Brookings resident urges apology from Commissioner Hollinger over repeated accusations

Georgia Cockerham, a Curry County resident from Brookings, used the meeting’s public comment period to accuse Commissioner Hollinger of repeatedly making false and damaging accusations against Sheriff John Ward, sheriff’s office staff and other citizens.

Cockerham reviewed a series of incidents she said occurred across recent board meetings, including a June 4 meeting in which a letter from the Oregon State Sheriffs Association about recording a private meeting was discussed. She said Commissioner Hollinger incorrectly accused the sheriff of authoring that letter and later publicly accused a sheriff’s office marine deputy of filing fraudulent reports at an April 14 meeting. Cockerham said those allegations were false and urged Hollinger to publicly apologize to Sheriff Ward, the deputy and county residents.

“I want to know: do they [commissioners] rectify their mistakes? Or is their continuous claim of being accountable simply more deceptive rhetoric?” Cockerham asked, and she called the board’s failure to challenge the allegations “dangerous for Curry County citizens.”

Following the public comment, commissioners briefly responded: one commissioner thanked Cockerham for speaking, another said they did not believe they had said anything false and noted that entities at hand would handle the matter.

The remarks were delivered during the public comment portion of the July 2 meeting; the board did not take formal action on the allegations during the session.