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Chuck Sides has been sued 20 times in the past three years. Many of the lawsuits alleged that he defaulted on loans.

Lawsuits are part of the game for a big developer, Sides said.

鈥淎s a risk taker, you take risks,鈥� he said.

City officials in Keizer understand risk. They formed a local improvement district with other local taxing entities and trusted Sides to reimburse the district $9 million.

Their trust proved justified 鈥� for the most part.

With fewer than 24 hours to spare, Sides on Monday paid the city $627,000 to keep officials from foreclosing on two of his properties. He failed, however, to pay on a third property. That one went to foreclosure as scheduled on Tuesday and was sold at auction back to the city of Keizer (the sole bidder) for $602,000.

Sides owed $510,888 on the property, which is occupied by high-tension power lines and not valuable for development. City attorney E. Shannon Johnson declined to say what Keizer officials will do with the property.

Given the lawsuits that Sides has left in his wake, some Keizer merchants are wondering why city officials would do business with him in the first place. Johnson said he understands such concerns, but added that people don’t understand the full story.

鈥淭his deal was done years ago,鈥� he said.

The deal revolves around Keizer Station, the city’s 227-acre shopping complex near Interstate 5. Sides was one of its principal developers and owns several lots.

City officials formed the local improvement district four years ago to finance road construction and other infrastructure needed at Keizer Station.

The LID took out a $26.8 million bond for the work. Keizer Station property owners are supposed to pay the LID聽back. The other property owners have kept up with their payments. However, Sides fell dramatically behind 鈥� to the tune of $9 million.
City planner Nate Brown said Sides potentially left the city and other local taxing entities holding the bag.

鈥淭he city’s full faith and credit is on the line,鈥� he said.

Johnson said city officials actually started negotiating the bond deal with Sides as far back as 1999, well before he amassed a collection of lawsuits.

Some Keizer merchants are upset that City Council increased the debt limit on urban renewal money to $25,000 to pay on the bond if necessary. They worry this will affect money available for, among other things, landscaping and facade improvements along River Road.

Merchants can calm down, Brown said. The bond will have a minimal effect on the money available to merchants.

鈥淭here was a million dollars left in the kitty,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e had to show the other taxing districts we were willing to make sacrifices.鈥�

Unless the bond debt is satisfied some other way, that $1 million will go to it. However, city councilors decided that whatever is left over (after foreclosure sales and other attempts to satisfy the debt) will go toward River Road improvements.

Sides’ conflict with Keizer also drew the spotlight to his tumultuous financial history.

Blame the economy for the lawsuits, Sides said.

鈥淲all Street and the banks suddenly took a different view of the world in September 2008,鈥� he said, noting that only two suits against him remain unresolved.

Sides’ former lawyer, Paul R.J. Connolly, sued him six years ago after Sides borrowed money from Connolly’s pension plan and put up his 50-percent interest in Northwest National, the developers of Keizer Station, as collateral. Connolly accused Sides of default. The case is still in court.

Two of the lawsuits filed against Sides were by Jack Yarbrough. In a suit filed five years ago, Yarbrough alleged Sides broke a promise to buy another Keizer Station property for $751,000. A hearing on damages in the case is set for December.

Yarbrough, who loaned Sides $350,000, also sued him for defaulting on the loan connected with a property in Jackson County.

Sides laughed off such lawsuits.

鈥淭hat’s Mr. Jack Yarbrough,鈥� he said. 鈥淗e is just one of those guys. He files lawsuits. But we’ve worked things out, and we’re friends again. He’s a great guy. We just started a new project together.鈥�