3A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2018
Ethics commission to pursue Kitzhaber for 10 violations
the 135-page report released
Wednesday.
The former governor
included Hayes’s income
from the firm in his household
income in 2011-13 on state-
ments of economic interest,
investigators said.
He also failed to publicly
disclose his potential con-
flicts of interest and actual
conflicts in several instances,
as required by state law, they
said.
Kitzhaber was “person-
ally responsible to ensure that
he did not engage in any pol-
icy decisions, discussions,
speeches, meetings, direc-
tives to staff or official actions
that would further the finan-
cial interest of 3E Strategies,”
investigators wrote.
However,
Kitzhaber
attended meetings for which
Hayes was either being paid
or was seeking contracts
with environmental advo-
cacy groups and promoted and
advanced her business, they
wrote. For instance, he gave a
speech in May 2013 at a plan-
ning retreat at the governor’s
residence, Mahonia Hall, to
discuss transitioning Oregon
to a different economic mea-
surement formula that fac-
tors in environmental health.
Hayes was being paid by pub-
lic policy organization Demos
for facilitating the meeting.
Kitzhaber asked that Hayes
By PARIS ACHEN
Capital Bureau
SALEM — The Oregon
Government Ethics Commis-
sion has found that former
Gov. John Kitzhaber violated
state ethics law 10 times.
The commission unani-
mously voted to pursue 10 out
of 11 alleged violations by the
former governor who resigned
in February 2015 amid an
influence-peddling scandal.
“In 26 years of elected
office, he had all kinds of expe-
rience in facing these issues,”
Commissioner Charles Starr
said Friday. “It’s just unfortu-
nate that he has come to this.
I am convinced he is an hon-
orable man, and he didn’t pur-
pose to do this, but the out-
come was quite obvious.”
Before the vote, Kitzhaber
addressed the commission
and apologized to his fam-
ily, friends, former employees
and the people of Oregon for
his missteps, but he vigorously
denied that he ever intention-
ally used his office to profit
himself or first lady Cylvia
Hayes’s environmental con-
sulting business.
“I have withstood the scru-
tiny of eight elections and 26
years in public office and this
is the first time that my integ-
rity has ever been questioned,”
Kitzhaber said. “To arrive at
the conclusion that somehow,
Paris Achen/Capital Bureau
Former Gov. John Kitzhaber testified Friday before the Or-
egon Government Ethics Commission.
at the end of my long career
in public service I would sud-
denly stumble on a streak of
corruption, is simply untrue
and there is no evidence to
support it. I have certainly
made my share of mistakes,
but using my office for the
purpose of obtaining financial
gain or avoiding financial det-
riment is not one of them.”
The preliminary findings
of violation were based on a
report by state ethics investi-
gators and prompted a period
during which Kitzhaber may
appeal the findings to an
administrative law judge.
He faces up to $50,000 in
fines for the violations. The
commission won’t issue fines
until an appeals process is
Legislators wary of
optimistic revenue forecast
By CLAIRE
WITHYCOMBE
Capital Bureau
SALEM — Oregon is
expected to have about $99
million more in general and
lottery fund resources than
state economists projected a
few months ago.
The state’s quarterly rev-
enue forecast, presented to
lawmakers Friday morning,
is a key development of the
short February session.
Lawmakers are work-
ing to ensure the state’s two-
year budget is on track and to
deal with the implications of
recent sweeping changes to
the federal tax code.
The net increase of about
$99 million in available
money is due to higher than
expected beginning fund bal-
ances, personal income tax
collections and lottery rev-
enues. However, corporate
tax collections are projected
to be lower than expected
in late November, when the
last quarterly forecast was
released.
State economists are still
trying to pin down the impact
of the federal tax reforms
passed in late December.
In response to the federal
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, some
state lawmakers are pressing
on with efforts to change Ore-
gon’s tax code to mitigate the
projected negative revenue
effects. A bill passed on Tues-
day by the state Senate would
allow Oregon to tax over-
seas profits that companies
are expected to bring back to
the U.S. through a provision
in the tax bill called repatri-
ation. It has been referred to
the House Revenue Commit-
tee for consideration.
Gov. Kate Brown said that
the forecast was “good news”
for the state, but warned that
the state needed to demon-
strate fiscal discipline and was
critical of a second tax bill
before the Legislature.
The bill would change how
certain types of businesses are
taxed. It was sent back to the
Senate Finance and Reve-
nue committee by state Sen-
ate President Peter Courtney,
D-Salem, on Thursday.
Senate Republican Leader
Jackie Winters said the fore-
cast was evidence that it isn’t
necessary for lawmakers to
pass new revenue measures in
the short session. “This reve-
nue forecast shows that Ore-
gon’s economy continues to
prosper, eliminating the need
for any new revenue pack-
age during this 35-day short
session,” Winters said. “Pro-
viding tax relief for small
business and taxpaying Ore-
gonians, while growing
Oregon’s economy, is our
priority.”
Malpractice suit over surgery settled
By DERRICK
DePLEDGE
The Daily Astorian
A medical malpractice
lawsuit by a Cowlitz County,
Washington, woman against
Columbia Memorial Hospital
over a vaginal mesh surgery in
2015 has been settled.
Grace Mitchell had sought
$558,000 in medical expenses
and damages for incapacity,
pain and other trauma against
the hospital and Dr. David Lei-
bel. A trial had been scheduled
for March.
The terms of the settlement
were not publicly disclosed.
“I’m only able to tell you
that it’s resolved in a satis-
factory manner,” said Mat-
thew Andersen, a Longview
attorney who represented
Mitchell.
In an email, Felicia Struve,
a hospital spokeswoman, said
“as part of the settlement
agreement, CMH is not in a
position to talk about this.
However, CMH is committed
to providing compassionate
and quality medical care here
in our community.”
completed and they vote on a
final order of violations. Until
that point, negotiations for
a settlement agreement can
continue.
The commission Friday
dismissed one proposed viola-
tion of misuse of office related
to using a staffer to pet sit for
the first couple when they left
for personal trips. Kitzhaber
said he had known the staffer
for 15 years and that she had
volunteered to care for the pets
without pay.
Kitzhaber violated law pro-
hibiting use of his office for
personal financial gain when
he took actions that benefited
his fiancée’s environmen-
tal consulting firm, 3E Strat-
egies, investigators wrote in
be included in correspondence,
meetings and policymaking
on environmental matters for
which she was seeking fund-
ing and being paid.
For example, he gave her
access to the closed-door
Pacific Coast Collaborative
Leaders Forum in Vancouver,
British Columbia, in March
2012, while she was being paid
a $118,000 fellowship with the
Clean Economy Development
Center.
“I believe Gov. Kitzhaber
was not thinking, ‘Hmm, how
can I get money?’ … I don’t
think he was thinking, ‘Hmm,
how can I get Cylvia Hayes
money,’” Commissioner Rich-
ard Burke said.
But under state law, it’s
irrelevant whether the viola-
tions took place on purpose or
by accident, Burke said.
Kitzhaber and Hayes also
used staff resources to book
personal travel and help Hayes
with her business activi-
ties, according to the report.
Finally, Kitzhaber violated
a state prohibition on public
officials accepting gifts worth
$50 or more apiece when he
accepted Premier Platinum
status from United Airlines,
which was valued at more than
$4,000, the report showed.
Kitzhaber testified Friday
that he was unaware he had
received platinum status from
the airline.
He resigned under pres-
sure by state lawmakers Feb.
18, 2015, a little more than a
month into his fourth term as
governor, as federal and state
investigations into his conduct
intensified.
In November, the com-
mission rejected the proposed
agreement with Kitzhaber that
would have required him to
pay $1,000 to settle the case.
At that time, Kitzhaber admit-
ted he violated state ethics
laws on four occasions and
said he did so unintentionally.
He said he did not disclose a
conflict of interest related to
Hayes’ paid consulting con-
tracts based on the advice of
his attorney at the time.
News of the proposed set-
tlement earlier that month
spawned criticism that the
penalty was too lenient on
Kitzhaber’s lack of account-
ability during his role as the
state’s highest elected official.
Friday’s decision will send
a message to public officials,
and they will take more care,
Burke said.
The commission in January
found that Hayes violated state
ethics laws 22 times while she
served as first lady. The commis-
sion has yet to issue a final order
and assess fines in her case.
The Capital Bureau is a
collaboration between EO
Media Group and Pamplin
Media Group.
Eagle Creek Fire teen gets probation,
pledges to learn from his mistake
By MAXINE
BERNSTEIN
The Oregonian
HOOD RIVER – The Van-
couver, Washington, teen-
ager sat Friday in a cavernous
courtroom between his law-
yers, watched and listened as
a parade of people harmed by
the furious wildfire he started
in the Columbia River Gorge
last summer talked of their
fear and loss.
Some spoke of being
trapped overnight on the
Eagle Creek trail, another
told of suffering devastating
financial setbacks to a small
Cascades Locks tribal fish-
ing business and a woman
described how the fast-mov-
ing fire destroyed all her fam-
ily’s possessions when their
home burned to the ground.
Then it was the 15-year-
old boy’s turn.
Referred to only by his ini-
tials, A.B., the dark-haired
teen stood, holding a white
sheet of paper in his shak-
ing hand, and read from a
typed, three-paragraph state-
ment. His parents sat behind
him, listening to a court-cer-
tified Russian interpreter on
headphones.
“Every time I heard peo-
ple talk about the fire, I put
myself down. I know I will
have to live with my bad deci-
sion for the rest of my life, but
I have learned from this expe-
rience and will work hard to
help rebuild the community in
any way that I can,” he said,
his voice steady.
“I now realize how import-
ant it is to think before acting
because my actions can have
serious consequences. … I
apologize with all my heart to
everyone in the gorge.”
It will be the first of many
apologies the teen will write.
Hood River County Cir-
Tristan Fortsch/KATU-TV
The Eagle Creek Fire raged in September.
cuit Judge John A. Olson sen-
tenced him to five years of
probation and 1,920 hours
of community service with
the U.S. Forest Service after
he admitted guilt to 12 mis-
demeanors for sparking the
49,000-acre Eagle Creek Fire
with fireworks in September.
Among the conditions of
his probation: a 6 p.m.-to-6
a.m. curfew unless he’s
accompanied by someone
over 21, apology letters to
the 152 people trapped on the
trail because of the spreading
flames, the city of Cascade
Locks, the U.S. Forest Ser-
vice, Oregon State Parks, the
Oregon Department of Trans-
portation, the Confederated
Tribes of the Umatilla Reser-
vation and many others.
He can’t have fireworks or
explosives and must undergo
a psychological fire-setter
evaluation and attend coun-
seling. He also must have
no social contact with other
youths, except as necessary
and approved by a juvenile
officer.
Astor Street
Opry Company
In a negotiated plea agree-
ment, he admitted to eight
counts of reckless burning
of public and private prop-
erty, two counts of deposit-
ing burning material on forest
land, one count of second-de-
gree mischief and one count
of recklessly endangering hik-
ers on the Eagle Creek trail.
Because juveniles don’t
technically enter pleas, the
teen said, “I admit” to the
allegations when asked by
the judge if he accepted
responsibility.
The judge said the commu-
nity service hours — the max-
imum 160 hours allowed for
each misdemeanor count – is
to help him “develop the love
and respect for nature that you
lacked last September.”
Olson said the boy must
be held accountable for mon-
umental destruction to “a
national treasure scarred for a
generation.”
The fire began about 4
p.m. on the Saturday of the
Labor Day holiday week-
end. Witnesses reported see-
ing the teen throwing fire-
works into the Eagle Creek
Canyon. It was unseasonably
hot, bringing scores of peo-
ple that day to cool off in the
creek along one of the most
well-traveled trails in the
gorge.
The flames spread rapidly,
fueled by gusting winds and
tinder dry forest conditions.
The teenager said he had
two fireworks. He admitted
throwing one that exploded
in the air along the trail. The
second one had a longer fuse
and ignited the dry brush
when it hit the ground.
Hood River County Dis-
trict Attorney John Sewell
emphasized that he found no
evidence that the 15-year-old
intentionally set the blaze.
The others in the group of
seven teens were “onlook-
ers” and did nothing to start
the fire, he said.
“There was no evidence to
support felony charges in this
case,” Sewell said.
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