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4A Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2011 Indian Valley Record
PUSD, from page 1A
education; Glenn Hal=ris,
superintendent; Yvonne
Bales, deputy superinten-
dent; and the board of
trustees for PCOE/PUSD.
The plaintiffs are asking
for lost wages, earnings and
benefits; interest on damages;
compensatory and punitive
damages; attorney's fees and
costs of the suit.
According to court papers,
Eaglesmith is a Native Amer-
ican of Shawnee/Muskokee-
Creek and French/Swiss
descent. Ramona Eaglesmith
is of Native American and
African American descent.
Among his allegations,
Eaglesmith says Ray, with
the knowledge and support of
Segura, Williams and Harris,
discriminated against,
harassed and retaliated
against him to undermine his
authority as head basketball
Coach and drive him from the
SPorts program.
Eaglesmith says he was
barred from the Coaches
Commons so that he did not
have access to the locker
room and office space avail-
able to other coaches. His
was barred from the locker
room and PE office.
He claims he was accused
of unauthorized entry to an
unspecified restricted area
and theft of unspecified
items.
He further alleges adminis-
trators encouraged, con-
doned and ratified numerous
acts of insubordination by ju-
nior varsity and assistant
basketball coaches.
Eaglesmith says Segura
also tried to harass him into
leaving his coaching job. He
says she singled him out to
complete paperwork not
required of other coaches.
She also, he claims, evaluated
him but no other coach. He
calls her evaluation "incom-
plete, inaccurate, untimely"
and out of step with evalua-
tion procedures.
Eaglesmith says Williams
disciplined him based on a
false parent complaint. He
says Williams responded to
his complaints of harassment
by calling him "a big scary
Indian."
Different versions of the
incident provoking the
complaint -- Eaglesmith
allegedly drove student
athletes to the Bay Area in a
son, who served as ball boy, personal vehic.le that did not
have enough seat belts --
were articulated during the
public comment portion of
the December board of
trustees meeting.
The former coach accuses
Oestreich and Willits of
demanding that he remove
tinted prescription bifocals
and a visor cap, despite docu-
mentation that he needs them
for a photosensitivity condi-
tion. The cap also contains
symbols from his spiritual
tradition. He says the two
women disciplined him for vi-
olating an "alleged but non-
existent dress code." (During
last Tuesday's board meeting,
during an information report
on board policies, including
one on personnel dress and
grooming, Superintendent
Harris told the board the dis-
trict did not currently have a
dress policy for employees.)
Eaglesmith says Oestreich
ignored his and his union
representative's complaints
about Bales' "hate truck,"
which he says created a
hostile work environment for
him.
He alleges that Harris
gathered administrators
throughout Plumas County
to "circle the wagons" to
protect Bales against criti-
cism for parking the truck,
decorated with numerous of-
fensive slogans and images,
on district property.
Other plaintiffs
Ramona Eaglesmith alleges
Segura threatened to dis-
qualify students from the
cheerleading squad if they
took private dance lessons
from her, at the studio owned
by Eileen Cox.
For her part, Cox claims
that she was harassed and re-
taliated against for support-
ing the Eaglesmiths. She says
Segura eliminated her work-
space, removed her belong-
ings and placed them in stor-
age, destroyed her materials
and denied her access to a
computer and restrooms. The
net result, says Cox, was that
she was forced to resign from
two positions, and Segura
scrapped a program Cox had
developed for her co-workers.
Counselor Bruce Barnes
says he was likewise ha-
rassed for his support of the
Eaglesmiths. He says Segura
initiated disciplinary investi-
gations and actions against
him for violating non-
existent policies, removed
him from his counseling
assignment at QHS while
he was on stress leave and
denied him a new assign-
ment.
Willits is accused of humil-
iating Justus Eaglesmith for
placing his left hand over his
heart during the Pledge of
Allegiance at Taylorsville
Elementary School.
Reactions
Superintendent Harris said
he could not comment on the
specifics of the case. He did,
however, reiterate the dis-
trict's obligation to "protect
the rights of all employees."
He said good things happen
when issues arise that "re-
quire self-analysis." He said
he was grateful for the oppor-
tunity to ask, "How can we
improve as an organization?"
Harris also pointed to
recent efforts to "better
equip all administrators
with knowledge and a set of
skills." He was referring to
discussion at last week's
board meeting about sensitiv-
ity training for management
and staff and a Teaching
Tolerance curriculum for
students.
Harris recommended the
district use online modules
by a company called em-
TRAIN, starting with all
site administrators.
Participation in the training
would be optional for board
members. Most of the board
signaled an interest in the
training, except Brad Baker,
who quipped, "Someone needs
to be politically incorrect."
Jeff Cunan, legal advisor to
principal Sue Segura and
vice president Jeff Ray,
issued a statement Feb. 10, in
which he called them "one of
the best principal/vice prin-
cipal teams Quincy High
School has ever seen.
"They are both deeply
offended by the Eaglesmith
allegations, and they flatly
deny all those that are
directed at them. We intend
to use every legal means at
our disposal to preserve the
well-deserved professional
reputations of both Sue and
Jeff. They will accept no
settlement whatsoever short
of complete exoneration."
The plaintiffs are repre-
sented by Dan Siegel of Siegel
and Yee in Oakland, the same
firm that currently repre-
sents Paul Thein, former
athletic director and vice
president of Student Ser-
vices, in his ongoing lawsuits
against Feather River
College.
• CUNAN, from page 1A
other things, that the county
did not provide sufficient
facts to establish personal
liability on Cunan's part.
According to the ruling,
the court must liberally con-
strue a complaint, and if it
"appears that the plaintiff is
entitled to any relief at the
hands of the court against the
defendants, the complaint
will be held good." In other
words, the burden of proof is
on the party asking for the
demurrer.
Cunan responded to the
ruling, "This frivolous
lawsuit was a textbook lesson
in government waste." He
blamed "disgruntled and in-
competent" county officials,
including the county admin-
istrative officer, the county
auditor and the new district
attorney, and said the suit
was prompted by "personal
vindictiveness for the profes-
sional criticisms I've made
over the years."
Feather Publishing. The com-
ments appeared in Feather
Publishing's story about the
lawsuit (Nov. 10, 2010).
The Board of Supervisors
voted in December to deny
Cunan's claim. He has six
months to take further
action. Cunan said last week
he is keeping all of his legal
options open and called upon
voters "to do the rest."
County supervisors were
set to discuss the court's
decision in closed session
yesterday, Feb. 15.
Ingstad declined to com-
ment.
Background
The whole brouhaha began '
last fall when the county filed
suit alleging Cunan did not
follow proper procedure with
funds from the bad check
diversion program and was
personally liable to the tune
of around $i5,000.
According to court papers,
the bad check diversion pro-
gram had at least $12,160.47
that Cunan assumed from his
than $22,255.39 in funds for
the bad check program.
The problem, according to
the county's complaint, was
that the funds sat in a bank
account first at Placer
Savings and then at Plumas
Bank, when they should
have been deposited into the
county treasury.
The county alleged checks
drawn on or withdrawals
from the account occurred
outside the county appropria-
tions process and, thus, did
not have the blessing of the
Board of Supervisors.
Cunan argued in his
demurrer that there has
never before been a single
published case in which a
county went after its district
attorney for such acts while
in office.
Edwards disagreed -- but
he had to go back to 1901
to find such a precedent.
In that case, Kern County's
district attorney was accused
of retaining fees for his
personal use.
Plumas County never
alleged that Cunan retained
any of the funds for personal
use. Cunan said at the time,
"I used district attorney
monies solely for district
attorney services in a way
that saved Plumas County
taxpayers thousands of
dollars. There was no
mishandling of money what-
soever."
Arguments
In his demurrer, Cunan
outlined four arguments.
One, the relevant govern-
ment codes were inapplicable
to the facts of the case.
Two, the county's com-
plaint was "unintelligible
and uncertain" about the
• alleged causes of action,
dates of misconduct and
damages or recovery sought.
Third, the county's action
was barred by the statute of
limitations.
Last, the alleged facts did
not support a claim for an
accounting.
Edwards devoted the bulk
of his decision to analyzing
the pertinent penal and
government codes in answer
to Cunan's first argument.
Basically, Cunan argued
that "any expenditure he
authorized in his discretion as
district attorney constituted a
'county charge' that did not
have to be appropriated (by
the Board of Supervisors) in
order to be lawful and to bind
the county treasury."
In agreeing with Cunan,
Edwards used a kind of cart-
before-the-horse reasoning.
Penal code requires a board
of supervisors to d'eclare
there are sufficient funds
available to fund a bad check
program before a district
attorney can create such a
program.
Because such a program
existed when Cunan
took office, "it must be
inferred that County adopted
a resolution declaring
that it had sufficient funds
available to fund the
J
program," wrote Edwards.
Thus, the county could not
meet its burden of proof that
Cunan's expenditures from
the check diversion program
were in excess of sufficient
available funds, nor that they
were unauthorized under the
applicable penal code or any
other applicable law.
Edwards found against
Cunan on issues two and
three. "The allegations ... are
sufficiently clear to apprise
the defendant of the issues
that must be met," he
wrote.
He found that while the
alleged behavior in question
commenced outside the
three-year statute of limita-
tions, the alleged behavior
continued within the three-
year timeframe, and so was
fair game.
Edwards agreed with
Cunan on his fourth argu-
ment, saying. Cunan was
no longer a salaried officer
subject to the government
codes in question.
The lawsuit prompted a
defamation claim by Cunan
against County Administra-
tive Officer Jack Ingstad for
comments he
predecessor when he took District applies for help
office Dec. 31, 2002. : ill
After taking office and . ......... ,
continuing through May 13, /:
made __t° 2010, Cunan collected more with flood prevention
V,, ',, :di!i'!i!!!: '¢ w;!!:t:t!!:!!e:!i!zdngtnetee mO!iiiaieni
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Protecting the Greenville
sewer ponds, the environ-
ment and the public are goals
of a grant application cur-
rently in the works.
Indian Valley Community
Service District directors
approved the application dur-
ing their regular meeting
Wednesday, Feb. 9.
They also approved a 1.5
percent fee, if awarded, for
the Greenville Rancheria,
about $3 million, said opera-
tions chief Jesse Lawson,
though he expects the local
project will come in at less
than that.
The bulk of the funds would
come in a grant from the
Department of Water Re-
sources, for things like flood
control structures in the
creek downstream of the
sewer ponds.
Other parts of the project
infiltration work.
The system is down one
pond now, due to a leak
discovered last summer. Dis-
trict personnel, have been
working with the state to
rectify that situation in a
timely manner. The leaky
pond has been abandoned,
and planned improvements
to the system are ongoing
as weather permits. Efforts
are documented to the state
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Architect Blake Shelters of Tay-
Iorsville is a newly appointed
director of the Indian Valley
Community Service District.
The only one to submit a letter
of interest, he brings his
professional qualifications and
experience in facilities to the
board. Photo by Alicia Knadler
water quality boards.
Barring special meetings,
directors of the Indian Valley
Community Service District
meet at 6:30 p.m. the second
Wednesday of each month.
For location and other infor-
mation, call 284-7224.
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