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Jailed official on Gold Hill agenda Paid leave proposal expected at council By Melissa Martin and Jessica Smith GOLD HILL � City leaders will meet tonight to discuss how to fill the vacancy created by the incarceration of the town�s public works director. Mayor Tim Roddam said he plans to recommend the City Council take no disciplinary action against Royal Gasso, 48. Colleagues described Gasso as a conscientious public official who played a key role in several public works projects that could be jeopardized by his absence. Gasso has already been off the job for more than a month. He was arrested and imprisoned in mid-June for an alleged parole violation in connection with a 16-year-old heroin conviction. Roddam, however, said he plans to ask the council to place Gasso on paid administrative leave while the city gathers more information about Gasso�s case. "No one knows why he was picked up, so it would be unfair to decide about his position until we get more information," Roddam said. "The appropriate thing to do is to put him on administrative leave." Federal officials contacted Thursday said they could provide no further information about Gasso�s arrest. The allegations against Gasso will become public at a yet-unscheduled hearing before the U.S. Parole Commission, a federal prosecutor said. Meanwhile, the city of Gold Hill will press toward a decision on removing a diversion dam and canal on the Rogue River, an issue in which Gasso had been involved. Biologists and engineers working with the city to resolve water rights and fish passage issues were shocked by Gasso�s arrest, but said they were determined to complete the project. "Royal was well-informed and had done a good job of shepherding the process forward," said Craig Harper, water resources program manager for the Rogue Valley Council of Governments. "I think the groundwork has been laid for this project to continue, even without his presence." Chuck Korson, natural resource specialist with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, said the region�s fish-passage team will continue to provide guidance and technical assistance to the city. The team will meet next Sept. 17. Gasso "knew what he was doing and was very energetic," said Bill Ryan, a CH2M Hill engineer hired to work on the canal project. "He was always trying to do what was best for Gold Hill." Gold Hill hired Gasso in August 1997. He worked for the city of Brookings before that, and was a sewer plant operator from June 1988 to February 1989 for Unified Sewer Agency, which serves Beaverton, Tigard and southwest Portland. 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