A8
State
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, February 21, 2018
Ethics commission to pursue
Kitzhaber for 10 violations
By Paris Achen
Capital Bureau
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The Oregon Ethics Com-
mission 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 in-
fluence-peddling scandal.
“In 26 years of elected of-
fice, he had all kinds of expe-
rience in facing these issues,”
said Commissioner Charles
Starr. “It’s just unfortunate
that he has come to this. I am
convinced he is an honorable
man, and he didn’t purpose to
do this, but the outcome was
quite obvious.”
Before the vote, Kitzhaber
addressed the commission
and apologized to his family,
friends, former employees
and the people of Oregon
for his missteps, but he vig-
orously denied that he ever
intentionally used his office
to profit himself or first lady
Cylvia Hayes’s environmen-
tal consulting business.
“I have withstood the scru-
tiny of eight elections and 26
years in public office, and
this is the first time that my
integrity has ever been ques-
tioned,” Kitzhaber said. “To
arrive at the conclusion that
somehow, at the end of my
long career in public service I
would suddenly stumble on a
streak of corruption, is simply
untrue, and there is no evi-
dence to support it. I have cer-
tainly made my share of mis-
takes, but using my office for
the purpose of obtaining finan-
cial gain or avoiding financial
detriment is not one of them.”
The “preliminary findings”
of violation were based on a
report by state ethics investiga-
tors released earlier this week
and prompted a period during
which Kitzhaber may appeal
the findings to an administra-
tive law judge.
He faces up to $50,000 in
fines for the violations. The
commission won’t issue fines
until an appeals process is
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, Hayes’s environ-
Capital Bureau/Paris Achen
Former Gov. John Kitzhaber testified Friday before
the Oregon Government Ethics Commission. The
commission found Kitzhaber violated ethics laws 10
times during his tenure as governor.
mental consulting firm, 3E
Strategies, investigators wrote
in the 135-page report released
Feb. 14.
The former governor in-
cluded Hayes’s income from
the firm in his household in-
come in 2011-13 on statements
of economic interest, investi-
gators said.
He also failed to publicly
disclose his potential conflicts
of interest and actual conflicts
in several instances, as re-
quired by state law, they said.
Kitzhaber was “personally
responsible to ensure that he
did not engage in any policy
decisions, discussions, speech-
es, meetings, directives to staff
or official actions that would
further the financial interest of
3E Strategies,” investigators
wrote.
However, Kitzhaber attend-
ed meetings for which Hayes
was either being paid or was
seeking contracts with envi-
ronmental advocacy groups
and promoted and advanced
her business, they wrote. For
instance, he gave a speech in
May 2013 at a planning retreat
at the governor’s residence,
Mahonia Hall, to discuss tran-
sitioning Oregon to a differ-
ent economic measurement
formula that factors in envi-
ronmental health. Hayes was
being paid by public policy
organization Demos for facil-
itating the meeting.
Kitzhaber asked that Hayes
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,’” said Commissioner
Richard Burke.
But under state law, it’s ir-
relevant whether the violations
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 activities,
according to the report. Final-
ly, 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 con-
duct 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 ad-
mitted 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 Janu-
ary found that Hayes violat-
ed state ethics laws 22 times
while she served as first lady.
The commission has yet to
issue a final order and assess
fines in her case.