West Linn residents on Tuesday demanded accountability from their mayor, City Council and police a week after the city reached a $600,000 settlement with a black man from Portland who was targeted for arrest in 2017 by West Linn’s police chief as a favor for a friend to quiet workplace racism allegations.

Mayor Russ Axelrod scrapped the regular agenda for the council session and he, council members and current Police Chief Terry Kruger each addressed a crowd of about 45 people at West Linn City Hall.

The mayor issued an emotional apology to Portland’s Michael Fesser for "inexcusable racism and abuse of power at the hands of members of our Police Department'' -- conduct that he said has "stained our community.''

"The pain, hurt, and fear that this caused you is unacceptable. I am deeply sorry,'' Axelrod said. "We will be vigilant to make sure that such conduct never occurs in the future.''

Axelrod said he’s directing West Linn’s interim city manager to conduct a review of city procedures and policies relating to police conduct, including how the city addresses complaints about officers. He also said he’s reached out to the NAACP to help guide the city in working to restore community trust.

“In order to heal, we must understand what happened, be fully transparent with our community about what we learn, and take steps to hold those within city government accountable, including ourselves,'' the mayor said.

Members of the public decried West Linn’s handling of the Fesser case, urged the firing of the lead police investigator and criticized the council and city officials for their lack of oversight of their police force and their inadequate response to earlier complaints about the officers involved.

Many expressed incredulity that city officials didn’t know the details underlying the case before they were publicized last week. Some called for the current police chief’s resignation.

Past city managers received multiple complaints about alleged misconduct by former Police Chief Terry Timeus and officers Tony Reeves and Mike Stradley, who were all involved in Fesser’s case.

"It seems to take bad press to get the West Linn police department to do the right thing,'' said West Linn resident Kathy Selvaggio.

Tre Hester of Wilsonville, who is African American, said he didn’t believe that city officials were oblivious to the problems with Fesser’s arrest.

"I do not buy that any of you did not know about this,'' Hester said. "Those police officers need to be fired. They are a disgrace to the badge and uniform they wear.''

Judy Snyder, a trial attorney with 47 years of experience litigating cases, read aloud portions of a tort claim that Fesser’s lawyer filed with the city in June 2018. Though the city’s insurance provider negotiated the settlement with Fesser and his lawyer, Snyder said, "It’s not just their problem to take care of it.'' She urged council members to improve their management of pending litigation against the city.

Fesser’s arrest, reported last week by The Oregonian/OregonLive, has led to settlements of two lawsuits totaling more than $1 million, admissions in court documents of officers lying and ignoring Fesser’s basic civil rights and accusations of “good-old-boy racism” against West Linn police.

Federal, state and local lawmakers last week called for a civil rights investigation. The district attorneys from Clackamas and Multnomah counties have initiated investigations into the arrest and indictment of Fesser and the state Department of Public Safety Standards & Training also announced a separate inquiry.

Fesser said he was set up for arrest by his boss at the time, Eric Benson, owner of A&B Towing Co. in Southeast Portland, with the help of Benson’s fishing buddy, then-Chief Timeus. The case began, Fesser said, after he complained to Benson of a racially hostile environment at the tow company, where he helped run the car auction business.

Fesser, now 48, was arrested by Reeves as he was leaving work on Feb. 25, 2017, and booked on an aggravated theft charge that night at the Multnomah County jail. The charge was dismissed days later, but West Linn police summoned Fesser to their department and told him he was fired from his job and never to return to A&B Towing.

After he filed a racial discrimination suit against his boss, Benson urged West Linn police to resurrect the case against Fesser and Fesser was indicted in Multnomah County on first-degree theft charges in November 2017. Those charges were dismissed when Benson and his towing company agreed to pay $415,000 to Fesser to settle a discrimination suit he filed in state court.

In the course of the litigation, Fesser’s lawyer, Paul Buchanan, discovered a series of racist and crude text messages exchanged between Benson and Reeves before, during and after Fesser’s initial arrest while West Linn police, with the help of civilians, secretly made an audio recording of Fesser at work without a court order.

Stradley, a former Portland police officer who was a West Linn lieutenant then, had Portland gang enforcement officers assist in the arrest. Stradley later acknowledged that he told colleagues Fesser had gang ties even though Stradley hadn’t had any contact with Fesser in more than two decades.

Both Reeves, who was promoted to sergeant in March 2018, and Stradley, who left West Linn and was hired as a trainer for the state Department of Public Safety Standards and Training, have been placed on paid administrative leave, pending the investigations.

At Tuesday night’s meeting, Roberta Schwartz, another West Linn resident, read aloud a sampling of the racist and unprofessional texts between Reeves and Benson. "Anyone involved in this should be dismissed,'' she said.

Stephen Steinberg, president of the Clackamas County Peace Officers Association, said some members of the union have expressed concern about comments by West Linn’s current police chief at roll calls last week, when Kruger was said by some officers present to have called Reeves a “victim” in the controversy. Reeves, as a sergeant, is not represented by the union.

“If in fact what our members have relayed to us is true, I am surprised and disappointed that he would make conclusive statements about an investigation that has not been completed, let alone commenced,’’ Steinberg said.

“The story and allegations that implicate Reeves, Stradley and Timeus are deeply troubling and strike at the heart of the high standards our public safety professionals expect of themselves," he said. "We are supportive of any inquiry or investigation that may occur. This Union encourages our members to fully cooperate with any investigation/inquiry and to bring indiscretions, such as the Chief’s comments, to our attention.’’

Kruger did not address that allegation when he read his own statement at the start of the council meeting. "I will not tolerate racial or any other bias'' in policing, Kruger said. He said he welcomes outside investigations to reveal where reforms are needed.

"I am here to listen and to learn,'' he said.

Later, Kruger told The Oregonian/OregonLive that he did say to officers that Reeves, his wife and child still need respect and need to hear from colleagues. He said he made the comment out of his personal concern for their well-being.

"I said they might feel like victims,'' Kruger said.

Several people urged Kruger’s resignation.

"No respectable human being would characterize Reeves as a victim,'' said resident David Goldstein.

Goldstein also referenced Kruger’s past fatal shooting of Deontae Keller, an African American man, in February 1996 as a Portland police officer. Keller had a .45-caliber handgun at the time but did not point it at police and was shot in the back as he was fleeing. Keller’s involvement in a drive-by shooting an hour earlier made him dangerous, Senior Deputy District Attorney Jim McIntyre said at the time. A Multnomah County grand jury found no criminal wrongdoing by Kruger. Keller’s father Joe Keller has argued for years that his son’s shooting was unjustified.

Axelrod said West Linn did receive a tort claim from Fesser and his lawyer in 2018 but he said that, by the city charter, he and council members weren’t "allowed to get involved in anyway. I couldn’t do anything.'' That may be something that needs to change going forward, the mayor said.

When the tort claim notice in the Fesser case arrived at Axelrod’s home, he said, "I didn’t open the envelope. I turned it into the city.''

The mayor said the city charter bars the council from getting involved in personnel decisions, discipline or termination and that the city’s insurance carrier, City County Insurance Services, "did not ask for the city to decide'' the Fesser settlement. The council, he said, doesn’t know the full details of the case.

Local resident Abby Farber said the city should create an independent board to accept and review complaints against police.

Council member Bill Relyea urged the council to take action to ensure that it will be briefed by the city’s lawyer on such litigation in the future. The council voted unanimously to direct the interim city manager and the city attorney to propose a way for the council to be briefed on personnel or policy matters that arise during litigation, even if it may require a city charter change.

Council member Jules Walters said she favors an investigation beyond the district attorney’s offices.

“ I just felt it should rise to a higher level and hope this is a transparent investigation that holds people accountable and makes sure we have racial equity in all our departments, including West Linn police, so we can start to rebuild community trust," she said. Walters also called for a racial equity audit of city and police staff.

She said she received minor details about the Fesser case in executive session last Monday night and never followed up with questions, particularly whether any of the officers involved remained on the job. She apologized for not inquiring further.

“I didn’t think at the time to ask deeper questions, '' Walters said. "I wouldn’t say there was an effort to keep me misinformed. Certainly, I don’t feel like I got the whole story.’’

Council President Teri Cummings, in her 10th year as a council member, said, "We are going to be looking for the truth.'' She said the Fesser case was clearly "not an isolated situation.'' She apologized to officers who left the police department after their past complaints about Timeus, Reeves and Stradley went unaddressed. According to Cummings, Timeus was hired as West Linn’s police chief without a background investigation by former city manager Chris Jordan, who had worked with Timeus previously in Lake Oswego.

Cummings spoke of a 2008 investigative report looking into Timeus’ actions. The inquiry was done by a former McMinnville police chief at the request of Jordan, and the council received a summary, which described racist and sexist comments Timeus had made, Cumming said. She said it "weighs heavily'' on her that she didn’t get access to the report or ask stronger questions. She’s now working to get that report unsealed.

"There are difficult and important conversations ahead of us as a community, to better understand the impacts of institutional and systemic racism, and the white privilege and power that too often goes unchecked,'' Axelrod said. “It’s particularly important to me that we foster an environment where the people most impacted by this case — and the day-to-day impacts of racism in our culture — feel safe in sharing their stories, and are truly heard.”

Axelrod said he’ll be meeting with the president of Portland’s National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, E. D. Mondainé, on Thursday.

"We’re deeply disgusted by that type of behavior just like everyone else,'' the mayor said. "We want to correct this. We do. We care.’’

-- Maxine Bernstein

Email at mbernstein@oregonian.com

Follow on Twitter @maxoregonian

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