This time last year, Linfield University asked me if PNW Comedy was interested in producing our comedy shows on campus. I was and I excitedly took them up on their offer. After touring three rooms and confirming with the departments that they were available, I signed a contract at Linfield’s behest. We chose the Vivan Bull Music Center (also called Delkin Recital Hall) because it was a beautiful performance space with everything we needed for a successful show.

Roughly two weeks before showtime, I’m told that we can’t do our shows in the Music Center/Delkin Hall, regardless of the contract Linfield forced me to sign. And instead of moving us to a comparable room at no extra cost, they forced us to choose between a room on campus that was 3X the original cost (ensuring we wouldn’t make money) or a classroom that was smaller than the music hall and wasn’t ADA accessible for performers.

At that point, it is my opinion that Linfield harmed myself and PNW Comedy’s ability to do business in McMinnville. And because of this break in the contract, Linfield also decided certain performers wouldn’t be welcome on campus because they moved us to a space that wasn’t fully ADA-accessible on stage. (I believe Linfield still doesn’t realize the full impact of their decision, even though they were told this was a problem.) But, the show must go on… PNW Comedy had already sold tickets that said Vivan Bull Music Center/Delkin Hall and I had paid promo/marketing out with the same info. So, in short, Linfield put us in a room that wasn’t on a contract.

I decided we weren’t going to do more shows on campus than I had already signed up for because, in my opinion, and experience, Linfield couldn’t be trusted to honor their contracts. And I wanted to just move on. So, after the shows, I emailed them asking who to make the check out to and dropped by the event center more than once over the summer to wrap this up. But, no one was there. In fact, my two contacts at Linfield seemingly no longer worked there.

That’s when, in my opinion, Linfield got aggressive. They reached out to the head of the McMinnville Chamber of Commerce in hopes he’d help harass me into paying. (Instead, Jon Olson pawned it off on the head of the Gallery Theater, Jared Richard, who, at the time, was mad at me for pulling funding from the long-running show I had been booking him on. So, that’s why, in my opinion, he gladly participated in the harassment.)

So, I reached back out to the person Jon/Jared said I should talk with at the Event Center, Beth Garcia. But, instead of talking about the contract, Beth threatened me with the name of someone I didn’t recognize, Michael Wenz. She said “I had talked enough” and said something to the effect that Mr. Wenz was going to “deal” with me. She wouldn’t identify who he was or why she threatened me with this person’s name. In fact, no one would tell me who Michael Wenz was even though he was CC’d on most emails I received from Linfield. But, a quick Google search indicated he was the Registered Agent of Linfield University, their Vice President for Finance and Administration, and their Chief Financial Officer.

Now, I don’t know about you, but the CFO of a multi-milllion dollar organization being used by name, by his staff, to harass and intimate a small, local business into complying with a contract that Linfield didn’t honor seems sus, at best. Especially since the contract amounts to a few hundred dollars. I thought, “This is crazy, I need help.” So I asked for help.

While on campus days later, I ran into the interim Linfield University President Rebecca L. Johnson and told her what was happening. (That I had been threatened by Beth Garcia with the name Michael Wenz and that I was receiving letters from the University saying I wasn’t in contact with them while at the same time talking with them via email and on the phone.) She agreed to “help” look at the issue of the contract and said she’d get back to me; days later, I received a no-trespassing notice from Linfield, while at the same time being asked to come to campus to deal with the contract.

If that wasn’t enough, even after I decided I wasn’t going to fight with Linfield anymore (and to just pay the full amount for a room I didn’t agree to in the contract), they posted an open invoice for PNW Comedy, that looks to be unpaid, on one of their websites… That anyone can see. What’s weird is that Linfield is a multi-million dollar organization and, for some reason, they decided to post this unpaid invoice in what looks to be their online Weebly student store. Which seems, to me, to be harassing in nature, illogical, irresponsible, and well outside the scope of normal business practices.

So, I tried, for weeks, to get a hold of them to let them know what they’re doing online. Because, maybe, just maybe, even though they are tasked with handling millions in student dollars each year, maybe they made a mistake and this wasn’t authorized. I mean, even CFO’s aren’t infallible. But, they seemingly didn’t care, at all. They blocked my number (even though they asked me to call them.) In fact, it took over a month to get in contact with anyone at Linfield to get it taken down. But, the damage was already done.

I thought Linfield University was going to be the savior of my small business when they invited me to produce our PNW Comedy shows on campus after the 3rd Street Pizza/Moonlight Theater Fire. Instead, in my opinion, they harmed me. Over and over and over again for a series of months because they thought, in my opinion, they could get away with intimidating a person or business into complying because they were the ‘big man on campus’, and in McMinnville.

Now, you might be asking, “Why didn’t you go to the news? Why not file a lawsuit?” I did go to the news; more than one place, actually. Basically, they said it was unlikely they’d cover the story. And I don’t want to sue Linfield because, to me, that’s my hometown team. But, I’m afraid I don’t have any recourse other than to possibly sue. Which, unfortunately, means that the McMinnville Chamber of Commerce and the Gallery Theater will likely be involved, too.

-Andrew Brunello
PNW Comedy

PS. I am aware that speaking my truth about this will likely get me sued and will also likely mean the end of my business in Mac. While I’m not okay with that, it is what is. At least I can hold my head high knowing I paid Linfield in full even though they didn’t honor their commitment as a community or business partner.