By CHRIS COLLINS

Of the Baker City Herald

GRANITE Bob Williams says he doesn’t know William Dobell well, but if he’s anything like his dog, he has his redeeming qualities.

Williams said he got to know Kyla, a huge and gentle malamute, before he got to know her master.

andquot;I was visiting with his dog and when I left he patted me on the shoulder and invited me to come back to visit with him,andquot; he said. andquot;I felt cordial toward him.andquot;

Williams moved to Granite from southern Indiana about a year ago with his wife, Nettie, and his mother-in-law, Ethel. He and his family were saddened by a Monday night shooting that left Dobell, 54, in critical condition in a Portland hospital and their friend and neighbor Mitchell Fielding, 49, in custody in the Grant County Jail.

Fielding, a Granite City councilor, and his wife, Patricia, the mayor of Granite, own The Lodge at Granite. They live just down the street from Williams and across the street from William and Patty Dobell.

Williams, who is disabled with Parkinson’s disease, said he really didn’t know much except hearsay about what led to the shooting.

As newcomers, he and his family don’t want to take sides. They just want to fit in with the community and get along with their neighbors, he said.

He has been impressed with the work the Fieldings have done as volunteer city administrators keeping records, encouraging people to attend meetings and andquot;running the town with a certain amount of order.andquot;

Granite is a quiet town where most of the 30 residents turn out their lights by the time the sun sets, he said.

andquot;In the 14 to 15 months we’ve lived here I haven’t seen any fights with anyone certainly not with Bill Dobell,andquot; he said.

andquot;It’s a very sad thing that’s happened,andquot; he added. andquot;We certainly don’t condone any type of violence in the name of peace.

andquot;It’s only reasonable to say let’s give something else a try before we start killing each other.andquot;

Williams noted that the residents of Granite had been traumatized by the shooting.

andquot;(The Fieldings and Dobells) lives have been disrupted and it’s reached out to other people in the community. It’s not just a problem between two men,andquot; he said.

One of the people affected on both sides of the shooting is Andy Mash, owner of the Elkhorn Saloon at Sumpter. She is Mitchell Fielding’s sister and best friends with Patty Dobell, the victim’s wife. Patty Dobell also is the cook at her business. She is in Portland with her husband.

Mash said she was aware of problems between the Fieldings and Dobell, but declined to comment further on the issue.

She said the Dobells are good friends and William Dobell has never caused any problems at her business.

andquot;He’s got his good side and his bad side like anybody else,andquot; she said. andquot;He didn’t deserve to get shot.andquot;

Patricia Fielding declined to be interviewed Thursday about the shooting. Other Granite residents also were reluctant to discuss the incident or the parties involved.

Those who agreed to talk acknowledged that there had been a longstanding feud between the Fieldings and Dobell.

Ginger Ruth, a former Granite resident who lives at Sumpter and works at the Sumpter Nuggett, and her friend and co-worker, Phyllis Hammer of Granite, have opposing views on the Fieldings and Dobell.

Ruth isn’t a fan of Dobell, and Hammer says she and her husband, Mike, a former Granite mayor, have been harassed by the Fieldings.

andquot;It’s one issue she and I have always agreed not to discuss because we can’t agree,andquot; Phyllis Hammer said.

Before leaving his Granite home to take his wife to work in Sumpter Thursday, Mike Hammer said the Fieldings caused problems because they wanted to follow their own rules.

But he cut the conversation short, saying, andquot;I don’t think we need to beat this to death. (Dobell) was in his car, the man was unarmed and (Fielding) shot him.andquot;

His wife added that regardless of any problem between the two parties, the shooting was not justified.

andquot;I don’t care what the situation was,andquot; she said. andquot;Nobody should go down and shoot another person.andquot;

Ruth says the problems between the two sides should not have been allowed to brew as long as they did.

andquot;The Grant County Sheriff’s Office is the one that screwed up,andquot; she said. andquot;They should have handled this years ago.andquot;

Linda Martin, a friend of the Fieldings and another Granite City Council member, agrees on that point.

andquot;It’s a sad situation,andquot; she said. andquot;It should never have had to happen. These people have asked for help and never received it.

andquot;(The Fieldings) made numerous calls help me, help me and they were never answered.andquot;

According to Martin, Patricia Fielding was afraid of Dobell because he had harassed and threatened her for the past several years. The feud apparently started during construction of The Lodge in 1996-97 when Dobell worked for the Fieldings and was fired, according to state police.

The problems continued when Dobell and others complained to the Grant County Planning Commission that a large deck and stairway at The Lodge encroached on city right of way and violated a county setback requirement. The Fieldings eventually were ordered to move the stairway, but were not required to dismantle the large deck above it, which rankled Dobell, according to Martin.

Kathy Mosteit, owner of The Outback store and cafe at Granite, said Dobell was not welcome at her business.

andquot;Mr. Dobell has been asked not to come on our property again after a run-in with my husband,andquot; she said.

She declined further comment. She did say, however, that Dobell honored their request and had not returned to the business after he was banned.

Martin said Fielding believed that his wife had been harmed by Dobell when he arrived at The Lodge armed with a .45-caliber semi-automatic revolver about 10:30 p.m. Monday.

Patricia Fielding had called her husband to the business saying that Dobell was harassing her, said Oregon State Police Lt. Ray Duman. Fielding arrived and confronted Dobell and then shot him, Duman said.

Police said Dobell, who was not armed, was shot at close range multiple times while seated in his 1994 Ford Explorer. There were several witnesses to the shooting. Fielding fired at least six shots, striking Dobell in the chest multiple times and in the arm and a finger, police said.

A plea hearing is scheduled Oct. 2 in Grant County Circuit Court at Canyon City.