News Column

Here's a new way to get rid of a boss

On the Town

By phil stanford

The Portland Tribune, Jun 1, 2007, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (16 Reader comments)

Now I’m sure Tigard businessman Robert Kim is a fine, civic-minded kind of guy.

I mean, who else would take the trouble to fill out a four-page, single-spaced complaint to the state’s police professional standards board, alleging that the sheriff of another county — another county, mind you — is morally unfit to hold office.

As it happens, Bernie Giusto, the object of Kim’s complaint, is sheriff of Multnomah County. Tigard on the other hand, appears to be located in Washington County, somewhere to the southwest. Who knows, maybe Kim just got confused.

And then there’s the question of who’s really behind Kim’s complaint.

In last Tuesday’s Tribune, Kim, who never has met Giusto, admitted to reporter Nick Budnick that he’s just a front for “three of Giusto’s employees,” the story said, whose names he wouldn’t reveal for “fear of retaliation.”

Assuming for the moment that Kim is being truthful on this score, and that his strings aren’t being pulled by more powerful political figures who might have it in for Giusto, this still raises some interesting questions about how easy it apparently has become for law enforcement professionals to keep their superiors in constant hot water.

If, as the present situation seems to indicate, all it takes is a willing stooge to sign a complaint to the Department of Public Safety Standards and Training, we’re in for some interesting times.

Just wait till the guys and gals over at the P-town police bureau figure out what they’ve been missing.

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