It’s not the first time the topic has come up in city conversations — visible identification on Philomath Police vehicles.
Several months ago, then-Councilor Christopher McMorran challenged Police Chief Ken Rueben on the dark logos that appeared on the department’s black police vehicles.
The chief had told McMorran that the logo-lettering issue came down to cost.
McMorran is now the mayor and Rueben retired but the issue still pops up from time to time in casual conversations during City Council meetings.
This past spring when Councilor Jessica Andrade brought up the lettering on police cars, McMorran said, “I still don’t like it but I feel like I’ve brought it up enough and no one else seems to care.”
There were a few laughs and McMorran said, “I have learned to pick my battles.”
The topic came up again at this past Monday’s meeting with Andrade revisiting police vehicle visibility while councilors were going through a first-quarter strategic plan report. Again, the conversation was light but McMorran did reiterate that he questioned the former police chief’s explanation for the logos and lettering.
So, in an effort to get to the bottom of all this, I called the current police chief, Dave Gurski, to see what he has to say about the logos and lettering.
“Actually, they’re reflective material that we have — there’s a company that does them for us,” Gurski said via phone call on Tuesday. “Van Dyke’s sign company actually designed those logos for us and at one point, we were looking at going with black-and-white cars.”
Gurski did mention that there were costs associated with different paint schemes, such as painting the doors white on the standard black vehicles.
“We opted to go with the black cars,” Gurski said. “Those logos at night are reflective and so actually, it’s kind of an added safety feature. But they do appear to be a little more subdued during the daytime.”
Gurski went on to say that the police department has actually received numerous compliments from the public about the logo and design of the cars.
“I think this is the first time we’ve had an all-matching fleet since I’ve been here — that’s almost 22 years now,” he added.
Andrade didn’t say much about the logos and lettering but did have questions about the apparent use of an unmarked vehicle — something she had noticed around town.
“I’ve got two of them,” Gurski said. “One of them is an admin car. It doesn’t have any lights or emergency equipment and that one — it’s kind of a utility vehicle. In fact, the employees at City Hall will take it to training if they have to travel. If our officers are going out of town for training, they’ll take that vehicle as well.”
The car Gurski is referring to is a red sedan — City Manager Chris Workman did bring that one up during the meeting. But as the chief said, it’s not a patrol car and strictly an administrative vehicle.
As for the other unmarked vehicle, yes, Andrade appears to have been correct. Philomath Police does have one in its patrol fleet.
“Our supervisor rig has never been marked — it’s always been an unmarked car,” Gurski said. “Previously, when I was a lieutenant and a sergeant, it was kind of champagne-colored Chevy Tahoe and then prior to that, my K-9 vehicle was unmarked as well.”
The department’s sergeants share the unmarked SUV, which is an all-black Ford Explorer with exempt plates and is among those used for everyday patrol duties.
“It’s got the spotlight and all of the emergency equipment in it and it’s got a cage in it for prisoners,” Gurski said. “It’s set up just like a normal patrol car.”
Fully-marked vehicles include two Ford Explorers and two Dodge Chargers. The Dodge Chargers have a little bit of a lower profile without the traditional roof-mounted lights. Instead, the vehicles have lights integrated into the windshield-headliner area, Gurski said. So, the cars look a little bit more like regular civilian vehicles.
“You’ve got folks that are speeding and looking out for marked patrol rigs,” Gurski said. “There are times when you want to be less visible.”
In other words, it’s about traffic enforcement effectiveness as the police try to cut down on the number of aggressive drivers.
You could say Philomath has a third unmarked vehicle. Gurski’s Ford F-150 that he uses for day-to-day business has emergency equipment for occasions when he needs to respond to a call but that’s infrequent, he said, and it’s not used for traffic enforcement.
Gurski added that the use of unmarked vehicles is the norm in law enforcement.
“It’s very common for Oregon State Police, Marion County Sheriff’s Office and other agencies in Oregon to utilize unmarked vehicles for working traffic,” Gurski said. “That’s not an uncommon thing at all.”
2. Citizens’ Academy graduates
The Philomath Citizens’ Academy wrapped up one of its most successful years since the program launched in 2017, City Manager Chris Workman reported.
The free nine-week educational series, which ran Thursdays from Sept. 4 through Oct. 30, drew 35 participants across its nine sessions covering topics ranging from police and fire services to budget planning, schools, library operations and city infrastructure.
What made this year different? Flexibility.
Rather than requiring participants to commit to all nine weeks upfront, organizers adopted a drop-in approach that allowed residents to attend whichever sessions interested them most. The strategy paid off, with 12 people attending at least seven of the nine sessions.
“What we’ve seen in years past is we start the cohort with maybe 12 or 15 people signed up and committed to do all eight sessions (one fewer back then), and then they’ll make it to the first one and make a second and then maybe miss the third and then the fourth and a few people just drop off,” Workman said. “By the end of the sessions, we’re down to six or seven people showing up.”
The public works session proved particularly popular, drawing one of the largest crowds as Director Kevin Fear and Operations Supervisor Garry Black walked attendees through the city’s treatment plant and upcoming water plant improvements.
Workman said he’s pleased not just with the numbers, but with the program’s core mission — giving residents a better understanding of how their local government works. And maybe the city will pick up a few more volunteers to fill vacancies on various committees.
Here is the list of those who qualified for certificates of completion: Dominick Delgadillo, Yasha Duggal, Mark Files, Helen Forrestal, Amanda Polley, James Rodell, Alberto Safra, Alba Sederlin, Jane Sherwood, Kemble Tsoi, Sara Wiger and Lindy Young.
Plan on seeing the Citizens’ Academy return in 2026, same format, same time of year.
3. Good food has its place at state
Philomath High’s volleyball team had a rough start Friday at the Class 4A state tournament in Coos Bay. Cascade had the upper hand in a four-set victory and the Warriors will try to rebound Saturday for a strong finish in the consolation bracket.
During postmatch interviews, I stumbled across something that senior Isabelle Muir mentioned — food.
“We were up at like 6:30 making breakfast … we made a big breakfast,” she told me.
Senior Taylor Hudson was next on my interview list.
“I think we’re going to have a really good dinner, so that will put us in a whole new mindset,” she said when I asked how she thought the team would approach Saturday’s 9 a.m. match.
“We love food,” Hudson added. “We’re all foodies.”
Another senior, Avery Smith, provided details on this awesome breakfast.
“They made pancakes and waffles and had breakfast burrito stuff,” Smith said. “Yesterday, they gave us burgers for dinner.”
If you’re wondering, the team is staying in a rental house for the appearance at state.
“Yes, they are very excited about the food situation here and that we have a food sponsor,” PHS coach Whitney Thomas said. “Now they’re off to lunch and then tonight, we have a sponsored team dinner.”
Yes, the tournament has sponsors that provide meals for the participating teams. But don’t get the idea that the players are just sitting around pigging out and not getting ready for their matches. They just love food and the camaraderie that goes along with it.
It’s all part of the team unity that you see with this squad. Apparently, there were no midnight snacks either.
“They were in bed at 8:45 and I’m not kidding,” Thomas said about the night before the Cascade match. “That’s just them.”
(Brad Fuqua is publisher/editor of the Philomath News. He can be reached at News@PhilomathNews.com).
