Elgin Mayor’s legal counsel responds to multi-million-dollar lawsuit by former admin
By Garrett Christensen on Tuesday, April 21st, 2026 in More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News
ELGIN – On April 2nd, 2026, Elkhorn Media Group published an article covering a lawsuit filed by former Elgin City Administrator Brock Eckstein and former Elgin Municipal Judge Laura Eckstein against the City of Elgin, current Elgin Administrator Alex McHaddad, and Elgin Mayor Stanley James Johnson, with the plaintiffs currently seeking three million dollars in damages.
The majority of information in this article, including documentation, was provided by Managing Attorney Ryan Adams with Fir Law Group (representing Brock and Laura Eckstein), with both Johnson and McHaddad respectfully declining to comment at the time. Elkhorn Media Group was unable to reach City of Elgin Legal Counsel Román D. Hernández with Cable Huston LLP for comment at the time.
Following the initial publication of information provided by Fir Law Group, Personal Counsel for Mayor Johnson, Daniel Zene Crowe, issued a formal statement addressing the lawsuit and disputing the claims made by the plaintiffs and prosecution. The full statement from Crowe (originally issued on Friday, April 17, 2026) is as follows:
(Release issued from Danile Zene Crowe)
MAYOR JOHNSON STANDS FIRM AGAINST FRIVOLOUS RETALIATORY LAWSUIT BY FORMER CITY ADMINISTRATOR
ELGIN, OR — Today, legal counsel for Elgin Mayor S. James Johnson responded to a baseless, multi-million-dollar lawsuit filed by former Elgin City Administrator Brock Eckstein. The lawsuit is a transparent attempt to distract the public from a legitimate, necessary forensic audit into Mr. Eckstein’s highly unusual expenditure of taxpayer dollars.
During his tenure, Mr. Eckstein negotiated a contract granting himself a $15,000-per-year public stipend for personal “stress relieving activities.” When Mayor Johnson and the City of Elgin initiated a standard financial audit to ensure these taxpayer funds were not being misappropriated on personal Amazon purchases, Mr. Eckstein responded not with transparency, but with a retaliatory, politically motivated lawsuit designed to chill public oversight.
“Mayor Johnson’s highest duty is to the citizens of Elgin, and he will not be intimidated by a disgruntled former employee attempting to use the court system as a smokescreen,” said Daniel Zene Crowe, Personal Counsel for Mayor Johnson. “This lawsuit is a classic SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) action. Counsel is aggressively moving to strike these claims under Oregon law and will seek full recovery of all attorney fees.”
Mayor Johnson remains fully committed to complete transparency regarding the City’s finances and will continue to protect Elgin’s treasury from any improper expenditures. He works for the people of the community in which he grew up and where he still lives along with his wife, Khirenda, and their children.
We look forward to the rapid dismissal of this frivolous complaint.
****
Author’s Note: the original article can be found here: https://elkhornmediagroup.com/former-elgin-city-admin-launches-three-million-dollar-lawsuit-against-mayor-and-current-admin/
