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County hires planner from Portland Board also thanks one it borrowed from Ashland By DANI DODGE A planner from Portland has taken over Jackson County's building program, so Wednesday county commissioners bid farewell to Mike Broomfield, an Ashland building official who stepped in after the county's three top building officials resigned. "It's not very often when we are in an emergency and have to call a city and ask for help," County Commissioner Sue Kupillas said Wednesday as she presented Broomfield with a plaque of appreciation. "We want to thank you." Problems started surfacing in Jackson County's building program last year. Employees told County Administrator Sue Slack that the top three building officials were doing work on private contracts during their county work hours. Slack clarified and tightened the contract with building officials, but then an ethics complaint was filed against two county building officials with the state's Government Standards and Practices Commission. Last week, the commission found associate building official Pat DeBenedetti guilty of five ethics violations related to using the county phone and pager for private business. The commission's executive director complained that record keeping was so poor that investigators couldn't determine whether DeBenedetti had been on county time while doing private inspections. The investigation into former county building official Dale Bohannan is continuing. Last fall, the county administrator got several anonymous calls reporting inadequate inspections. The state building codes division reviewed the complaints and stopped work on one of the four projects reviewed. Investigators said the poor record-keeping system stymied their attempts to check cases. In one project, the state had to get plans from an ex-employee of the county - the county didn't have them on file. By January, all three of the top building officials had resigned. The state requires every city and county to have a building official, so Jackson County borrowed Broomfield. "This is the kind of thing we like to do for the county and other cities," said Ashland City Administrator Greg Scoles. "It was less of an obligation than something we felt was a good thing to do." Last month, the county hired Portland planner Bob Gilmore to replace Bohannan as Jackson County's building official. The county will hire one and maybe two more people. Gilmore acknowledged he has some challenges ahead in taking over the building program, but said he's pleased he'll be able to raise his three children in beautiful Jackson County. "It's going to be a long haul," he said. "The big thing is being open with people and documenting things you do. "For a long time things were done word of mouth." Gilmore also said he expects he'll have some help pulling things back together. "On the plus-side of everything, the employees that have stuck it out are very dedicated and knowledgeable and really a bunch of nice people," Gilmore said. "That's a pleasant surprise for me. It will make the job much easier." Reach reporter Dani Dodge at 776-4471, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.