Former Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber Agrees to Pay $1,000 Penalty for Ethics Violations

Former Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber has agreed to pay a $1,000 penalty to the state for ethics violations stemming from his failure to disclose potential conflicts of interest presented by the consulting business of First Lady Cylvia Hayes.

The Oregon Government Ethics Commission found that Kitzhaber likely violated state ethics laws on four occasions—three of them by failing to tell the public about how Hayes' private consulting business presented possible conflicts with the governor's policy decisions.

Those findings, along with the financial settlement, were announced this morning in the commission's agenda.

The settlement marks one of the final stages in an influence-peddling scandal that forced Kitzhaber's resignation from office in 2015. The FBI abandoned an investigation earlier this year without filing charges.

In 2014, WW first reported that Hayes, who was Kitzhaber's fiancée and worked on environmental and energy policy in the governor's office, also ran a consulting business, 3E Strategies, that advocated for clean-energy clients. Further revelations about Hayes' dual roles led to Kitzhaber abruptly resigning office months into his fourth term as governor.

The Ethics Commission's findings say that Kitzhaber likely broke the law in three separate years—2011, 2012 and 2013—but not telling the public that Hayes worked both as a governor's advisor and a private consultant.

"Dr. Kitzhaber's failure to make public announcements—through press releases, for instance—of the nature of his potential conflicts of interest related to 3E Strategies during 2011 constituted a violation of ORS 244.120(2)," the findings say.

The commission also found that Kitzhaber likely broke ethics laws in 2015 by accepting personal frequent flyer miles while traveling on state business.

In July, the commission found evidence to proceed with an investigation—but today's documents show that Kitzhaber agreed to pay a penalty instead.

Commission executive director Ron Bersin tells Oregon Public Broadcasting that the penalty was "higher than usual" for a first-time offender.

Updated at 12:40 Bersin says that the ethics commission will address complaints against Hayes at its Jan. 5, 2018 meeting.