David L.E. Hilton
March 5, 2026
Phyllis June Spencer
March 5, 2026
A 2,700 page report has recently been made public following years of alleged scandal within the St. Helens police department and city council. In response, St. Helens Mayor Jennifer Massey said she wouldn’t have done anything differently.
As previously reported, in October of 2024, former St. Helens Police Chief Brian Greenway was put on leave due to an investigation that revealed while serving as chief, he had sent pornographic images to subordinates, incited opposition to his superiors, manipulated an officer’s salary by falsely claiming he had passed an agility test he never took, threatened a handcuffed suspect, berated officers, and mocked the sheriff. Greenway resigned in January 2025, while the investigation was ongoing.
While serving as interim police chief, Joseph Hogue filed a whistleblower lawsuit against Mayor Jennifer Massey, alleging she had blocked his promotion to the permanent position because of his belief that she had colluded with Greenway to influence the mayoral election. He also claimed the city was withholding evidence of this.
In September 2024, while Massey was running for office, she made a comment during a City Council meeting, saying, “We know it’s coming; we know that 24-hour coverage is going away. Why are we not communicating with the citizens?” According to a KOIN 6 News report, this statement came as a complete surprise to then-Mayor Rick Scholl.
On October 1, the St. Helens Police Department suspended 24-hour coverage, as Massey had predicted. Then, on October 7, Hogue was named acting police chief after Greenway was placed on administrative leave. By November 1st, 24-hour police coverage was restored. And after a review, the Oregon Department of Justice opted not to open a formal investigation into the case.
Now, as reported by the Columbia County Spotlight (CCS), Massey hopes the 2,700 page report released in February show people the alleged collusion never happened, “I was grateful that all these public records finally came out… I’m always going to make the right decisions that I can based on the information and the research that I can get.” Massey continues, “I’m never going to make decisions based on somebody pressuring me, or what I feel is inappropriate behavior for them to bully me into making decisions that I don’t think are in the best benefit for the citizens.”
CCS further reports, SHPD staffing problems had been on the city council’s radar since as early as 2021. When 24-hour patrols ceased on Oct. 1, 2024, the city was never without police response. Rather, officers were on call for four hours of the day instead of actively patrolling. By November 1st, SHPD shifted back to officers working overtime to restore 24/7 patrols. At that time, Massey texted her then-friend Jennifer Gilbert calling it a political ploy, “The fact that we have allegedly 24-hour coverage now, it’s all optics.” Now, Massey says that statement was in reference to City Administrator John Walsh and former Mayor Rick Scholl. She said they were the ones trying to push the connection that 24-hour patrols had been restored as Scholl vied for reelection.
Following Hogue’s claim of whistleblower retaliation and the city withholding evidence, Steve Toschi, Massey’s opponent in 2024, filed a lawsuit which led to a judicial order to disclosed the previously unreleased information along with the 2,700 page report. This report includes messages between Akin Blitz, city lawyer at the time, and Band, author of the Greenway investigative report. Following the investigation, Band stated in memos that findings “are not indictments” of collusion, and they identified no concrete evidence of collusion between Greenway and Massey to withhold police coverage for political gain. In response to this, Massey is quoted to have said, “For the last 14 months, I have been under this black cloud of this supplemental report that has been made out to be this really comprehensive document that was supposed to show some type of collusions that never existed.”
In a “situation report” from Blitz to Walsh included in the documents, Blitz accuses Massey of the collusion. He said Hogue seemed to just about have the job of Chief when Massey pushed for a six-month probationary period. To this, Massey said the Greenway misconduct motivated her to revamp the city’s administrative procedures.
Blitz had also referenced Hogue’s alleged account that Greenway had told staff within the SHPD that the 24-hour patrol changes were done to “misinform the community and create false public fear… to affect the election.” Blitz wrote that Hogue said there was no staffing crisis, to which Massey has responded, calling it all “ludicrous.” Massey also pointed out that St. Helens is expected to spend $500,000 this year to compensate officers for their overtime work. CCS said they were unable to reach Blitz for a response.
