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The U.S. Department of Labor reads WW. For more than two years, in a dozen articles, reporter Nigel Jaquiss unpacked the questionable real estate transactions that Dr. Robert Pamplin oversaw as both buyer and seller, at the expense of the pensioners who worked for his family’s companies. On Dec. 26, Pamplin settled a lawsuit brought by federal labor regulators, who will oversee a trustee selling off Pamplin land holdings in order to make the pension fund whole for the “illegal” deals he executed (“Empire for Sale,” Jan. 15). Regulators told the Oregon Journalism Project and The Oregonian they learned of Pamplin’s dealings by reading about them in WW. Here’s what our readers had to say:
FocusElsewhereNow: “Good! Props to Willamette Week for breaking this huge story and to the legal system for doing its job.”
trpljmp, via wweek.com: “Good job, WW!
“Local independent news reporting has value. There is no doubt that WW’s work, at the very least, kept this issue on the front burner and nudged the feds into action.
“There is no way Pamplin’s papers would have covered this, and any OLive coverage just repeated WW’s work.
“Corporate-owned media are one of the major problems facing this country.”
Susie Lynn, via Bluesky: “Taking down legacy mega-rich white men can apparently be a thing.”
5taylor5, via wweek.com: “It’s painfully hilarious that [Jordan] Schnitzer considers Pamplin as ‘struggling.’
“I worked for a community newspaper until Pamplin bought it and cut 25% of the staff. I was also on board as a freelancer for the first few years of the Tribune. Pamplin started that run by showing up at the offices and literally handing out hundred-dollar bills; I eventually left after seeing the paper dwindle to almost nothing as my column inches were whittled away.
“‘Struggling’ is trying to pay the bills while working in a profession that’s being squeezed dry by billionaires who care nothing for the people who make them wealthy. Pamplin isn’t struggling. He’s another entitled monster.
“Eat the rich.”
Daniel Eizyk, via Facebook: “No prison time? What’s with that? Seems like millions of dollars in fraud and theft should warrant at least a bit of time in the slammer.”
florgblogle, via Reddit: “Just glad that he lived to suffer the public beating of his reputation as a consequence. What he did was absolutely unacceptable. So if his legacy was the most important thing to him personally, well, maybe he’ll spend his final years wallowing in shame and regret for stealing from his pensioners.”
Nick Parish, via Bluesky: “It takes a special kind of vampire to get rich off natural resource extraction, then suck the lifeblood from those who bled the earth for you. What a crook.”
yourmothersgun, via Reddit: “It’s always the ones you most suspect.”
Richard Ellmyer, via wweek.com: “Bravo, Nigel and WW. Well done. I have been following this story for years. It’s about time Pamplin was caught and paid up. No doubt this illegal maneuver will be prominently noted on plaques at Lewis & Clark College and the University of Portland and taught in their classrooms. Perhaps announced at their next patron awards dinners.”
Jerry, via wweek.com: “I hope the monetary trouble that Pamplin is in will lead to Ross Island being owned totally by the city of Portland. As some of us have envisioned, it could become Portland’s Central Park with many amenities for all. There are several tax scenarios that can be employed to benefit the Pamplin Retirement Fund. It is doable.”
Letters to the editor must include the author’s street address and phone number for verification. Letters must be 250 or fewer words. Submit to: P.O. Box 10770, Portland, OR 97296Email: mzusman@wweek.com