Kitzhaber had downplayed Cylvia Hayes’s role in the administration, insisting she was not adviser or public official, which would require her to adhere to the ethics laws that he and his staff must uphold.
The emails show the very active role that Kitzhaber’s longtime companion played in his administration, as well as the tension that it sometimes raised with the governor’s staff. Hayes routinely attended meetings, was copied on emails among senior staff and requested information or clerical assistance from state employees.
Kitzhaber resigned amid scandal earlier this year over allegations that the former first lady used her relationship with him to land contracts for her business.
I missed the entire Kerfuffle to the extent that us having a new governor came as a complete surprise. But after reading the strident denials of her inclusion and ethical questions this disclosure does not surprise me in the least.
Power corrupts and we as a culture were aware of this, we make laws, rules and regulations in order to prevent Banana Republic governance. But apparently this is not enough. The enforcement has been subverted by the wink and a nod and look the other way mindset. This costs us all, because the profits reaped from such practices take tax dollars out of the communities pockets and deposits them in those who have the power to implement policy.
This is a new age where bloggers can make a difference, an age unseen since the moveable type press became available to the poli. It is past time to look in every crevice in every level of government and root out this corruption.
9:17 AM PT: Signing off. Will be intermittent until I find a portable WiFi.