Court fight continues for county commissioner

Milwaukie business owner Ed Parecki is suing Commissioner Jim Bernard for calling him a liar. Bernard says it's true.

By Raymond Rendleman

The Clackamas Review, Jul 28, 2010

A defamation lawsuit continues to haunt County Commissioner Jim Bernard even though the case was first lodged last year by a Milwaukie business owner and downtown developer.

Spring Creek Coffee House owner Ed Parecki is seeking $100,000 in damages on the claim that the former Milwaukie mayor caused him emotional distress and cost him business. Bernard called Parecki a “liar” in an e-mail sent on March 31, 2009, to longtime Milwaukie activist Ed Zumwalt, which was copied to numerous city officials and neighborhood association chairs.

In a hearing this month, County Judge Henry C. Breithaupt denied Benard's motion for a summary judgement, so there will be another hearing next month.

Bernard defended his negative assessment of Parecki's truthfulness on the basis of an incident in 2000 when the North Clackamas School District was soliciting bids for the purchase of the Milwaukie Middle School. According to his submitted declaration to the court, Bernard claims that Parecki misled community members about the intention of Portland Waldorf School to acquire the property. Bernard wanted the property to become a community center, and he thought he had Parecki's word that his plan would not be outbid.

“Zumwalt and I both felt that we had been lied to by Ed Parecki at that time,” he said.

Parecki denied that he ever said the Waldorf school would not be submitting a bid if the group formed by Bernard and Zumwalt had the support of the city. Through his attorney Andrew Teitelman, Parecki claims that Bernard developed an animosity since 2000 and “abused his authority” to hinder Parecki's ability to conduct business in the city.

Bernard's attorney Patrick Kurkoski argued that authority shouldn't be a concern in this case and that Bernard should not be held accountable for hurting Parecki's feelings.

“Calling another person a 'liar' is not so outside the bounds of socially tolerable behavior as to give rise to a claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress,” he wrote to the court. “(Parecki's) attempt to recast the public official/constituent relationship as a 'special relationship' with a consequent higher duty of care and greater exposure to liability for public officials raises grave public policy concerns.”

Parecki noted that he was too embarrassed to attend council meetings after the incident. “My bubble kind of burst after that, that there was absolutely no chance that I could make a difference,” Parecki said in a certified transcript of an interview with Kurkoski. To argue Parecki didn't suffer much, the lawyer used Parecki's statement that he did not see a physician or using medications.

“Parecki did not sustain severe emotional distress as required to establish a claim,” Kurkoski said.

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