This post has been updated.
A leading Democratic elected official is now calling for Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber (D) to resign.
Per KGW in Portland, State Treasurer Ted Wheeler issued a statement asking Kitzhaber to step down. It comes the day after Kitzhaber was reportedly going to resign, but then changed his mind. He and his fiance Cylvia Hayes have come under fire for allegations that she worked for groups that try to influence public policy while also advising the governor.
“It is with deep sadness that I ask Governor Kitzhaber to resign his position as Governor of Oregon,” Wheeler said. “He has accomplished many great things during his long career, and history will be kinder to him than current events suggest.”
“Unfortunately, the current situation has become untenable, and I cannot imagine any scenario by which things improve,” he continued. “Oregon deserves a governor who is fully focused on the duties of state.”
“I hope the Governor will do the right thing for Oregon and its citizens.”
Oregon Secretary of State Kate Brown, who described a “strange” Wednesday meeting with Kitzhaber that many thought would end with his announcing his resignation, has also said publicly that she is ready to serve if he steps down.
The Democratic leaders in the state legislature have also urged Kitzhaber to resign, according to local reports.
Oregon Senate President Peter Courtney confirms he and House Speaker Tina Kotek asked for Governor Kitzhaber’s resignation.
— Ken Boddie (@kenboddie) February 12, 2015
And KATU’s Anna Canzano reported that two of Kitzhaber’s top aides have resigned.
BREAKING Capitol source tells me @GovKitz Chief of Staff and his legislative liaison resigned today.
— Anna Canzano (@AnnaCanzanoKATU) February 12, 2015
Meh.
Several things your readers should know about Oregon, which, while not unique, has some distinctive differences in government.
In Oregon, “conflicts of interest” are NOT illegal. What can get you in trouble is “failure to disclose” any conflicts of interest by a public official. In Hayes case, her clients and her lobbying activity were well-known before the last election and voters re-elected Kitzhaber anyway.
So why are Oregon conflict of interest laws to lenient? The laws were written in the 1970s when Oregon legislators were still part-time and all of them had other employment. Virtually every bill created a conflict of interest for some member of the legislature, county commission or city council. If they recused themselves, they simply shifted the responsibility for legislating to others and on small governing bodies in particular, that created resentment. Hence, conflicts of interest are not illegal. Failure to disclose the conflict can get you prosecuted.
We will have to wait for further investigations, especially by Oregon’s Attorney General and the Oregon Government Ethic Commission, to determine if any of Hayes apparent conflicts of interest were not adequately disclosed. If Hayes failed to report any income, that is a matter between Hayes and the IRS and the Oregon Department of Revenue.
Oregonians have the right to recall any elected officials at almost any time. That “almost” looms large in Oregon right now. Oregon law prohibits recall petitions for the first six months of any newly or re-elected officials new term. This is called the “sore loser” provision and is designed to prevent political opponents from re-litigating an election they just lost. It will be the end of June before Kitzhaber’s conservative opponents can even begin to try to recall him.
As an Oregon resident, I appreciate the conservative and Republican frustration with a long stream of Democratic state-wide office-holders. But they only have themselves to blame. Since the mid-1980s, the Republicans have been unable to nominate a candidate who can win enough Democratic or Independent crossover voters to win a general election. Their uncompromising political purism has made the Republicans irrelevant to Oregon public life.
A last footnote: The Oregonian is not the state’s largest daily newspaper. While it is printed daily to keep its lucrative status as a “newspaper of general circulation,” it is only home-delivered four times a day and it is now struggling to maintain a web presence in the market with one of the kludge-filled websites ever "designed. The website is detonate for clicks and they have chosen the demand that Kitzhaber resign as their click bait to defend their relevance.
“Advance Publications” – the family of the what remains of the late S.I Newhouse publishing empire --has appointed a self-declared “Libertarian” publisher. He told his staff The Oregon will start showing it is a Libertarian paper and it’s circulation is plummeting. Even the local salmon refuse to be wrapped in it.
This is not just another opinion. I covered the Oregon Legislature and Oregon politics for more than 40 years for a syndicated group of Oregon newspaper, and television stations. It was a ringside seat.
Mr. Sadler, thank for illuminating the political climate in our Oregon. With the addition of Tina Kotek, and Peter Courtney now calling for the Governor’s resignation, the heat is upped considerably, don’t you think? In any case, I for one would be overjoyed to have Kate Brown as our Governor.
He hasn’t done anything worse than Chris Christie and nobody is asking him to resign. Democrats in Oregon are such cowards.
I do think that Democrats in Oregon are concerned with moving our state forward, i.e., actual governance, rather than the mere “appearance” of governance covering for the Republican policy of transferring the wealth of a state to its party’s donors. Kitzhaber at this point is dead weight.