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.