CONDE TELLS COMMISSIONERS THAT POLICE RUINED CONCERTS

ALBANY - Bill Conde's voice cracked and he fought back tears Wednesday as
he charged that heavy-handed tactics by the Linn County sheriff's office
ruined a Labor Day weekend concert series on his property and are
continuing to hurt his business and his family.

Speaking to the three-member Linn County Board of Commissioners, Conde
charged that Sheriff Dave Burright overstepped the bounds of an agreement
between Conde and the board that allowed the event as long as he met
conditions set out for health, safety, sanitation and law enforcement.

"I put faith in you people that you'd be fair," Conde said. "I don't know
what you people had in mind when you talked about a spirit of cooperation,
but if this is cooperation, man, God forbid that I ever get on your bad side."

Conde, a noted marijuana activist who holds concerts and festivals on his
Harrisburg-area land several times a year, said he lost $50,000 on the
three-day event.

He blamed a heavy police presence that he said scared people away, charging
that deputies were on his land too often, in large numbers, and that roads
leading to his property were full of patrol officers stopping people for
minor violations.

"Was that the spirit of the agreement?" Conde asked the commissioners. "Was
that your intent?"

Only Commissioner John Lindsey answered, saying it wasn't his intent. "But
then again, I'm not the chief law enforcement officer," he said.

Commissioners Dave Schmidt and Catherine Skiens remained silent and
poker-faced.

Burright listened without comment but afterward said Conde was exaggerating
the police presence, using it as an excuse for his problems.

"He had his facts very wrong," Burright said. "He threw a bad party and
people didn't come, and to blame that on the county is absolutely ludicrous."

Burright said Conde is refusing to acknowledge his own failure to uphold
the agreement with the county.

For instance, he said Conde didn't turn over the names of security guards
or show proof of insurance by the time required. More significantly, he
said, Conde and his staff didn't eject concertgoers caught buying, selling
or using drugs.

"I'm sorry he's having a problem," Burright said when he was asked about
Conde's emotional address. "But he also brought it on himself."

Burright said undercover officers saw countless violations of drug laws,
and uniformed officers confiscated small amounts of marijuana from people
using it.

But police made only three arrests during the event. Burright said they
were deliberately taking a "low-key" approach, realizing that police
weren't wanted there and that an arrest that got out of hand could cause
injuries to officers, suspects or bystanders.

Conde said Burright and the county are trampling on his First Amendment
rights to peaceful assembly because they don't like his work to legalize
marijuana. He has pledged to sue the county and Burright personally.

He said his lumber business is still suffering because of a search warrant
that deputies served on his property last year, when they seized his
computers and business records. Deputies found just over an ounce of
marijuana, leading to a felony possession charge against Conde that is
still pending.

Conde said he's decided to send his Belize-born wife and their children
back to her country because they are under too much stress as a result of
his ongoing battle with the county.

Conde's wife, Ruby, attended the hearing with their 5-year-old daughter and
2-year-old son. "It is too much," she said from the back row as her husband
talked about the stress.

Once his family is out of the country, Conde said he plans to launch a
recall drive against Burright. "What he did to me was so outrageous," he
said. "Even the rednecks in the tiny restaurants in Harrisburg can't
believe what he did."

Burright said he has "more faith in the people of this county" than to
worry about a recall.

"He's trying to make this a personal issue," Burright said. "I'm just
enforcing the law."