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Luman cleared by ethics panel BY DANI DODGE ASHLAND -- After a five-month investigation, the state ethics commission exonerated Ashland school district business manager Loren Luman Friday of charges that he used his position for personal gain when he borrowed a school district dump truck in 1997. "This was during the crisis of the flood when everyone was going berserk anyway," said Patrick Hearn, the State Government and Practices Commission executive director. "Because it was an emergency situation ... the commission used their discretion to take no further action." School superintendent John Daggett said he was greatly relieved by the ruling. "This has taken years off of Loren's life -- you couldn't hurt him worse than this," Daggett said of the ethics complaint. "You might as well just take out his heart." Luman borrowed the school district dump truck after the road to his house washed out in the 1997 flood. He used the truck to haul gravel to his home so he could get to and from work, Daggett said. Daggett said school district policy allows both employees and the public to use district equipment in times of emergency or great need. The district even allows the public to borrow chairs for weddings if they can't find enough to rent for big events. Hearn said the evidence showed that school district employees were "going every which way" trying to help people during the flood. Employees were helping people regardless of whether the emergency was school-related or not. So use of the truck in that situation didn't warrant censure. But some people did take issue with the use of the truck. In November 1999, the school district employees union filed a complaint with the ethics commission against two school district supervisors. Steven Araujo, the director of field operations for the Oregon School Employees Association who filed the complaint, could not be reached for comment Friday. Others at the OSEA also declined comment. The union alleged that Luman and maintenance foreman Bill Richardson violated state law prohibiting use of their positions for personal financial gain. After an initial review, the ethics commission dismissed the case against Richardson, but pursued a full investigation of Luman. Luman said he believed he was following district policy when he borrowed the dump truck. Before taking it, he checked with Richardson to make sure it wasn't needed for any school district uses that weekend, he said. Daggett said the school district is rewriting its policy to make it clear that employees don't get special favors. "In terms of our policy, it requires that employees that use equipment take care of it," Daggett said. "But we do allow the community to use things with reasonable guidelines. "The philosophy of Ashland is to support one another." Luman attended the commission meeting Friday. School board member Alan DeBoer argued the case before the commission, Hearn said. Today's Edition : News | Sports | Business | Weather | Tempo | Classifieds Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA