May 17, 2017
The
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CAREERS EDUCATION
INSIDE
Week in Review
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pages 8-9
O PINION
M ETRO
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The former director of this former northeast Portland home for foster youth has been charged with
the theft of over $800,000 of monies intended to support foster care services, children and families.
The Rodney Avenue home was recently purchased by the neighborhood to keep it from being
demolished.
Foster Provider Charged
Grand jury cites money
laundering and theft
A federal grand jury in Portland has charged Mary
Holden Ayala, 56, a longtime resident of Portland,
with theft of over $800,000, money laundering and
filing false personal tax returns.
Ayala served as the president and executive direc-
tor of Give Us This Day, an Oregon state-licensed
private foster care agency and residential program
for hard-to-place foster youth, including youth of
color, until its closing in September 2015.
The indictment alleges that between 2009 and
2015, Ayala embezzled at least $800,000 in funds
intended to support foster care services, children and
Arts &
ENTERTAINMENT
C LASSIFIEDS
C ALENDAR
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F OOD
families. In addition to other crimes, the indictment
also alleges that Ayala filed false personal income
tax returns in tax years 2009 through 2014, and
failed to file a personal tax return in 2015.
FBI agents arrested Ayala last week in Holly
Springs, Miss. She appeared before a magistrate
judge and a separate detention hearing will be held
later this week, officials said.
An indictment is only an accusation of a crime,
and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and un-
til proven guilty.
This case was investigated by the FBI, the De-
partment of Health and Human Services Office of
Inspector General and the Internal Revenue Service
Criminal Investigations.
Police Chief Search Widens
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Community
input sought in
selection process
Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler
announced an online survey Mon-
day for community input on the
qualifications needed for a police
chief to guide the Portland Police
Bureau. The mayor also official-
ly opened a recruitment process,
launching a national search for a
police chief that is expected to be
completed this July, with a job of-
fer coming thereafter.
“The nature of police work in
America is changing, and Portland
deserves the chance to evaluate
national talent in our efforts to
create a 21st Century police force
focused on building community
trust, embracing diversity, and liv-
ing up to the highest standards of
transparency and accountability,”
Wheeler said.
Current Police Chief Mike
Marshman, appointed to the job
last year by former mayor Charlie
Hales, has already been asked to re-
apply for the position. But if he is to
stay, Wheeler has said he will have
to be committed to the reforms the
mayor has been espousing.
Marshman recently won the
support of rank and file police of-
ficers, but has also been criticized
by Rev. T. Allen Bethel, a leader
of the African American commu-
nity and member of the Albina
Ministerial Alliance Coalition for
Justice and Police Reform, for not
working hard enough to imple-
ment police reforms as a member
of an oversight panel.
Wheeler is asking people to
spread the word about the on-
line survey for community input
which can be found online at port-
landoregon.gov/omf/PoliceChief-
Survey.
“This national search gives our
community the chance to address
fundamental questions about the
direction of policing in Portland.
I am dedicated to receiving and
acting upon input provided by the
community throughout this pro-
cess,” said Wheeler.