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Report: Case should face just 2 charges Ethics panel could decide Friday on airport director By Chris Bristol SALEM � Wrapping up an eight-month probe, state investigators recommend dismissal of all but two ethics complaints against Medford airport director Bern Case. According to a report, investigators for the Government Standards and Practices Commission concluded that most of a long list of ethics complaints against Case were unprovable hearsay. The Mail Tribune obtained part of the report Tuesday. But in the first of two preliminary findings against Case, investigators concluded that two airport maintenance employees were on the clock when they fixed a well pump at Case�s home. The airport is owned and operated by Jackson County. Investigators also concluded that Case was himself on the clock when he and his wife, Michelle, attended an aviation conference in Nashville, Tenn., during which he helped her exhibit an invention called Turbo Way. Case denied the allegations and vowed to defend himself before the commission, which meets Friday in Salem. "I don�t believe I have made any violations in the ethics rules," he said in a statement Tuesday, adding, "I am pleased that the commission has dismissed the other allegations, and I believe these last two issues will be resolved on Friday." If the commission adopts the investigators� findings, Case can either negotiate a settlement or request a hearing before an administrative law judge. The commission could also simply dismiss the findings. Ethics staff began investigating airport management in December at the request of Carl Worden, an Eagle Point financial consultant and spokesman for the watchdog Southern Oregon Militia. Worden�s complaint was tied to an internal Jackson County audit that criticized airport management for a "pattern of poor judgments," including questionable use of staff for personal projects and misuse of public property. The audit was triggered by allegations made by former airport secretary Dawn Neff. In May, the commission dismissed a complaint against airport office supervisor Craig Baldwin, who was accused of having his home air-conditioning unit repaired by a maintenance employee. At the same time, investigators concluded that operations supervisor Robert Russell was guilty of misusing limited hangar space for storage of personal belongings. Russell has since negotiated a settlement with no fine in which he conceded the violation. Patrick Hearn, executive director of the ethics commission in Salem, said the settlement is fair given that Russell had permission from Case to use the hangar. "His boss (Case) gave him permission to do it," Hearn said Tuesday. "You can�t break the law just because your boss lets you, but it is a mitigating factor." Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA