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
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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
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