Douglas County Commissioner Joe Laurance is the target of a recall drive that accuses the second-term commissioner of impersonating a sheriff's deputy and using profanity when addressing county employees and members of the public.

The chief petitioner, Terry McVay of Green, began collecting signatures Wednesday afternoon outside the Roseburg post office. He said he collected 50 signatures in a few hours.

He has until April 30 to collect 6,500 signatures to force a recall election.

McVay said he was disturbed by a Dec. 19 traffic incident between Laurance and former county employee Gene Hall in Roseburg. Because of Laurance's position, the matter was referred to the Jackson County District Attorney's Office, which is reviewing Hall's complaint that Laurance intimidated him and tried to pass himself off as a sheriff's deputy.

McVay called Laurance a “bully,” and his petition claims Laurance “repeatedly and wantonly used profanity” in speaking with county employees and the public.

McVay, however, could not cite any other cases in which Laurance purportedly used profanity other than the allegations made by Hall, a former supervisor in the county juvenile department who is suing the county over his termination in 2003.

Laurance said Wednesday that he believes he will be exonerated and that the recall effort will fail.

“I think that when the decision from the district attorney from Jackson County is made, this will become a nonissue,” Laurance said.

Hall declined to comment today.

McVay, a retired truck driver and truck driving instructor at Umpqua Community College, said he believes he will tap dissatisfaction with Laurance's conduct over his encounter with Hall.

“I don't think we're going to have any trouble getting the 6,500 signatures,” he said. He said his group plans to collect about 8,000 signatures to provide enough cushion for some signatures that may be rejected because the signers weren't registered or they signed more than one petition.

If enough signatures are gathered, the recall election would cost an estimated $40,000 to $45,000, with the cost paid by the county, County Clerk Patty Hitt said.

McVay said he and a group of eight volunteers plan to collect signatures daily outside the Roseburg, Winchester and Sutherlin post offices and outside Bi-Mart in Sutherlin. Among those helping Wednesday was Herm Oberholzer, a retired business owner and the recall group's treasurer.

According to Roseburg police, Hall reported the Dec. 19 confrontation with Laurance three days later.

Hall claimed that Laurance, driving a county-owned Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor, drifted into his lane and then motioned for him to pull over. Laurance said he drifted as he reached for an umbrella that fell to floor. He said he was motioning for Hall to “move on.”

Both men stopped and got out of their vehicles. Hall claimed Laurance tried to intimidate him physically and by showing a special badge issued by the sheriff's office to authorize him to get around roadblocks in an emergency.

Hall's unresolved lawsuit against the county alleges he was physically abused and subjected to a hostile work environment.

Hall brought up his lawsuit when he reported the confrontation to an officer, saying he was considering telling the story to the newspaper or including it as information in his lawsuit, according to a Roseburg police report.

Roseburg police concluded no crime occurred, but forwarded a report to the city attorney's office for review.

• You can reach reporter John Sowell at 541-957-4209 or by email at jsowell@nrtoday.com.