Josephine County has become the epicenter of controversy once again this week, as two department directors were abruptly fired without notice or clear justification. These terminations come on the heels of a damning internal investigation substantiating serious allegations of retaliation and bullying by two former county commissioners. The situation has left the community reeling and sparked renewed concerns about transparency, abuse of power, and the erosion of public trust in county governance.
To understand the full scope of this escalating crisis, one must go back to last year when a courageous act by a public health official helped peel back the layers of dysfunction at the heart of Josephine County’s leadership. In August 2024, Public Health Director Michael Weber filed a formal complaint against two sitting county commissioners, Herman Baertschiger and John West. That complaint triggered an internal investigation conducted by Mountain Lakes Employment Investigations, an independent third-party firm hired to ensure objectivity and transparency.
What the investigators found was both alarming and unprecedented. According to a letter issued below by the Josephine County Office of Legal Counsel and signed by Assistant Legal Counsel and Risk Manager Stephanie Nuttall, all major allegations were substantiated. The investigation confirmed that Baertschiger engaged in sustained retaliation and bullying between March and September 2024, while West was found to have committed similar misconduct from as early as January 2023 through September 2024. Investigators conducted multiple witness interviews, reviewed written records, and evaluated corroborating documentation submitted by both Weber and Mark Stevenson, Director of Community Development. Their consistent accounts painted a picture of prolonged and systemic abuse of authority.
While the investigation concluded without outlining disciplinary action, citing personnel confidentiality, the tone of the closing letter left no ambiguity about the findings. “The County will take whatever steps it can to prevent such inappropriate behavior by employees,” the letter read, encouraging staff to speak up against any future misconduct. Weber was thanked for his courage and reminded that retaliation would not be tolerated. Yet within months, he and others would be terminated in a manner many now seen as a stark contradiction to those reassurances.
On the morning of April 1, 2025, Michael Weber, along with Mark Stevenson, received letters of termination stating that their employment was ended effective immediately. The reason given in each case was a vague reference to a “reorganization of the county leadership structure.” The letters were signed by Michael Sellers, who now serves as Interim Director of Operations—a position that appears to have even more responsibilities than a County Manager would have, as he’s now overseeing several departments such as Finance, HR, and many other departments that usually have their own dedicated manager or director.
It’s a good thing Sellers no longer “moonlights” for two different State Senators, as he did until late last year while working full-time as Josephine County’s Director of both IT and Emergency Management. But now Sellers seems to have the equivalent of five or six full-time jobs due to the effects of disastrous commissioner decisions in the last two months. According to Sellers’ resume when he joined the County in 2023, he only has professional experience and the proper professional qualifications in just one of the many departments he now oversees. With key staff such as the Finance/HR Director, Assistant Legal Counsel and Risk Manager, and various others leaving or being forced out in the last few months, this is a slow-motion financial and operational train wreck that is really starting to gain speed.
Weber, Stevenson, and two other department heads who are rumored to be in the process of being forced out all have a long history with the County and have reputations for professionalism and integrity. Their combined decades of service represented the kind of institutional knowledge not easily replaced. Yet they were dismissed without warning, without explanation, and without the opportunity to respond. This is just three months after an internal investigation found that they had been bullied and retaliated against by the commissioners. The move sent shockwaves throughout the county workforce and community. One county employee, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said, “This is political retaliation, plain and simple. We were told to trust the process. Now those who stood up are being eliminated.”
Financial shockwaves may follow. Weber and Stevenson are just the latest two county staff members in a growing trend of staff members fired under extremely questionable circumstances. A single wrongful termination can carry hundreds of thousands of dollars in liabilities, plus significant attorney fees. At this rate, the County is risking millions, plus the risk of being dropped by the County’s insurer for repeatedly not following the proper HR procedures.
None of our three new Commissioners have experience working in government, and it shows. Recent public records requests show that the Commissioners didn’t even do a financial analysis of potential costs or benefits before recently approving the voluntary employee resignation program. We’re guessing the total cost of the volunteer resignations is going to come in close to $700,000, but we’ll see for sure upon receipt of a records request. And there are a ton of hidden costs with swift reductions in force that this program recently caused, including higher overtime pay, the loss of significant institutional knowledge, penalties for not fulfilling contractual grant-funded services, and so much more.
County officials have remained conspicuously silent. Yesterday, The Daily Courier covered the story, but they appear to be facing the same issues we are, including being denied access to public records. As a result, they have not yet reported the findings of the internal investigation, reportedly due to delays or obstacles in obtaining those documents. However, the Grants Pass Tribune has obtained a copy of this letter (please see attached letter in the article below) through confidential sources confirming that the misconduct claims against Baertschiger and West were fully substantiated. Adding to the concern is the fact that the county is disputing and delaying full payment of a $43,880.76 invoice from Mountain Lakes Employment Investigations, prompting speculation that officials may be attempting to discredit or suppress the findings after the fact. There’s yet another lawsuit if they don’t pay this bill.
Compounding the issue is the appointment of Commissioner Andreas Blech, who a few weeks ago was granted complete control and oversight over personnel decisions and restructuring by Commissioners Barnett and Smith for an initial period of 90 days. The result is headed towards a sweeping restructuring of the leadership structure of county departments, at least those departments not led by an elected official. With Blech now installed, the Board of Commissioners is entirely composed of individuals who were either financially backed or handpicked by the previous regime.
In a commissioner’s public meeting on Tuesday, April 1st, Blech announced there had been some terminations but without providing any specifics. Not one question or comment came from Commissioners Barnett or Smith regarding those terminations.
Several sources confirmed recalled commissioner John West spent a ton of time in the Commissioners’ offices in the weeks following the end of his term due to the recall. West appears to be using unelected Blech to implement the rest of his agenda that he ran out of time to fulfill due to the recall. Despite a landslide percentage of county voters saying yes to the recall ouster of John West, the day after the recall vote, Blech had the guts to proclaim in a public meeting that “Voters made a mistake…” [in recalling John West].
While citizens demand answers, Blech appears to be focusing on pet projects, particularly the Grants Pass airport, instead of addressing the broader structural and ethical concerns facing the administration. Meanwhile, two unelected figures have emerged as powerful influencers within the new county hierarchy. Michael Sellers, in his interim role, now oversees operations traditionally managed by multiple department heads due to their complexity and expertise required, consolidating decision-making in a single unelected position. Simon Hare, a controversial figure with a checkered past in Josephine County politics, has been installed as Budget Director.
Hare recently cited a $450,000 deficit in the Public Health Department to justify sweeping cuts, a claim that has since been widely disputed. Multiple internal sources and documents reviewed by the Tribune suggest that the deficit figure was grossly inflated and likely used as a pretext for political purges. This manipulation of financial data has only deepened public distrust and reinforced suspicions that the firings were part of a broader effort to consolidate power behind closed doors. Reportedly, Weber is already considering his legal options, and he likely has a very strong case given the internal investigation that was just completed about three months ago and never publicly disclosed by the commissioners.
Although the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act does not apply to public sector employees, Josephine County’s own personnel policies and collective bargaining agreements emphasize the importance of due process and fair treatment. None of the terminated department heads were granted such protections. Their terminations appear to have violated both the letter and the spirit of those agreements, as well as several administrative policies (which can be found on the County’s website). According to one legal expert familiar with Oregon labor law, “It’s clear we’re seeing a concentration of power without public oversight. There are serious concerns about procedural violations and possible civil liability.”
As the dust settles from Tuesday’s firings, one thing is clear: this is not just a routine personnel reshuffle. It is a defining moment for the future of Josephine County governance. This is the kind of sweeping change that voters would normally weigh in on through a Charter amendment ballot measure or otherwise. The questions now looming are whether the public will demand accountability, whether state authorities will step in to investigate potential legal violations, and whether transparency and professionalism will ever return to county leadership. Right now, much of the public’s business is being done behind closed doors by one single unelected commissioner, as if Josephine County were no more than Commissioner Blech’s personally owned business.
For now, the silence from officials is deafening, and the power vacuum is being filled by a small group of insiders operating with little to no oversight. This is the exact opposite of the direction Josephine County voters just voted for last December in the Commissioner West recall vote, as this is a sped-up version of what recalled Commissioner West was trying to do. And Blech seems eager to do the dirty work, because he wasn’t elected and has made public statements that imply he doesn’t intend to run for office in an election.
The people of Josephine County are left to wonder who is truly making the decisions that affect their lives, and whether the principles of democracy and fair governance still have a place in their local institutions. The Grants Pass Tribune will continue to investigate and report as this story develops, and we encourage those with relevant information to come forward. At a time when so many questions remain unanswered, the truth must be brought to light.
Official Investigation Report Findings
