Public commenter alleges racial remarks, calls for audit of Road and Bridge culture

John Shipley told the court during public comment that he had attended the morning work session and supported hiring an engineer, but said he was concerned about internal practices in Road and Bridge and requested prompt action. “My name is John Shipley. I, I come to talk about the staffing issues that, Road and Bridge has,” he said, and later raised complaints that supervisors had made “racial comments to employees” and that interview answers had been shared improperly with preferred candidates.

Shipley asked whether an audit the court had ordered was available to the public and urged the court to move quickly on alleged misconduct, noting the court has acted swiftly in a prior case. The presiding official closed public comment after his two-minute time expired; no formal action on the allegations was taken during the meeting. Commissioners did not adopt immediate disciplinary action on the record, instead continuing with the posted agenda.