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Complaint sparks airport probe Ethics commission opens management inquiry By CHRIS BRISTOL SALEM -- Acting on a complaint, the state Government Standards and Practices Commission is taking a look at the Medford airport and its management team. Patrick Hearn, executive director of the Salem-based agency, said his office received a written complaint on Friday demanding an investigation. The complaint was based on a recent story in the Mail Tribune that publicized an unflattering internal audit of the county-owned Rogue Valley International-Medford Airport. Hearn refused to discuss the complaint in detail. "We received a complaint," he said. "We are initiating a preliminary review to determine whether or not there is cause to conduct a full investigation." That process will take 60 to 90 days, Hearn said, after which the full commission will decide whether to open a formal probe. The complaint was made by Carl Worden, an Eagle Point financial consultant and spokesman for the Southern Oregon Militia, who said the only supporting documentation he submitted was a copy of the Tribune story and a copy of the audit. "On these deals," he explained, "if you want them to follow through you've got to keep it simple." The audit listed a "pattern of poor judgments" on the part of management that included sloppy payroll accounting, questionable use of staff for personal projects and misuse of public property. The audit was prompted by complaints made by former airport secretary Dawn Neff, who also alleges that airport Director Bern Case is heavily involved in a business called Turbo Way Inc. that makes wheelchair-friendly passenger ramps for commuter planes. The audit warned Case against the "appearance" of a conflict of interest. Case has said his wife, Michelle, owns and operates the company. Worden said he requested the ethics investigation because he is convinced county officials didn't take the audit seriously enough and should have fired Case, who was recently named the Oregon airport executive of the year by his peers. "I have heard nothing but nice things said about Bern Case," Worden said. "But the fact of the matter is, he broke the law, and it doesn't matter how nice you are." State ethics law says a public official may not use his position to benefit his own company or a relative's company. County Commissioner Ric Holt defended Case as one of the top aviation executives in the industry, and said the county appropriately dealt with the matter internally. "It's history," he said, adding, "Based on the information we have ... I just don't think it warranted the attention it got." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA