Oct. 28—LA GRANDE — City council candidate Cody Vela defended himself against accusations of online bullying and abrasive online interactions.

A number of people have said they experienced menacing social media posts from Vela, and provided screenshots, including threats to throw them off committees, as the campaign season ramped up in late September. Vela did not directly comment on many of the online interactions because he said he could not prove the validity of the screenshots.

"I'm abrasive because I'm tired of being pushed and then being villainized for pushing back," he said. "I think we should be allowed to defend ourselves."

Vela is running for city council Position 7 against former Councilor Corrine Dutto. He moved to La Grande in 2010 after serving in the U.S. Army as an infantry sergeant. He is an Iraq War veteran and Purple Heart recipient. Prior to his retirement in 2012, Vela worked as a phlebotomist in Pendleton and La Grande. He has served on the board of directors for Union County Search and Rescue as well as the Union County Warming Station.

Early online interactions

Prior to a candidate meet and greet on Tuesday, Oct. 4, at Tap That Growlers in downtown La Grande, original flyers for the event said attendees were required to RSVP and listed Vela's contact information.

Union resident Randy Knop said he reached out to Vela via email to RSVP and with a number of questions about the candidates. He wanted to attend due to his interest in topics concerning La Grande.

Knop said Vela in an email told him, "Y'all are outnumbered and outwitted. Enjoy Union, the soon to be mayor is a friend of mine. We are taking our cities back from you beta socialist. I hear Seattle is nice this time of year, maybe you should consider moving back because your intel gathering attempts will never be successful."

Vela said he never personally talked to Knop and was not aware of him asking about the meet and greet. According to Vela, Knop reached out to Vela's friend and endorser — Trevor Winder at Takedown Firearms Training — in an attempt to manipulate him into revoking his endorsement.

"The only thing I've ever heard about Randy Knop, other than just he's a very enthusiastic either current chair or former chair for Union County Democrats, is that he attempted to discuss my endorsement with my endorsee," Vela said.

Knop said he contacted a business owner who endorsed Vela to ask about his feelings on certain topics.

Max Kultov, a La Grande resident and member of the city's budget committee, said Vela sent him a message on Facebook about his work on the committee.

"I look forward to hearing your input on why we should keep you on the budget committee after myself and my likeminded peers are sworn in come January," the message said.

Vela would not comment on anything related to Kultov. He said he had a pending investigation against Kultov for telephonic harassment and interference with an election, claiming Kultov signed up Vela's campaign email address with spam email and far-left political subscriptions, as well as phone calls and texting spam.

Comments posted by the Cody Vela for La Grande City Council Facebook page confirmed he believes it is normal practice for committee seats to be reassigned or salaried employees fired after leadership changes. Vela said he was not at liberty to say who acted as administrators of his campaign Facebook account.

"If I am elected, it is within the scope of a city council to remove committee or commission members — I'm not quoting the exact city code here — for basically conduct unbecoming or an inability to perform the duties of that position," Vela said. "And I am open to doing that if necessary."

Any councilor can request the permanent removal of a committee or commission members for acting in a manner that discredits the city, violates the expectations of the council or is malicious in nature, under city of La Grande Ordinance Number 3229. The request must be passed by a majority vote of the full council.

First forum and accusing Mayor Clements

Either Vela or admins of his campaign page targeted La Grande Mayor Steve Clements in comments posted to the David Moyal for La Grande City Council's Facebook page on Oct. 18 and Oct. 23. Comments from the Cody Vela for La Grande City Council Facebook account accused Clements of sharing questions with certain candidates prior to the candidate forum on Oct. 11, so they could prepare answers.

The debate was hosted as a collaboration by EOAlive.TV and the Eastern Oregon University debate team. EOU sophomore Isaac Insko moderated the forum.

Residents had the opportunity to submit questions prior to the forum and during the event, which a review committee vetted and selected. The committee consisted of EOU junior Calvin Bennett, Clements and former City Councilor John Lackey.

"The reason why it was important for those questions to be vetted is we didn't want questions coming in that were not relevant to the preview of La Grande City Council, EOAlive.TV owner Brent Clapp said. "And funny enough some of the questions that I had written and that I submitted, they were taken out. So, although I was a little annoyed, the committee (members) did do exactly what they were supposed to do."

Clements and Lackey did not have access to the questions until the night of the event and none of the questions were chosen before the event started, Insko said. He and Bennett wrote a few questions in advance in case there were not many questions from the audience, but those were also not shared until the night of the forum.

"To my knowledge, no questions were shared with candidates prior to the forum," Insko said.

Second forum

During the Public Safety Candidate Forum on Oct. 18, Vela told constituents he suffered traumatic brain injuries while serving in the U.S. Army in Iraq.

These injuries also came up in a comment posted by Vela's campaign Facebook page in response to a comment on Moyal's campaign page. After Moyal posted a recap of the forum at EOU, a resident commented it seemed like Vela lost his train of thought while answering questions.

Vela said these injuries would not affect his capability as a city councilor. Speaking in a public forum where one is put on the spot is vastly different from the open dialogue of council meetings, he said.

"In my case, I am a disabled veteran. I have a Purple Heart — I have several — but from one instance a very severe traumatic brain injury, which does affect my short-term memory and at times can affect my speech. It doesn't affect my ability to think or to write things down," Vela said.

If elected, Vela said he will be representing the residents who voted him into the city council.

"I can't represent every single person. Corrine doesn't represent me on the council. Does that mean that she shouldn't be on the council? No, if she gets elected in, then she's there to represent 50.1% of the voters. We don't all agree on everything," Vela said. "There is nothing wrong with admitting that."Isabella Crowley is a reporter for The Observer. Contact her at {span}541-624-6014 or{/span} icrowley@lagrandeobserver.com.

Isabella Crowley is a reporter for The Observer. Contact her at 541-624-6014 or icrowley@lagrandeobserver.com.