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Aiding
fight against cancer
Newberg will know the name Gougler
Longtime Dundee officer finds his future in
Sherwood
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Sundeen hearing set for August |
Judge Terry Mahr cites conflict of interest and
recuses himself from hearing arguments |
By Gunnar
Olson, Newberg Graphic reporter
E-mail Gunnar at golson@eaglenewspapers.com |
Dundee City Councilor Don Sundeen said he didn’t know for what,
exactly, he was pleading not guilty.
The citation – issued by Dundee Police Chief Dan Hess on June 7 –
is for failure to obey a police officer. The
incident prompting the citation occurred on June 4 at the scene of a
traffic accident on Highway 99W in Dundee.
“I really honestly don’t know what I didn’t obey,” Sundeen, who is
running for mayor, said at his arraignment Thursday at Dundee City
Hall. “That’s the bottom line.”
Sundeen said he needed to know, in more concrete terminology than
was provided on the citation, what it was he did wrong in order to
prepare a defense. Judge Terry Mahr recommended Sundeen request
available information from the city attorney.
Mahr, however, won’t preside over the hearing. Mahr said that
Sundeen, as a city councilor, was ultimately his boss and cited a
conflict of interest in the matter before recusing himself.
Mahr offered Sundeen the choice of appearing in circuit court or in
Dundee municipal court with another judge.
Sundeen chose the latter, and consequently Mahr scheduled Sundeen’s
hearing for Aug. 19, the next court date for which Mahr had been
able to find another judge.
An out-of-the-area judge will hear the differing accounts of the
incident from the city councilor and chief of police.
Sundeen has declined to go into detail about his version of the
events, saying he’ll save any public statements for the judge. Hess
said he was directing traffic at the scene of an accident when a
driver ignored his signals; Hess declined to speculate on whether it
was intentional or out of negligence.
Though the Class B traffic violation carries only a possible $215
fine, the incident could have a ripple effect on other issues the
city is facing, namely an executive session the city council is
planning to discuss rumors about Hess.
The council will enter executive session in a special meeting on
June 28 — originally slated for the upcoming city council meeting —
to discuss complaints councilors have heard regarding the police
department and to allow legitimate grievances to be sorted from
rumors.
At least one Dundee resident, Bret Lieuallen, a candidate for city
council, has called for Sundeen to recuse himself from the executive
session, citing a conflict of interest.
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From
June 19, 2004,
Newberg Graphic
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