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Portland's independently elected auditor, Mary Hull Caballero, issued warnings to Mayor Charlie Hales and Commissioner Steve Novick on Tuesday, saying the two city leaders had violated city code by failing to record on their public calendars a December 2014 meeting with Uber lobbyists at the home of political consultant-turned-lobbyist Mark Wiener.
"The failure to record the meeting on your public calendar constitutes a violation of city code 2.12.070.D," the Sept. 1 letters to Hales and Novick read. "Violations of this provision may result in a civil penalty of up to $500. However, because this appears to be a first-time violation, we are closing this matter with a warning."
Portland adopted rules requiring lobbyists to disclose their activities—and city officials to report interactions and gifts from lobbyists—in 2005 to bring transparency to the influence of private entities on the public's business. "The disinfecting light of this ordinance will shine on our decision making [and] will make the city government a sunnier place, not just for the political class, but for all Portlanders, even on the rainiest day," said then-Commissioner Sam Adams, who was instrumental in crafting the rules, which went into effect in 2006.
Hales' and Novick's failure to disclose their meeting with Uber came to light after city leaders raised questions about Wiener's role in Uber's entrance to the Portland market. Wiener has alternated between working as a political consultant to Hales and Novick and as a lobbyist for Uber, a dual role that some argue blurs the line between public and private interests. Wiener has defended his conduct by saying he wasn't being paid simultaneously by city officials and Uber.
In an email to the auditor sent Tuesday morning, Novick apologized. "It should not happen again," he wrote.
A spokesman for the mayor, Dana Haynes, responded to a request for comment with an email. "We take the issue of public notice seriously and strive to meet all obligations," he wrote. "Occasionally, meetings either come together too quickly or too late in the day to be reflected in the calendar; or fail to come together because of conflicts, which also doesn't get reflected in the public calendar. We will continue to attempt to capture all such meetings."
WWeek 2015