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Former Gov. John Kitzhaber remains under federal criminal investigation related to influence peddling allegations that led to his Feb. 18, 2015 resignation. But that investigation isn't stopping the City Club of Portland from putting him on stage as part of an Aug. 1 panel on healthcare reform.
Kitzhaber is scheduled to appear alongside Dr. Donald Berwick, the former head of the federal Center for Medicare and & Medicaid Services, and Dr. Alicia Moreland-Capuia, medical director of Volunteers for America Oregon and part of the Avel Gordly Center for Healing at OHSU.
It's not surprising that Kitzhaber would want to appear in front of a City Club audience alongside other healthcare experts as he attempts to re-enter civic life.
City Club's decision to lend its name to him, however, could seem at odds with the impetus for the club's founding.
A century ago, Portland leaders founded the organization as an antidote to the corruption and cronyism characteristic of that age.
"A wave of progressive reform swept the United States," the club's history says. "Widespread disenchantment with the entrenched corporate and political elites led to an era marked by Theodore Roosevelt's "trust-busting," the struggle for women's suffrage, prohibition, Upton Sinclair's The Jungle, and labor activism."
Best known for its lengthy research reports on topical issues, candidate debates and Friday forums at the Sentinel Hotel, City Club is a bastion of Portland's progressive establishment.
It also has a history of helping politicians redeem themselves. After a scandal involving a former legislative intern named Beau Breedlove limited former Mayor Sam Adams to one term, he landed his first post-mayoral job as City Club executive director in 2013.
That job gave Adams an opportunity to polish his resume before moving on to head the World Resources Institute's Climate Initiative.
Adams' successor as City Club executive director, Mike Marshall, is no stranger to Kitzhaber—he served as the former governor's 2014 campaign manager.
And now, Marshall will help his old boss re-introduce himself to the public. He says City Club is fortunate that Kitzhaber will participate in the event.
"John Kitzhaber is one of the foremost experts on healthcare in this state," Marshall says. "The upcoming forum will be much more impactful with his participation. Our volunteer members organizing the event are grateful he's making the time to share his views."
The president of City Club's board board of governors, former state Rep. Greg Macpherson (D-Lake Oswego), didn't respond to a request for comment.
Macpherson's predecessor as board president, DHM pollster John Horvick, says he knew nothing about Kitzhaber's appearance but said he sees no problem unless or until Kitzhaber is charged with a crime.
Bill Parish, a Portland financial advisor, longtime City Club member and financial watchdog, also defends the club's decision.
"Putting Kitzhaber on the stage to discuss health care may not be politically correct yet it is a great courageous decision by the City Club," Parish said in an email. "He provides an invaluable voice, rooted in competence, to the key issues regarding health care."
Even the Oregon District Attorney's Association seems fine with Kitzhaber's appearance.
"Governor Kitzhaber has not been convicted of any misconduct," says ODAA lobbyist Kevin Neely. "The ODAA doesn't have a position on whether or not he should be included on the panel."
One longtime Kitzhaber associate, however says the former governor would be better served by keeping a low profile until his legal issues are resolved.
"With [approval] numbers as low as his, everything he does will have the opposite effect of what he's hoping for," the Kitzhaber associate says. "The best advice you can give someone in his position is from an old country song: "How Can I Miss If You if Won't Go Away?"
Willamette Week