Staff claims public humiliation by Oregon city councilor
Stephen Topaz appeared at an April 20 hearing to hear accusations from an independent investigation.
In an unusual rupture between a sitting city councilor and city employees, St. Helens City Councilor Stephen Topaz was accused Tuesday, April 20, by the assistant city administrator of harassment and public humiliation.
The St. Helens City Council held an open hearing Tuesday night the first meeting it has actually held in the council chambers in months, due to the coronavirus pandemic to consider whether to discipline Topaz after an investigation found multiple instances of improper conduct.
The investigation report was not released to the public before the meeting, and councilors agreed Tuesday only to release a condensed, redacted version rather than the full document.
New design for the McCormick Park play structure by Wildwood Play Structures.
A new play structure for McCormick Park has been selected and approved by the St. Helens City Council, inching the community closer to an all-inclusive park play area.
The council met Wednesday to approve the play structure recommended by the Parks and Trails Commission.
The design is from Wildwood Play Structures and features a 90-foot-long zip line, several ramps, seesaws, climbing attachments, slides and other play equipment.
Sue Nelson, city engineer, said it was important to ensure the new park was accessible to all children.
âWhen we re-pooled this project, we wanted to gear it more toward all-inclusive play equipment, based on the fact that we not only competed, but the community really supported this project and we won the Moda Assist grant,â she said. âThat kind of changed the whole outlook on this project and we really wanted to make it as inclu