CORVALLIS GAZETTE TIMES NEWSPAPER ARTICLES
7/17/08
Vencills improving after accident
Benefit concert planned for Philomath public works director, wife
Philomath Mayor Chris Nusbaum said he gets asked about Beau Vencill every day, including when he was riding in a car waving to the crowd in Saturday’s Main Street Parade during the Philomath Frolic & Rodeo. He understood why.
Residents are wondering and worried about the health of the city’s popular public works director. “He’s liked by his men. He’s liked by the businesses. He’s liked by the town,”
Vencill and his wife, Sally Vencill, were injured in a car crash off Highway 99W shortly before midnight on May 19, and they’ve been hospitalized in Portland from burns and broken bones ever since. Beau Vencill is in serious condition at Legacy Emanuel Hospital, and Sally Vencill is in fair condition is at Rehabilitation Institute of Oregon at Legacy Good Samaritan Hospital in Portland.
According to a family blog, Beau Vencill is unable to see. He has a spinal cord injury. He is often hooked up to a ventilator and sedated. He suffered a heart attack while hospitalized and had problems with pneumonia. Despite all of that, he is getting stronger.
“He’s a fighter, and has proven that time and time again throughout this whole situation. I hope that he continues to surprise everyone,” wrote son Michael Vencill, a city public works employee, on the Web site CaringBridge.
On July 6, he wrote that his mother no longer needed any feeding or intravenous tubes, and was starting into the rehabilitation phase of her recovery. At that time, he noted: “Right now, she’s struggling with the emotional side of this whole ordeal and is very scared of an uncertain future in terms of how she’ll function and what life will be like for a while. Most, she is very worried about dad and like the rest of us, is hoping that things keep getting better.” However, a July 15 blog said Sally Vencill needed to have surgery to remove her thyroid gland.
Vencill planned to retire in July, but he never turned in his resignation letter. Nusbaum said he’s received many inquiries about the Vencills’ medical expenses, and he wanted to be clear: Vencill had accrued enough vacation and sick time to cover his absence at full salary at least until the end of the year.
Nusbaum said the city is standing by Vencill. “Beau Vencill still is our public works director. … He has not conveyed to us what he wants to do, and until we hear from Beau, any course of action is premature at this time,” he said on Tuesday. “We want him to focus on nothing but healing.”
Nusbaum said Vencill was a calm and collected professional, even during controversy regarding the couplet, an $11 million highway project that created heated debate — as well as two main thoroughfares in town.
But while he oversaw multimillion-dollar infrastructure projects, Vencill also made sure that any residents’ complaints about sewer and water were handled quickly, usually with some sort of response the same day, Nusbaum said. “I’d hate to see him retire.”
Collection jars have been set up at several Philomath businesses to help pay for gas so sons Michael and Colin Vencill can visit their parents in Portland. A benefit concert also is set for Aug. 3 at Tyee Wine Cellars.
For more information about the Vencills’ recovery, see http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/sallyvencill.
Benefit concert
Music for Beau and Sally: Jay Howlett, DonnaLynn, Cold Snap, Dan Bottom and Katie Boula, Jeff Cochell and Roland Woodcock, 1 to 5 p.m. Aug. 3, Tyee Wine Cellars, 26335 Greenberry Road, Corvallis. Event features wine tasting, silent auction, food and drink. Admission: $10. Information: .www.tyeewine.com
7/3/08
Editorial: Accident puts Philomath in sad quandary (July 3)
Philomath City Public Works Director Beau Vencill did not deserve the turn of outrageous fortune now facing him, his wife, Sally, and their family. If all had gone as planned, the Vencills might this weekend be combining a Fourth of July celebration with a retirement party. That’s what Beau Vencill wanted; it’s what he’d planned.
However, the couple instead remains at intensive care units in Portland hospitals, fighting for their lives after being critically injured in a fiery May 19 single-vehicle crash. Their grown sons — and Philomath city colleagues where Vencill served for 26 years — are understandably worried.
Vencill, as we reported, had announced his intentions to retire July 1 as director of Philomath’s largest city department, a post he’d held for the past 14 years of his city career. But he hadn’t filed the paperwork at the time of the accident, so he remains a city employee — and the city is sticking by him.
We learned in reporting the story that whether or not he filed those retirement papers, the extent of the injuries the Vencills sustained in the crash likely would have exhausted medical care after almost two months. Estimates vary, but a conservative cost for care in an ICU burn unit is thousands of dollars a day. Round-the-clock care for multiple broken bones, internal injuries and burns quickly consumes insurance coverage. That’s just the reality of our medical system.
But the glimmer of good out of this solemn and uncertain situation is that as Philomath residents learn of the Vencills’ situation, they are turning their concerns into action. They’re supporting the man who has been in charge of keeping their water flowing (and free of contamination) and their streets repaired for 26 years.
Not only are collection jars appearing in Philomath, but several fundraising events are in the planning stages. We’ll provide the details as they take shape.
It would be wrong, however, to give the impression that a community’s support will be enough. The accident, which police have attributed to fatigue, was horrific. And it needs to be said again: Police do not suspect alcohol was a factor.
We don’t envy the delicate course that officials in Philomath will need to tread between responsiblity and compassion in the coming months.
At some point, Philomath will have to make plans to permanently hire someone to assume the important job that Vencill held so long and so ably. By then, we hope that they’ll have the benefit of Vencill’s counsel to help them.
7/2/08
City official employed while in hospital
Philomath worker’s resignation was pending before May accident
PHILOMATH — City Public Works Director Beau Vencill planned to retire in July, but he never turned in his resignation.
And that means he could retain his position until the end of the year, even as he remains hospitalized with burns and broken bones from a May car crash that also seriously injured his wife.
Joan Swanson, city of Philomath finance director, said Vencill had accrued months of vacation and sick time. He had worked for the city for 26 years, including 14 as its public-works director.
“Since we never received a formal letter announcing his retirement date, he’s still considered the public works director for the city and will remain as such,” said City Manager Randy Kugler. “We have not been able to have any communication with him on this.”
Vencill is in serious condition in the intensive care unit at Legacy Emanuel Hospital in Portland. Kugler said Vencill was heavily sedated and the hospital wasn’t allowing visitors other than family.
His wife, Sally Vencill, is in serious condition at the Oregon Burn Center, on the campus of Legacy Emanuel.
Because Vencill still is officially on the job, he will be able to continue maximizing his employee health benefits, as well as receive his salary of $5,602 per month. Had he retired, he wouldn’t have been eligible for medical benefits from the city. Philomath doesn’t keep medical records and billings for its employees, so no tally of his bill to date was available. However, a day’s stay in any Intensive Care Unit typically costs thousands of dollars.
“We’re just hoping he gets well,” Swanson said. “It’s a tragedy. … They have a lot of friends in the community.”
Shortly before midnight on May 19, the couple was severely injured when their vehicle struck a power pole off Highway 99W south of Corvallis. Their pickup caught fire.
Oregon State Police Senior Trooper Huff Meyr said that fatigue was the factor that most likely contributed to the crash. The Vencills were returning from a trip to visit family.
“Nothing in the investigation has led us to believe alcohol would be a factor,” he said.
Philomath isn’t recruiting a successor for its public-works director, and operations supervisor Kevin Fear is filling in while Vencill is incapacitated. The department employs 11 of the city’s 25 full-time workers.
“We’re just going to have to drop things down a notch and make do this summer,” Kugler said.
Donation jars have been set up around Philomath to help the Vencills’ two sons with traveling expenses. Michael Vencill works as a utility maintenance worker for the city. Son Colin Vencill just graduated from Oregon State University.
“With gas prices the way they are ... ,” said Peggy Clark, a Pioneer Telephone service representative, who knew Beau Vencill through work.
5/23/08
Crash victims still in the hospital
The condition of two people from Philomath injured Monday night when their car hit a power pole and caught fire has not changed.
Sally Vencill was still listed in critical condition at Legacy Emanuel Hospital’s Burn Center, a hospital spokesman said Thursday. Her husband, Beau Vencill, who is the city of Philomath’s public works director, was listed in serious condition in Legacy Emanuel’s general ward.
The Vencills were involved in a collision with a power pole on Highway 99W, just south of Airport Road, a few minutes before midnight on Monday. Their vehicle caught fire with the two inside the car. The Corvallis Fire Department extracted the two and took both to Portland by ambulance.
Philomath City Manager Randy Kugler received word of the accident Tuesday morning from the Vencills’ son, who said both Beau and Sally Vencill had broken bones and severe burns.
Benton County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Lt. Greg Ridler said deputy David Peterson will be out of commission for a while with a broken ankle. Peterson was running toward the Vencills’ vehicle, which had came to rest in a ditch, and apparently slipped.
The Oregon State Police also responded and is in charge of the accident investigation, Ridler said.
5/21/08
Crash sparks car fire, injuries
Philomath official Vencill struck power pole near Airport Road
Two people were transported to a Portland hospital with severe injuries after their vehicle struck a power pole along Highway 99W and caught fire late Monday night.
A responding Benton County deputy broke his ankle at the scene while attempting to reach the crash victims, officials said.
Beau and Sally Vencill of Philomath were in a vehicle that struck a power pole along Highway 99W near Airport Road south of Corvallis after failing to navigate a curve in the highway a few minutes before midnight on Monday, Benton County Sheriff’s spokesman Lt. Gregg Ridler said.
Their vehicle caught fire off the road with the two inside the car. The Corvallis Fire Department extracted the two and took both to Portland by ambulance.
Beau Vencill is the public works director for the City of Philomath.
Sally Vencill is in critical condition at the Legacy Emanuel Hospital Burn Center. Beau Vencill is listed in serious condition at Legacy Emanuel’s general ward, a Legacy hospital system spokeswoman said.
Philomath City Manager Randy Kugler received word of the accident Tuesday morning from the Vencills’ son, who said both Beau and Sally Vencill had broken bones and severe burns.
“This is shocking news to friends and family,” Kugler said. “(Beau) has worked here for 26 years and was getting ready to retire next month. Those are a lot of years to gather a lot of friends that care about he and his family.”
Ridler said sheriff’s deputy David Peterson will be out of commission for a while with a broken ankle. Peterson was running toward the vehicle, which had came to rest in a ditch, and apparently slipped.
The Oregon State Police also responded and is in charge of the accident investigation, Ridler said.