03/18/10 Bend

Deschutes County 911 director Becky McDonald is defending herself in an effort to save her job. She's accused of having an inappropriate relationship with the husband of a co-worker. At Thursday's due process hearing, it was her chance to influence the outcome of the board's decision on whether or not to fire her.

"Now despite my impeccable record I am being threatened with termination over a personal and private relationship that occurred exclusively outside of work," said McDonald.

That relationship was with a co-worker's husband. McDonald maintains it had no impact in the work environment, but the 911 board says otherwise, after a worker's comp complaint was made by that co-worker, citing a hostile environment.

"As a board, taking that responsibility to broadly look at this to see what issues are there and how deep it went and how far it went," said a 911 Executive Board member, Redmond Police Chief Ron Roberts.

McDonald claims it's the co-worker who brought the relationship to work, sharing details with other co-workers. The board says McDonald failed to discipline that employee for not following policy. McDonald is a fifteen year veteran with 911, taking on the role of director in April of 2007.  She's been on on paid administrative leave since December.  The board says the big issue is trust.

"So what I'm hearing is an allegation that our mistake was in trusting Becky McDonald," said Board Chair, Bend Fire Chief Larry Huhn.

The board says the lack of information given to them when they asked McDonald about the relationship is reason for concern.

"I did not feel comfortable giving further details because it had nothing to do with my job.  It was a private relationship and I really wasn't sure why I was being asked those questions," said McDonald.

The board was visibly frustrated, saying McDonald accepted no responsibility and blamed everyone else. McDonald and her lawyer say the same about the board, arguing it took too long to start the investigation and claiming the employee stalked McDonald.

After listening to testimony, the board was directed by legal counsel to examine what they heard and delay their decision until next month's meeting.