The small community of Gervais has earned a reputation as a city divided.

On Tuesday, voters will decide whether to recall Mayor Annie Gilland, elected in 2020, and city councilors John Harvey, elected in 2022, Michael Gregory, who has been on the council for 28 years, and Robb Ladd, who was appointed last year.

The 1,481 registered voters in Gervais have the option of voting yes or no on each of the four.

Proponents of the recall contend the mayor and councilors overstepped their authority and are trying to consolidate power.

Gilland and the targeted councilors say they have been working to fix issues they inherited from previous administrations.

The petition to put the recall on the ballot cited things like spending tens of thousands of dollars on attorneys, influencing hiring decisions and trying to change the charter.

But the issue that has gotten the most attention is the February firing of police chief Mark Chase.

Investigation into police chief Mark Chase

Mark Chase was hired as an officer in Gervais in 2016 and promoted to chief in 2019 by then city manager Susie Marston.

Chase previously had been an officer in Salem and the police chief in Junction City for seven years before he was fired in 2016 after his gun went missing.

He was placed on administrative leave in October 2023 while a misconduct investigation was conducted into complaints he violated city policies about harassment, discrimination and retaliation, according to an investigation by Mountain Lakes Employment Investigations.

The investigation determined Chase likely:

• Engaged in retaliatory conduct against a lieutenant

• Made sexually suggestive comments in front of staff members

• Made inappropriate comments to a person based on her sex

• Treated an officer differently after she had a child

• Reassigned job duties of a female employee after she had her second child,

• And repeatedly told an officer, “if you ever get involved in a shooting when he (the suspect) hits the ground, I want you to put five more in him so he’s gone.”

Chase did not participate in the investigation on advice of his attorney. He denied the findings, but admitted he pointed a loaded weapon at an officer during training.

According to the investigation, Chase was watching a training exercise and an officer said he would demonstrate with the chief how to take a gun away from someone.

The investigators said the chief pointed his loaded gun at the lieutenant.

“I take responsibility. It’s a bad mistake,” Chase said.

City council votes in favor of firing police chief

Councilor Gregory said the council was presented with a redacted executive summary of the investigative report on Jan. 22.

Chase was given the opportunity to speak during a special meeting of the city council on Feb. 20. He called the investigation “a sham,” but admitted pointing a loaded gun at an officer.

The council voted 4-1 to fire him. Councilor Baltazar “Jr.” Gonzalez voted against termination, and as mayor, Gilland did not vote and does not unless breaking a tie.

“We were left with no decision to make because it was evident if we didn’t let him go, the city would be under (danger) to be sued tremendously,” Gregory said. “We had to do it or else.”

Proponents of the recall contend the city council lacked authority to fire Chase.

The Gervais city charter states: “The manager pro tem has the authority and duties of manager except that a pro tem may appoint or remove employees only with council approval.”

At the time of Chase’s termination, Gervais had a pro tem city manager, Roger Brown. who has since been hired on a permanent basis.

Possible changes to city charter become controversial

The city council has been considering asking voters to approve changes to the city charter. Gilland said the council decided to put it off until the November election to have more time to get additional input from the community.

“The biggest changes is the council having the final say on the interdepartmental changes,” said councilor Gregory.

He said the council “lost control of saying who is hired, who is let go, who is what” in 2013 when changes were made to the charter.

“The administration could run wild without having to check with the city council,” Gregory said.

Few people were informed when Chase was placed on leave by then pro-tem city manager John Morgan.

“We didn’t know and we were kept in the dark,” said Gilland.

Proponents of the recall say the proposed changes to the charter would give the mayor the power to hire and fire city employees.

The recall election of Gervais Mayor Annie Gilland and 3 councilors

The prospective recall petition was filed on Feb. 6. The council voted to fire the police chief on Feb. 20.

“We just knew it was coming,” said Petra Wright, who lead the recall petition. “The mayor has tried to make it that I’m doing this as a retaliation, and that is not it at all.”

Wright in 2018 accused a neighbor of taking part of her property and some city property by installing a fence five feet into her back yard.

The case was dismissed in municipal court, she said.

Wright told the Statesman Journal she suspects the mayor and other city councilors used improper influence in the case, but she produced no evidence.

“There is no retaliation in my eyes,” Wright said. “I am running to see a better community aspect of things, people come back together as a whole and not be so divided.”

Her petition also cited allegations of the mayor and councilors using their positions to hire friends, trying to change the charter, not hiring a permanent city manager. (Brown was elevated to city manager since the recalls were filed), and spending $50,000 on attorneys.

Gilland, Gregory and Ladd deny nearly all of the charges in the recall petition.

“These people make so much (stuff) up, it’s amazing,” Ladd said.

Wright also petitioned to recall city councilor Joel Ramon. But the Marion County Clerk’s office only was able to certify 99 of the 118 signatures that were submitted, and 108 were needed.

Changes in city culture, staff leaving, fired

People have accused Gilland of creating a hostile work environment. They said that has led to many people leaving the employment of the city.

“There were 13 people that had worked for Gervais in the last three years who are not there anymore,” said Brian Wagner, who frequently testifies to the city council.

Gilland, whose father, Ron Foote, and step-mother, Sandra Foote-Gregory, also were mayors of Gervais, said many of the employees who left did so of their own accord, to work for bigger governments in better paying positions. She said that is part of being a small city.

Former city employee Abby Fernandez said she had a disagreement with Brown about whether she should log out of her computer when she left her work area.

On April 12 she was put on leave by the city. And on May 10, she was terminated.

Fernandez said she went with Brian Wagner and Petra Wright during her lunch break to turn in paperwork for the recall and she didn’t do any work on the recall during city work time.

“I was very careful, and I didn’t even talk about it during work,” Fernandez said.

What does the future hold?

If three or four elected city officials are recalled, the Marion County Commissioners would appoint enough to get the city council back to four members, according to the county. If one or two people are recalled, the remaining city council would appoint the rest of the six-member council.

Gregory said that if he is recalled, he will run in the November election. Ladd said he probably would do the same.

“I don’t think the good citizens of Gervais are going to vote us out,” Gregory said.

Gilland said she is unsure what she will do if recalled, but she might apply to be appointed to the position.

If Gilland, Harvey and Ladd are not recalled, their names will appear on the November ballot as incumbents.

“That’s why this crap is amazing,” Ladd said. “They’re going to shut down the city, basically, when they could have it in November.”

The proponents of the recall say the time to get rid of the mayor and city council is now. They say the city needs immediate change.

“These people, they absolutely, they don’t care about anything except keeping their perceived power,” said Heather Lagaso, president of the Community Progress Team and a vocal supporter of the recall.

The only thing everyone in Gervais agrees on is that on June 18, everyone will see how divided the city is.

Bill Poehler covers Marion and Polk County for the Statesman Journal. Contact him at bpoehelr@StatesmanJournal.com

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Voters in Gervais to decide whether to recall mayor, 3 councilors