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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, JANUARY 8, 2018
Hayes faces $100,000-plus
in fines for ethics violations
Former first
lady called a
‘super lobbyist’
By PARIS ACHEN
Capital Bureau
SALEM — The Oregon
Government Ethics Commis-
sion on Friday unanimously
voted that there is enough evi-
dence to show former first lady
Cylvia Hayes violated ethics
law 22 times, largely by using
her public position to win a
paid fellowship and several
contracts for her environmen-
tal consulting firm between
2011 and 2013.
Hayes served as a “super
lobbyist” for private consult-
ing clients who paid her to
advocate on green energy,
Commissioner Daniel Mason
said.
Commissioner
Nathan
Sosa described her actions as
“a case study in what you are
not supposed to do as a pub-
lic official. For that reason the
statute gives us the authority
to levy significant fines and
I think that’s what we should
do.”
Hayes and her attorney
were absent from the meeting
Friday where the commission
reached its decision.
The vote establishes what
the commission calls “prelim-
inary findings of violation.”
Hayes may appeal the findings
or reach a settlement before
the agency issues a final order
with penalties.
She faces fines of up to
$110,000. On top of that, com-
missioners could propose
she pay double the amount
of money she received from
work acquired as a result of
her positions as first lady and
policy adviser to Gov. John
Kitzhaber. That could equal
hundreds of thousands of dol-
lars, ethics investigator Marie
Scheffers said.
R.J. Marx/The Daily Astorian
Location of a proposed adventure park at the south
end of Seaside.
Rock climbing,
obstacles proposed
at new Seaside park
By R.J. MARX
The Daily Astorian
AP Photo
Former first lady Cylvia Hayes, shown here in 2014, is facing fines for ethics violations .
The commission would
have to prove that Hayes
would not have secured the
contracts without her pub-
lic positions, said Ethics
Commission Director Ron
Bersin.
In addition to using her
position for private gain,
Hayes also accepted an unac-
ceptable amount of gifts from
people interested in influenc-
ing policy and failed to dis-
close several conflicts of
interest, according to an eth-
ics investigation released ear-
lier this week. Investigators
found 23 violations, but com-
missioners dismissed one of
those violations related to the
first lady’s use of a dignitary
protection unit — essentially
the governor’s security detail
— for nonpublic business.
Commissioners briefly dis-
cussed removing one of the
conflict-of-interest counts but
decided not to because Hayes
failed to show up or send a
representative to respond to
the accusations.
Hayes and her attorneys,
Whitney Boise and Josh
Ewing, had not responded to a
request for comment as of Fri-
day afternoon.
Hayes and Kitzhaber have
been under an ethics investiga-
tion since July.
They had been under a
federal criminal investiga-
tion for more than two years
before that, after Willamette
Week reported the first lady
may have used her position
to win several consulting con-
tracts. The scandal eventually
prompted Kitzhaber to resign
from office in February 2015
and led to former Secretary of
State Kate Brown’s succession
as governor. Federal prosecu-
tors ultimately filed no charges
against the couple. By the time
the federal investigation had
concluded, the statute of lim-
itation had run out for any state
charges.
In November, the eth-
ics commission rejected a
proposed settlement with
Kitzhaber in which he agreed
to pay $1,000 for ethics vio-
lations related to conflicts of
interest and accepting gifts
with value of more than $50
from any one source during the
year. A majority of commis-
sioners said they felt the settle-
ment was too lenient.
The ethics commission is
scheduled to reconsider his
case next month.
Commission Chairwoman
Alison Kean said the report on
Hayes’s violations also is evi-
dence against Kitzhaber and
should be considered when
determining penalties for
Kitzhaber.
“He was the vehicle by
which she was able to profit,
so I view these cases as inter-
linked,” Kean said.
“My
recommendation
would be to staff as we are
negotiating … that the gov-
ernor be treated with a much
higher standard.”
The Capital Bureau is a
collaboration between EO
Media Group and Pamplin
Media Group.
SEASIDE — Everybody
needs a little adventure in
their lives. That’s the prem-
ise of a new business from
the owners of High Life
Adventures seeking to open
an adventure park and chal-
lenge course.
Neighbors include the
Avamere
assisted-living
facility to the west of the
property and Seaside Heli-
copters and Captain Kid
Amusement Park on the east
side of U.S. Highway 101.
In an October submis-
sion to the Planning Com-
mission, owners’ represen-
tative Shane Dean described
rock-climbing walls and a
series of obstacles and other
elements.
The 1.5-acre commercial
property is owned by David
and Lancey Larson of High
Life Adventures, the zip line
park in Warrenton.
Zoning allows outdoor
amusement activities as a
conditional use.
According to a city staff
report, the use will comple-
ment nearby commercial
businesses by catering to vis-
itors desiring a more “adven-
turous” destination. The land
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Washington state sues Motel 6 for
giving guest information to US
By PHUONG LE
Associated Press
SEATTLE — Washing-
ton state’s attorney general
has sued Motel 6, alleging
the national budget chain dis-
closed the private information
of thousands of its guests to
U.S. immigration authorities
in violation of the state con-
sumer protection law.
Attorney General Bob Fer-
guson said motel employees
divulged the names, birthdates,
driver’s license numbers,
license plate numbers and
room numbers of at least 9,150
guests to U.S. Immigration and
Customs Enforcement agents
without a warrant. At least six
people were detained on or
near motel property during a
two-year period.
Motel 6 was aware that the
agents used the guest regis-
try information to single out
guests based on their national
origin in violation of Washing-
ton state’s anti-discrimination
law, the state’s lawsuit filed
Wednesday in King County
Superior Court alleged.
Ferguson said at least six
Motel 6 locations in the state
— all in the Puget Sound
region and corporate-owned
— provided the informa-
tion without guests’ knowl-
edge or consent. Washington’s
Supreme Court makes it clear
that guest registry information
is private, he said, and Motel
6 violated the law each time it
gave out private information.
“In September, Motel 6
issued a directive to every one
of our more than 1,400 loca-
tions, making it clear that they
are prohibited from volun-
tarily providing daily guests
lists to Immigration and Cus-
toms Enforcement (ICE),” the
company said in an emailed
statement.
“Motel 6 takes this mat-
ter very seriously, and we
have and will continue to fully
cooperate with the Office of
the State Attorney General,”
the company added.
At one Motel 6 in Ever-
ett, north of Seattle, for exam-
ple, agents visited early in
the morning or late at night
and received a daily list of all
guests staying at the location,
Ferguson said. The agents
would target guests with Lati-
no-sounding names, he said.
The agency would then figure
out if any of the guests were
wanted in connection with
civil immigration issues, the
lawsuit alleges.
The attorney general’s
office began investigating
after news reports that Motel 6
workers at two Phoenix loca-
tions provided guest infor-
mation to agents who later
arrested 20 people on immi-
gration charges.
At the time, Motel 6 said
in a tweet: “This was imple-
mented at the local level with-
out the knowledge of senior
management. When we
became aware of it last week,
it was discontinued.”
Ferguson said the cases in
Washington state shows that
the practice was not isolated
to the two Phoenix locations.
“The company’s actions were
methodical. They trained their
new employees on how to do
this,” Ferguson said.
Motel 6 trained its new
employees to provide guest
lists to agents when they asked
for it, without requiring the
agents to show a search war-
rant or probable cause, the
lawsuit alleged.
Between 2015 and 2017,
four of six corporate-owned
locations that provided infor-
mation to the federal agency
released more than 9,150
guest names. That number is
expected to grow significantly,
Ferguson said. His office is
looking into whether 15 other
Motel 6 locations that operate
as franchises divulged similar
private information.
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Log truck crash linked to house fire
The Daily Astorian
A house on Youngs River
Road caught fire Friday after a
log truck crashed nearby.
Though the investigation
is not completed, the truck
appeared to hit low-hang-
ing power lines and take down
power poles on the 91100 block
of the road, Lewis and Clark Fire
Chief Jeff Golightly said. About
1½ hours after the accident,
emergency personnel noticed
smoke pouring out of the attic of
a house across the street.
The accident likely caused
a breaker box in the house to
smolder, eventually starting
the fire, Golightly said.
The two adults that live
in the house were not home
during the fire, and fire per-
sonnel rescued one dog that
was inside. No injuries were
reported. The fire was con-
tained within 30 minutes.
“It was pretty much all con-
tained to the attic,” Golightly
said.
The damage to the house is
estimated at $50,000.
WANTED
Alder and Maple Saw Logs & Standing Timber
Northwest Hardwoods • Longview, WA
Contact: John Anderson • 360-269-2500
around it is generally unde-
veloped, with a golf course
and land owned by Clatsop
County Housing Author-
ity to the west and south-
ern borders. An existing
access to the highway will be
maintained.
Impacts to traffic, utili-
ties and infrastructure will be
“very minimal,” according
to the report. Traffic gener-
ated by the development can
be accommodated safely and
the proposal does not require
a traffic impact analysis.
Additional
conditions
sought by the city include
relocating
handicapped
spaces closer to the acces-
sible route into the build-
ing and accommodation
for long-term bike parking
spaces. The owners must
provide a drainage plan to
indicate how drainage facil-
ities will accommodate
stormwater runoff from the
parking lot and roof drains.
Modifications
await
review by the Planning Com-
mission at a Jan. 16 work
session, Dean said.
“We’ve got to bring those
to the commission to see if
they accept those,” he said.
“If not, we may have to go
back to the original plan or a
public hearing.”
Art Walk
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t
3
1
y
r
Janua ured Artist
Feat
TERRY FREEMAN
Terry Freeman is a self-taught
artist. Since his retiring from a
long career of truck driving he
spends his winters at his easel. Otherwise, on
good days he is seen out at sea on his boat or tending the
garden with his wife Teresa and Jack Russell, Spud.
Coming in the Spring of 2018
Table 360 Bistro
Upstairs from the Bakery!