Board members of the Columbia Development Authority have decided to bring lawyers in to help determine the best evaluation process of CEO Greg Smith.
During a special meeting Friday morning, Oct. 11, the board discussed how best to create an evaluation form and process for reviewing CDA employee performance — Smith’s in particular. They made no decisions requiring a vote, as the discussion and agreement came during an informational agenda item.
Board Chair Kim Puzey, representing the Port of Umatilla, suggested the entities’ general legal counsel “agree on someone who is expert in employee relations and performance evaluations to present to the board what would be proper for our particular situation.” This, he said, should help ensure an unbiased process following legal requirements.
Part of that process will be finalizing a job description for Smith as well as determining what entity actually employs him. Vice-Chair John Shafer, with Umatilla County, asked if Smith is a Port of Morrow employee or a CDA one, as that could determine which counsel is considered neutral.
No one on the board knew — not even the Port of Morrow representative, Joe Taylor.
“There’s been no definitive decision or conclusion,” he said. “We just don’t know exactly what that answer is.”
Back to the start
At the start of the meeting, Puzey made sure to emphasize his appreciation for Smith’s work as well as that of Debbie Pedro and Emily Collins, the other two development authority employees. He told them he holds all three in “the highest regard for your personal conduct, your professional work, (and) what you’ve done for the CDA in the past.”
The special meeting about the evaluation process came after about a month of tension between Smith and other CDA employees, on one side, and a few members of the CDA board on the other.
In September, Smith, who also serves as a representative in the Oregon Legislature, faced backlash from some board members over a board vote from June that led to salary increases for Smith and other CDA employees that the board had not approved prior.
From a board-approved grant application, Smith received back pay and a salary increase of $66,000, which the application falsely stated was supported by the board.
At the board’s Sept. 20 meeting, at which Puzey was absent, members passed a decision to evaluate Smith’s job performance as part of determining whether to keep him on as leader of the CDA.
A newer board member, J.D. Tovey with the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, in particular, was upset enough to ask Smith if he should still be leading the authority. Smith told him that was a decision for the board.
Smith said he underwent a similar review in December 2023, which Puzey led along with former board member Lisa Mittelsdorf with the Port of Morrow. In that review, he said, he received positive feedback. He also said he was told to ask for a raise through grant funding, the action that eventually led to controversy.
During the Oct. 11 meeting, which lasted about 25 minutes, Tovey said he was OK with a “flexible and liberal timeline” so long as there was a timeline to follow. The board agreed to have at least a status report presented during its upcoming regular meeting Oct. 22.
