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Militia group takes aim at airport County commissioners dismiss demand to fire two airport officials over audit report By PETER WONG Jackson County commissioners rebuffed demands Wednesday by a group of government critics that they get rid of the two top officials at the Medford airport. The commissioners said they plan no more action on the findings of an internal audit that documented "a pattern of poor judgments" on the part of airport management and a potential conflict of interest involving director Bern Case and his wife's business. Sunday's Mail Tribune described the audit in detail and the reaction of the employee who made the allegations that triggered it. The cause of former airport secretary Dawn Neff has been taken up by the Southern Oregon Militia, a group that claims 200 members in Jackson County and whose stated aim is to hold public officials to constitutional restrictions. Most of the 75-80 people attending the meeting were there for the airport issue. Carl Worden of Eagle Point, a spokesman, said government employees should not allow even the appearance of impropriety. "To do so demands an immediate and public remedy in order to restore public trust," he said at the meeting. "There is no other suitable remedy than to immediately request the resignations of Mr. Case and Mr. (Craig) Baldwin -- and if they fail to offer them, terminate them." But Commissioner Jack Walker said that when then Administrator Burke Raymond received the audit July 15, he took appropriate action with support of the commissioners. Case and Baldwin, the airport's administrative manager, kept their jobs. Raymond retired Sept. 30. "I find it rather ludicrous to believe that every time we have a problem within a department of Jackson County, we are supposed to call the media or the Southern Oregon Militia," Walker said. "Each of these were looked at and addressed months ago. I think it is ridiculous for us to open it all back up because the media now happened to come up with the same story we reviewed months ago." Walker's response drew applause from many who came to support Case, airport director since January 1994. They wore stickers in the shape of a stop sign that said, "Support the airport -- stop the witch hunt." Case was absent from the Courthouse auditorium but listened to the proceedings via a sound system in another office. He declined comment afterward. Though he praised Case for "marked improvement" at the airport, Tustin Ellison of the Applegate Valley said critics also had the right to ask their questions. "It is being rehashed because it is the first the public has heard about it," said Ellison, a retired aircraft maintenance official and a three-time candidate for commissioner. Worden also urged commissioners to request the Sheriff's Department to investigate criminal allegations and strengthen protection for whistleblowers such as Neff. After the meeting, Worden said he was disappointed but planned to file a complaint with the Oregon Government Standards and Practices Commission. The complaint would allege that Case used his official position to benefit his wife's company, Turbo Way Inc. of Eagle Point, which makes wheelchair-friendly hydraulic lifts for commuter airplanes. The audit drew no conclusions about whether Case's actions constituted a conflict of interest. Some of Case's supporters spoke. "Under his leadership, the airport has seen substantial growth," said Len Merryman of Medford, chairman of the Airport Advisory Committee. "Mr. Case is organized, efficient and does an excellent job in managing the airport." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA