People have three choices. That’s how Coos County Assessor Adam Colby views life.

“No. 1, you can adapt to the situation you’re in,” he said. “No. 2, you can choose to go somewhere else. No. 3, you can work hard, do a good job and become the leader.”

Colby chose No. 3 when he seized the opportunity to run for assessor in 2008.

His firm approach, however, may be contributing to ongoing controversies that have plagued the assessor’s office over the past year.

Colby contends some workers in his office are disgruntled because of changes he has made to address “widespread errors.” But some current and former employees say Colby’s tactics have created a mounting tension in the office, demonstrated by nine tort claims filed in the past year. They say any systemic problems in the office are far less worrisome than Colby suggests.

Standing well over 6 feet, Colby looks like the Marine Corps veteran he is. Clean-shaven, wearing a collared shirt tucked into pressed slacks, he sits behind a precisely organized desk. Colby explains he is “going to run this office like a business.” That has meant staggering lunch hours to keep the office open, and enforcing a strict chain of command.

“We are here to do the people’s business,” Colby said. “I make that abundantly clear in every way, shape and form.”

But some are calling his style too authoritarian.

Dennis Handsaker worked for the assessor’s office for more than 17 years and campaigned for Colby’s election. But he retired early in June when the stress became overwhelming, even though he thought Colby liked him.

Handsaker said he was favored because he, like Colby, was ex-military.

“I don’t like to be treated different, but I could see it,” he said. “I would do something, and he wouldn’t say a word. Someone else would do the same thing, he would yell.”

After working for seven assessors over 33 years, Barbara Foord retired as chief deputy last year. She said there are always a few transitional problems when a new assessor comes in, but “nothing like what employees are currently going through.”

As for errors, Foord said there are occasionally clerical or appraiser errors, but nothing “out of the ordinary.”

A state audit in October, requested by Colby, will aim to uncover any systemic inefficiencies in department programs, but it might not be released for six months.

Colby’s request for a state audit is not unprecedented. His predecessor, Bob Main, also requested an Oregon Department of Revenue audit after taking office. At that time, according to ODR, the audit found a few areas that needed improvement. It revealed a lack of staffing and personal computers, but found no overwhelming problems. In addition to this kind of special audit, the state certifies the department’s assessment programs yearly.

Some employees describe the pre-Colby department as “family oriented.” Plants still line the filing cabinets, and pictures of children perch on the desks of proud parents, but now, those people say, everyone “walks on pins and needles.”

Even the background music has become a point of contention.

In July, a few employees complained that the office music was too loud. So Colby ordered a sound test from the county Human Resources Department, which concluded it was at an appropriate level. The music was not turned down.

“I acknowledge it has been quite a culture change,” Colby said. “My predecessor was a 30-year government employee. I am going to operate this like a business.”

This is not Colby’s first time to ascend the leadership ladder. And this not the first time it has been a shaky climb.

Colby was promoted four times in his six years as a U.S. Marine, rising to the rank of sergeant. He later was quickly promoted to assistant principal at a high school in Lake County, Calif. A school board member there said Colby faced similar allegations and division among his staff. Like some employees in the assessor’s office, faculty members said they got along fine with Colby before he gained authority. Then it became a power struggle.  

The assessor has a different perspective.

“This is the second time I have had the opportunity to turn around an underperforming organization,” Colby said. “This is who I am.”

That’s the vision behind Colby’s drive to increase productivity and, in turn, save taxpayers money.

“We are going to figure out how to do things better, faster and cheaper,” Colby said. “If something is wrong, we are going to fix it. We are not going to sweep anything under the rug.”

Some present and past employees, however, contend Colby’s managerial approach is actually decreasing productivity and creating an unhealthy work environment.

“After he became assessor, it was like night and day,” Handsaker said. “He had us do a lot of tedious work. It was a control thing. We couldn’t get anything done.”

Three others, who asked not to be named, said the stress pushed them to leave, too.

“I could not have stayed and worked under him,” said one retiree.

Employees also mentioned instances, some of which have led to tort claims, in which Colby was involved in confrontations. One time, it is alleged, an employee came to work a few minutes late, and Colby responded with a tirade, yelling and waving his hands. Other times, employees said, he would sit glaring at people he didn’t like. Several times the outbursts made people cry.

Colby says he stands by everything he is doing. And that his goal is to better serve the public.

Nine months into a four-year term, he has a little over three years left to prove his philosophy can bring a change for the better.