratory email to Van Elsberg asking for proof of the committee’s “allegations” but does not specify what reported allegations she is talking about.

Subject: I’d like to see proof

HI Larry-
Now that the ballots will be going out for Kevin’s recall, I feel that I can ask you for proof of the allegations that have been made by you and the group gathering signatures. I have been checking the recall site on a regular basis, but I haven’t seen anything there. I’m not asking as a county employee or even as Kevin’s employee. If Kevin did things illegally I want to know what they are before I get my ballot and vote. I’m one of those people that read the voters pamphlet for every election, but since there won’t be one for this, I need facts before I vote. I haven’t heard of any forums where you will asked to prove your petition statement so that’s why I’m asking you to provide it. You can either email me, or ask Shawn Jennings or one of the guys to bring it to the next Board meeting;

I am asking for myself, and for others here in Coquille that have asked me for it, and I don’t plan on sharing your information with anyone in the office. I just need to be informed before I cast a ballot, either for or against the recall.

Thanks

Bobbi Brooks

Van Elsberg says he wasn’t sure what allegations she was referring to other than the lack of transparency in the commissioners office but sent this response.

Bobbi,

The subject line in your e-mail says a lot and apparently you are not convinced that your boss has not violated the public’s trust.

In a recent article in the Register Guard Kevin says: “My clerk follows the blogs…”. Was he referring to you? Everybody I talked to thinks so.

I’m sure you and your friends in Coquille will closely follow the election, read Kevin’s and our committee’s recall statements and vote as your conscience dictates.

Larry Van Elsberg

If the clerk is following the blogs perhaps she would forward links to any blogs referring to Stufflebean’s ethnicity for I have never seen anything about that until he brought it up. If anyone else has seen such a thing, please forward me links. A search on Google and various blog catalogs reveals nothing so far.

The only allegations I hear about relate to public transparency and job competency though many people bring up a perceived conflict of interest with the dual roles of liaison to both the road department and the IT department while also acting as interim roadmaster and head of the IT department. Certainly this put employees in each of these departments in a very difficult situation with no one to turn to with grievances or concerns. Personally, I believe the Board was terribly remiss in allowing a commissioner to hold multiple roles, particularly considering he had no experience to run either department.

Finally, the inbox has been flooded with safety issues and ongoing violations of the Unfair Labor Practice complaint filed with the Employment Relations Board. Once confirmed, these occurrences must be made known to the public.