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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 8, 2019)
NORTHWEST East Oregonian A2 Tuesday, January 8, 2019 BOLI report threw lawmaker ‘under the bus’ But several who had first- hand knowledge of the alle- gations or were mentioned in the report, including Her- nandez, said they were not interviewed by BOLI investigators. When the rumor surfaced, Hernandez was serving his first term in the Oregon House of Representatives representing parts of East Portland. Hernandez suspected at the time that the rumor was invented by his political foes, including one legislator, to silence his impassioned floor speeches on immigrant rights and to undermine his effec- tiveness as a lawmaker. He said the Labor Bureau pub- lished “gossip and hearsay” that was picked up in press reports and played “right into the hands of those who sought to target and harass me.” “It is remarkable that BOLI, an agency charged with protecting the civil rights of Oregonians, would further a racially-motivated, defamatory smear about me,” Hernandez wrote in an email to Oregon Capital Bureau. “It also defies logic that in the course of the investi- gation conducted that they never asked to speak with me about my experiences — which have included rac- By PARIS ACHEN Oregon Capital Bureau When state Rep. Diego Hernandez heard a rumor in May 2017 accusing him of keeping a list ranking women lobbyists at the Oregon Cap- itol by attractiveness, he asked legislative attorneys to investigate. After interviewing 21 staffers and others, legisla- tive attorneys found no evi- dence that such a list ever existed, according to a Sept. 15, 2017, letter from Deputy Legislative Counsel Jessica Santiago. Yet the unsubstantiated claim was included in a bombshell report issued Jan. 3 by the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries accus- ing legislative leaders of ignoring prevalent sexual harassment at the Capitol. The report resulted from a complaint that Labor Com- missioner Brad Avakian filed with his own agency on behalf of legislative staff- ers and interns who said they were the victims of sexual harassment. “As a victim of harass- ment in my freshman year in the Legislature, I feel thrown under the bus by Brad Ava- kian,” Hernandez said in a phone interview Friday, Jan. 4. Portland Tribune/Jaime Valdez, File Rep. Diego Hernandez, D-East Portland, sits at his desk on the floor of the Oregon House of Representatives in this Feb. 5, 2018, file photo. ism, bullying, threats and harassment by those who started and fueled the smear to silence me after my strong stances on civil and immi- grant rights.” Avakian did not respond to a call Friday, Jan. 4, from the Oregon Capital Bureau seeking comment. His spokeswoman, Chris- tine Stone, said the agency doesn’t comment on an open investigation. Friday was Avakian’s last day in office. Val Hoyle was scheduled to be sworn in as the new labor commissioner Monday. She has declined to com- ment on how she plans to proceed with the report. Hernandez is mentioned three times in the 52-page report, but none of the sources cited are firsthand. In one instance, the report said that state Sen. Sara Gelser told investigators that she heard there was “an alter- cation” over the purported list. The dispute was between a lobbyist, the lobbyist’s hus- band and Hernandez at a party celebrating the last day of the legislative session. The report stated that the lobbyist and her husband “did not feel like the interac- tion in itself was appropriate” and reported it to Lore Chris- topher, human resources director at the Legislature. “This is what I’ve heard from members of the lobby about this — that they then went to meet with Lore Chris- topher to do a complaint and went to the Speaker’s Office, but that Lore Christopher told them that it wouldn’t go anywhere because he was an up-and-coming person that was going to have a lot of power,” Gelser said, accord- ing to the state report. Investigators didn’t spec- ify what the couple reported to Christopher and make no mention of interviewing the couple. The report said investiga- tors questioned Legislative Counsel Dexter Johnson’s characterization of the Her- nandez rumor as false. Asked how Johnson distinguished between a claim being false versus unsubstantiated, John- son replied he uses “the terms in conversation as syn- onyms,” the report stated. The final mention of Her- nandez in the report is when Santiago, another legisla- tive attorney, confirmed that Hernandez requested “a fact-finding inquiry to deter- mine whether or not the rumors were true or to find out also who may have been the source of the rumor.” Legislative attorneys’ probe into the validity of the rumor included interviews of 21 lobbyists, legislative staff- ers and lawmakers and found no evidence of the existence of such a list. They also sought to inter- view two additional peo- ple, according to a Sept. 15, 2017, letter to Hernandez from Santiago that he made public. One issued a state- ment through her attorney — that provided no evidence of a list; the other refused to participate in the investiga- tion, the letter states. “We did find ample evi- dence that individuals had engaged in spreading the rumor that such a list existed, but none of those engaged in rumormongering ever had personal knowledge or evi- dence of such a list,” Santi- ago wrote. “Several interviewees stated that they assumed the rumor was baseless because it seemed to be completely out of character with what they knew of your values and integrity,” the letter said. Hernandez said it’s important to believe vic- tims of harassment, whether racial or other forms of hate. “There is a lot of work that remains to be done to ensure that the Oregon Capi- tol is a safe and healthy envi- ronment for everyone,” he wrote. “We must end this culture of harassment and be proactive and swift in our efforts to rid the Cap- itol of this toxic working environment.” Forecast for Pendleton Area TODAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY Cloudy, a bit of snow and rain Cloudy and milder Times of sun and clouds Clouds breaking for some sun Times of clouds and sun 37° 33° 49° 41° PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST 53° 37° 47° 34° 45° 29° HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST 37° 34° 44° 37° 52° 34° 44° 33° OREGON FORECAST 45° 33° ALMANAC Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows. PENDLETON through 3 p.m. yest. HIGH LOW TEMP. Seattle Olympia 44/42 36/35 37/31 Longview Kennewick Walla Walla 41/36 Lewiston 45/42 36/34 Astoria 48/44 Pullman Yakima 37/33 42/38 42/38 Portland Hermiston 46/42 The Dalles 37/34 Salem Corvallis 47/40 Yesterday Normals Records La Grande 39/37 PRECIPITATION John Day Eugene Bend 48/44 41/35 43/41 Ontario 40/33 Caldwell Burns 49° 34° 40° 28° 67° (2002) -13° (1937) 24 hours ending 3 p.m. Month to date Normal month to date Year to date Last year to date Normal year to date Albany 48/41 0.00" 0.01" 0.28" 0.01" 0.11" 0.28" WINDS (in mph) 42/35 36/29 Trace 0.04" 0.40" 0.04" 0.13" 0.40" through 3 p.m. yest. HIGH LOW TEMP. Pendleton 37/35 48/41 24 hours ending 3 p.m. Month to date Normal month to date Year to date Last year to date Normal year to date HERMISTON Enterprise 37/33 39/33 45° 31° 40° 26° 68° (1902) -7° (1937) PRECIPITATION Moses Lake 44/37 Aberdeen 34/32 31/29 Tacoma Yesterday Normals Records Spokane Wenatchee 45/41 Today Boardman Pendleton Medford 53/41 Wed. NNE 6-12 N 4-8 NE 4-8 SSE 7-14 SUN AND MOON Klamath Falls 47/38 Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2019 Sunrise today Sunset tonight Moonrise today Moonset today 7:35 a.m. 4:29 p.m. 9:19 a.m. 7:11 p.m. First Full Last New Jan 13 Jan 20 Jan 27 Feb 4 NATIONAL EXTREMES Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states) High 86° in McAllen, Texas Low -17° in Saranac Lake, N.Y. NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY Steve Bloom/The Olympian via AP A crew from Ron’s Stump Removal & Tree Service works to remove several large storm-damaged trees along Cain Road in Olympia, Wash., on Monday as the cleanup from the regional weekend windstorm continues with power restored to more than 250,000 customers. Many still without power in the Northwest SEATTLE — Tens of thousands of people remained without power after windstorms struck parts of Washington state and Oregon over the weekend. Approximately 30,000 Puget Sound Energy cus- tomers were still without power as of noon Monday. The utility said on Twit- ter that workers had restored power to more than 288,000 customers since the height of the storm. Seattle City Light had about 1,000 cus- tomers without power as of Monday morning. In Oregon the lights were back on for most people. The storm caused Alaska Airlines to ground flights between 4:20 a.m. and 5:15 a.m. Sunday after a power outage in the Seattle area, where its operations are based. Twenty-seven flights were delayed and five were canceled. The National Weather Service reported winds included gusts of more than 60 mph at the storm’s peak Saturday night and early Sunday morning. Oregon gets a new labor commissioner SALEM (AP) — Oregon’s new labor commissioner has an ambitious agenda but an inves- tigation pushed by her prede- cessor on sexual harassment in the Capitol looms — and the report drew new criticism. Val Hoyle, a former state legislator, was sworn in Mon- day by Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum. For the first time in Oregon history, most of the five state- wide elected executive offices are now held by women. Now, Hoyle must deal with an investigation released Thursday that condemned top lawmakers for allegedly allow- ing sexual harassment to per- sist in the Capitol. CONCEALED CARRY PERMIT CLASS Valid in Washington January 19 TH • 6 PM Best Western 2255 S Hwy 395, Hermiston $80 multi-State, OR included no-fee. $45 Oregon-only Required class to get an Oregon or multi-State Required class to get an Oregon or multi-State permit. Class includes: • Fingerprinting & photo • Oregon gun laws • Washington gun laws • Interstate travel laws • Interaction with law enforcement • Use of deadly force • Firearm / ammunition / holster selection Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day. -10s -0s 0s showers t-storms 10s rain 20s flurries 30s snow 40s 50s ice 60s cold front E AST O REGONIAN — Founded Oct. 16, 1875 — 211 S.E. 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