Alfalfa Fire Budget Committee member files ethics complaint over unpaid church use fees by former board president

Alfalfa, Ore. — Newly obtained financial records from the Alfalfa Fire District spanning 2023 through 2025 are raising additional questions about former board president Nathan “Nate” Starr, including thousands of dollars in apparently unpaid facility usage fees involving a legally dissolved church and allegations that former chief Chad LaVallee used district funds to buy meals for Starr and other board members on a recurring basis.

The concerns have now prompted a formal complaint to the Oregon Government Ethics Commission (OGEC) by Alfalfa Fire District’s Budget Committee member Sarah Linden, who independently obtained financial records after appealing an earlier records request to the Deschutes County District Attorney’s Office.

Linden alleges that Starr’s use of district facilities for private church services may have deprived the district of thousands of dollars in revenue, despite his previous public claims that he paid for the facility’s use.

The Prineville Review has also been obtaining more banking records in recent days.

An attorney for the Alfalfa Fire District has provided additional records to the Prineville Review’s attorney recently in connection with ongoing litigation filed by this publication in Deschutes County Circuit Court.

However, the records remain incomplete and failed to provide long-awaited details concerning checks reportedly issued by LaVallee, Starr, and other board members, often without complying with district bylaws requiring two signatures on all check payments. The versions provided are similar to earlier versions given in response to a separate request for the 2026 records that do not show check images, and we continue to seek the full bank records that show which officials were behind authorizing and signing specific checks and who those checks were made out to.

Bank records from 2026, obtained by the Prineville Review through a separate public records request, provided further evidence confirming a practice of issuing checks without the required dual signatures, including by LaVallee and Starr

Among the findings is an apparent absence of payments from Starr or the Alfalfa Community Church for use of district facilities, despite Starr’s public statements that the church was holding Sunday services at the fire station and that he was paying the district’s $25 usage fee.

Ethics complaint & records petition with District Attorney Steve Gunnels

Linden, who independently sought to examine the district’s financial records as a member of the district’s budget committee, said her efforts to obtain the information were initially met with resistance, ultimately requiring her to file a public records appeal petition with the Deschutes County District Attorney’s Office before receiving the requested records.

“I feel that I have a duty as a member on the budget committee to find answers for the taxpayers of my community,” Linden told the Prineville Review, explaining her decision to file a formal ethics complaint against Starr.

Linden said she initially requested financial records from the district in September 2026 but encountered what she described as obstruction from then-acting board chair Mark Laucks, who had identified himself as the official responsible for fulfilling her request.

“I was met with obstruction from Mr. Laucks despite him identifying himself as the board member who would be fulfilling my request. After filing a public records request appeal with the DA, I was provided with my requested information.

She ultimately obtained the records after appealing to the Deschutes County District Attorney’s Office. She said she had been seeking records tied to the district bank accounts and QuickBooks accounting records.

“Upon looking through the financial records, it does not appear to me that Mr. Starr made weekly and/or monthly payments for his church services, as he has previously stated,” Linden said.

Based on the district’s established $25 facility-use fee and an estimated 42 to 48 church services annually, Linden calculated that Starr should have paid approximately $1,050 to $1,200 per year.

Over five years alone, that would represent at least $5,000 in potentially uncollected revenue, assuming the services occurred as estimated and the fees were owed.

The complaint raises additional questions about whether Starr avoided a financial detriment through his position as board president, particularly given his role in overseeing the same district whose facilities were being used for his private church services.

Church relocated from community hall during COVID

According to Starr’s own public statements, the arrangement began early in the COVID-19 pandemic, when the church stopped holding services at the Alfalfa Community Hall and relocated to the fire station.

Sources formally involved with the community hall said they charged about four times the fire district’s $25 usage fee, or about $100 per gathering.

The move would have reduced the church’s facility expenses by approximately 75%, assuming the district’s fee was actually paid. However, the absence of identifiable payments in the district’s bank records from 2023 through 2026 raises questions about whether Starr or the church paid anything for the continued use of the publicly owned facility.

The Alfalfa Community Church, originally incorporated in September 1983, was administratively dissolved by the Oregon Secretary of State in November 2024 after Starr stopped filing the annual reports, according to state registration records.

Despite its dissolved corporate status, the church has continued holding Sunday services at the fire station until approximately May or June 2026.

Posts on Nextdoor and other social media sites showed others who reportedly attended the Church providing information to others locally as recently as this year, identifying that the services were taking place at the fire station.

Starr publicly identified himself as the church’s pastor while simultaneously serving on the fire district’s governing board.

Oregon Secretary of State records further establish Starr’s direct involvement in the church’s corporate affairs.

A September 16th, 2021, annual report, personally signed and submitted by Starr, changed the nonprofit’s reported president from Alan Yankus to Starr and its secretary from Maria Yankus to Joe Merrill.

The filing identified the organization as a domestic nonprofit religious corporation with members.

Although the filing established Starr and Merrill as the organization’s reported officers, it did not identify any additional directors or provide insight into the composition of the church’s governing board. Other publicly available filings reviewed by the Prineville Review similarly did not establish who else, if anyone, served on that board.

Starr’s documented leadership of the church while simultaneously serving as an elected director of the fire district raises questions about how the church’s use of public facilities was authorized, whether any conflicts of interest were disclosed, and whether Starr received preferential treatment because of his position on the board.

Under Oregon law, elected officials must publicly disclose the nature of any actual or potential conflict of interest before taking official action on a matter. Such disclosures must be made during a public meeting and documented in the public body’s official records. None of the district’s meeting minutes reviewed by the Prineville Review contain any such disclosure.

Numerous meeting minutes, including those requested for 2021 and 2022, remain missing despite statements by the district’s legal counsel that the minutes were provided.

Following disclosure of a potential conflict, an official may generally continue participating in discussions, deliberations and votes concerning the matter. However, an actual conflict of interest generally requires the official to refrain from participating in discussions, debates or votes, subject to narrowly defined statutory exceptions under ORS 244.120, according to material from the Oregon Government Ethics Commission and a public meetings guide from the Oregon Department of Justice.

OGEC also maintains a quick-reference guide on conflict-of-interest issues for public and elected officials.

Starr also approved the regular bank statements and financial reports that appear to omit any record of payments from him or the church.

Records show no identifiable payments

On May 13th, immediately following a budget committee meeting, Starr responded to questions from the Prineville Review by acknowledging that the church continued to hold meetings at the facility and asserting that he paid the required $25 fee for each use.

However, a review of the newly obtained bank records from 2023 through 2025 did not identify any corresponding payments from Starr or the church to the district. Earlier 2026 records reviewed also did not appear to show any such payments.

Records from before 2023 have not been provided by the district as part of a previous request for records submitted by the Prineville Review. We could not review whether any evidence of those payments existed in those preceding years.

The Prineville Review has examined records from all three bank accounts the district has identified, with district officials maintaining that no additional accounts exist.

Starr stated between two meetings held on May 13th, 2026, that he would work to provide information and records to confirm the payments amid questions about the report, but to date has not provided any such records.

Starr, who resigned from the district’s governing board at the end of the meeting on May 13th, had served as an elected board member throughout the period in which the church reportedly used the facility.

In addition to its primary operating account, the district established one account to hold tax funds associated with refunds owed to Juniper Acres property owners who were improperly taxed, while another held funds associated with an Oregon State Fire Marshal grant.

None of the reviewed records from those accounts identified payments from Starr or the church for facility usage. Although the possibility of payments made through undocumented means cannot be entirely excluded, the district’s representations concerning its bank accounts and the absence of identifiable deposits raise further questions about Starr’s public assertion that he regularly paid the required fees.

The findings also raise questions about whether the district collected fees required under its facility usage policy and whether Starr received preferential treatment because of his position on the board.

Legal questions over thousands in unpaid facility fees

Starr reportedly stopped holding church services at the station around May or June 2026, approximately the same period he resigned from the district’s governing board amid growing controversy.

That estimate assumes regular Sunday services from approximately November 2022 until May or June 2026, with some allowance for missed gatherings. The precise amount would depend on the number of services actually held, whether the fee applied to each gathering, and whether any payments or authorized exemptions existed.

The arrangement raises potential concerns under ORS 244.040, which generally prohibits public officials from using their official positions to obtain certain financial benefits or avoid financial detriments for themselves, a private business, or organizations they are members of that would not otherwise be available.

The commission generally cannot investigate alleged violations occurring more than four years before a complaint is filed or the commission initiates proceedings. However, any qualifying conduct continuing into the more recent period could potentially remain subject to review, even if the original arrangement began in 2020 or 2021.

Whether the arrangement constituted a violation of Oregon ethics law would depend on whether Starr used his official position to obtain or facilitate a prohibited financial benefit or avoid a financial detriment, rather than merely participating in an arrangement available to other community organizations.

Separately, the fire district may have grounds to pursue collection of unpaid facility fees, depending on the underlying agreement and applicable legal limitations.

Oregon law generally establishes a six-year limitations period for actions arising from express or implied contracts under ORS 12.080. If applicable, that could potentially permit the district to seek action to collect what could be thousands in unpaid usage fees.

If the church began using the facility in early 2020 and continued holding weekly services through May 2026, the theoretical value of those gatherings could exceed $6,000.

District-funded meals raise additional ethics questions

Separate concerns involve meals and other benefits Starr reportedly received while serving on the district’s governing board.

A source familiar with the expenditures, who was granted anonymity for fear of retribution by LaVallee and Starr, told the Prineville Review that Starr attended numerous dinners and other meals paid for by former Fire Chief Chad LaVallee using district funds, and that Starr knew the district was covering the expenses.

The full value of meals and other benefits Starr may have received is not fully, and the available records do not consistently identify individual attendees, although we continue to seek additional banking and financial records.

However, a previously documented district credit card expenditure of $565.87 at Okawa, a Japanese restaurant in Bend, was among the transactions identified in the publication’s earlier investigation into LaVallee’s spending.

A former district firefighter familiar with the expenditure, who was also present at the dinner, confirmed that Starr was among those in attendance.

The reported practice raises questions about the public purpose of the expenditures, whether they were authorized under district policy, and whether any benefits received by Starr were subject to Oregon’s restrictions on gifts to public officials.

Oregon ethics law places restrictions on certain gifts received by public officials from sources with a legislative or administrative interest in their official decisions. Whether individual meals constituted prohibited gifts would depend on the circumstances, including the source of the benefit, its value, applicable exceptions, and Starr’s official responsibilities.

The allegations also raise broader questions about oversight of district spending during LaVallee’s tenure as chief, particularly given growing concerns surrounding the district’s use of public funds for travel, lodging and other expenses.

Growing scrutiny of district financial oversight & continued legal threats by former fire chief

The findings add to a widening examination of the Alfalfa Fire District’s financial practices and governance during LaVallee’s tenure as chief and Starr’s service on the board.

Our recent reporting identified district credit card expenditures by former Chief Chad LaVallee involving Las Vegas trips, vacation packages, and family travel, prompting further questions about the authorization and public purpose of those purchases.

During public meetings, board members were observed approving financial reports that included payments toward district credit card accounts, reportedly without publicly reviewing the underlying itemized statements, which LaVallee avoided providing during those meetings for years.

LaVallee has again threatened legal action against the Prineville Review over its reporting, continuing a pattern of similar threats directed at the publication, this reporter, former district officials, and other local critics and residents of Alfalfa over the last year and more recently.

In a November 6th email, LaVallee demanded a “full retraction” of allegations concerning his fire service history and district credit card expenditures, questioning whether the “nature, purpose, and circumstances” of those charges had been “adequately verified.”

He also maintained that the expenditures, including travel involving his minor son, were authorized by the district’s board of directors. However, LaVallee provided no documentation substantiating those claims, evidence contradicting the board meeting minutes cited in the reporting, or information resolving the questions raised about the nature and legitimacy of the expenditures.

LaVallee also demanded the removal of his minor son’s name and identifying information from the publication’s reporting, writing, “I specifically request removal of my minor child’s name and other identifying information from articles, captions, social media posts, and other materials under your or your publication’s control.”

He further questioned the editorial justification for identifying his son and how the potential harm was weighed against the public interest.

The Prineville Review disputes any suggestion that LaVallee’s parental consent was legally required to accurately report information contained in publicly released government financial records. His son’s full name appeared in district credit card records documenting airfare purchased using public funds.

LaVallee himself has also previously permitted photographs of his son to appear publicly on social media, including images depicting him wearing firefighting uniforms and equipment. Years earlier, the district also publicly shared a GoFundMe fundraising campaign concerning his child.

Additionally, numerous community members and former district firefighters have alleged that LaVallee’s son was frequently present at emergency scenes and rode in district emergency vehicles during responses to fires and other service calls. Those accounts raise separate questions about the circumstances under which a minor accompanied district personnel during emergency operations, although the specific allegations have not been independently established.

The Prineville Review is continuing to seek records and responses from the district and relevant parties concerning these expenditures and the apparent absence of facility usage payments.

Starr could not be reached for comment prior to publication, as contact information provided by Starr in state and federal legal filings was for another individual who had claimed he was assisting Starr with his legal filings (although he was not an attorney). The same individual has claimed Starr provided his information in the legal filings due to safety fears.

Editor's note: The Prineville Review and this editor are plaintiffs in ongoing litigation in both state and federal court against the Alfalfa Fire District and several current and former officials, including Starr and LaVallee. The federal litigation concerns alleged violations of constitutional rights arising from restrictions on public meeting access and newsgathering, with another state complaint tied to public records compliance.