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Oregon Secretary of State Tobias Read continued his overhaul of the agency he took control of in January, deleting a controversial 2023 audit of the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission from his agency’s archive.
“Protecting the integrity of the Audits Division and ensuring audits standards are rigorously adhered to is a responsibility of leadership,” Read said. “I do not believe the prior management of the audit functions at the Secretary of State’s Office lived up to that obvious and unambiguous responsibility. I am glad to bring this process to a conclusion that demonstrates a commitment to audit standards and common sense.”
One of the secretary of state’s primary duties is overseeing the Audits Division. As WW first reported, then-Secretary of State Shemia Fagan consulted with Rosa Cazares, a principal in the troubled cannabis chain La Mota, before her auditors examined the OLCC. Cazares proposed language that Fagan then used to try to shape the scope of the audit. That was significant because La Mota had clashed with the OLCC, which regulates the cannabis industry.
Fagan resigned in 2023 after WW reported that she’d taken an undisclosed $10,000-a-month consulting contract with La Mota, earning more from the cannabis company than she did from her elected position.
A subsequent Oregon Department of Justice investigation included a determination by a California consulting firm that repeated communications between Fagan and La Mota and Fagan and the audit team undermined the independence of the audit.
Related: Investigation Recommends State Pull Down Cannabis Audit Because of Fagan’s Moonlighting
“Given the known threat to the independence of the audit organization (the Office of the Secretary of State) and the impact the perception of this threat has had on the OLCC audit report, we recommend that the SOS pull the audit report from the publicly accessible website and perform additional audit work,” the outside report said.
But then-Secretary of State LaVonne Griffin-Valade, whom Gov. Tina Kotek named to serve the remainder of Fagan’s term, declined to take the tainted audit down.
Read, who won election last November and immediately replaced Griffin-Valade’s elections and audits directors, overruled that decision today.
“My team and I concluded that the selection of the audit, the framework for the audit, and potential predetermination of its conclusions imperiled the audit from the outset,” Read said.
“The flawed selection and framework of the audit, the failure to carry out process improvements, and public records exposed by investigative reporting all evidence a process that did not honor this agency’s responsibility to Oregonians.”