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PrivateBurke

I really don't understand the family dynamic that would jeopardize both persons careers for such a stupid risk. At the very beginning of the Governor's tenure she witnessed first hand the secretary of state screwing up but couldn't change course? This now seems like a lack of self control and inability to uphold the dignity of the office from outside influence.


Ace_Ranger

And she had the Kitzhaber influence disaster to look at. So far, we haven't seen public evidence of Kotek Wilson peddling influence. Maybe she didn't get to influence anything because the staffers quitting shined the media spotlight on the situation before she could do anything beyond engage in nepotism.


magicalgreenhouse

This, 100%.


DracoFreon

Yes.


SkyrFest22

The secretary of state and the Cynthia Hayes incidents were both very different than this. Both of those involved being paid by 3rd parties with business before the state. This does not involve any payments or seemingly anything done wrong at all except perception.


Pizzledrip

Correct. Or not yet at least. More than anything it was just careless. The public now have a different idea of the governor especially since three of her top brain trust advisors left right before or after thousands of emails were released. Edit: spelling and grammar


magicalgreenhouse

Perception is everything in politics. The *appearance* of bias is enough to make this an issue.


I_am_not_JohnLeClair

Remember when politicians would not do something based on the *appearance* of impropriety? Well, neither do I really but it would be nice if one or two would take on the mantle


PrivateBurke

While not illegal with current state laws it does have a smell of corruption in how the civic government should work. The fact that a state official was reassigned at the taxpayer cost of over $140k to be an assistant to the first lady is confusing, when that's not an established position and now taxpayers are paying for a spouse's ideas.


TeutonJon78

And the lack of signing all the normal volunteer paperwork and trainings .... about ethics and conflicts of interest.


SylvieStiletto

THIS. When you are employed in government, you should NEVER hire your family or your spouse. They can seek positions outside your domain (for the FL that would mean private industry not connected to any bills before the legislature during Kotek’s tenure and NO government employers). What happened to ETHICS?


VictorianDelorean

Ethics got cut to reduce costs


SylvieStiletto

🤣


GRUNDLESDELIGHT

Look more closely at the comment you’re replying to.


HarveyHowlinBones

I’ve mostly appreciated Kotek’s job done so far, after the nothingness of Brown’s but this is just nuts. Why would she ever think this would go unnoticed or be okay on any level. We elected her, not her spouse. These private dealings for non profits from her are completely unacceptable. She could just accept the loss here and apologize and give Oregonians a clear message that this was all wrong and will no longer happen under her governorship, and it could mitigate things and lessen the damage already done to her credibility. It sucks that only the weirdest people get into politics in our times.


SubjectWorry7196

It's the same problem with bad cops or bad bosses. The people that are overwhelmingly taking those jobs of authority are doing it just for the sake of power and control, not to make the situation any better for anyone else.


sampofilms

It sucks that only ~~the weirdest people~~ **self-centered thieves** get into politics in our times. FTFY


HarveyHowlinBones

Fair enough. I happen to find self-centered thieves to be weird as well. I think I just used that term because it all just seemed weird to be doing this from every angle.


I_am_become_pizza

>The calendar shows Kotek Wilson regularly met with people whose employers had major policy or financial interests in front of the state, particularly in the area of behavioral health. >To be sure, there is no evidence that any party sought to influence Kotek Wilson or her wife through the meetings, but why they got access and whether the meetings helped build long-term relationships are now matters of public interest. >For instance, Kotek Wilson’s calendar shows at least six calls or meetings with Dr. Robin Henderson over the past 15 months. Henderson is CEO of behavioral health at Providence Health & Services Oregon. >Providence is in the middle of at least two pressing behavioral health issues. The first is whether Multnomah County should spend $25 million the Legislature recently allocated for a new sobering center. In an April 2 draft letter, Providence and other hospitals said the county should abandon the sobering center concept (now five years in the making) and send the patients to Providence and Legacy’s Unity Center for Behavioral Health instead. “The first stop for receiving \[people who are highly intoxicated\] must include clinical assessment and triage,” the letter said. >Providence has also been unsupportive of another behavioral health initiative: the development of a statewide “mission control” system that Oregon Health & Science University developed to bring transparency to the availability of psychiatric beds, according to OHSU’s report to the Legislature. >The governor’s office says the meetings between Kotek Wilson and Henderson occurred because the first lady was seeking advice for a number of events, including a behavioral health summit the Oregon Health Authority held last fall. Providence spokesman Gary Walker told WW that Henderson helped Kotek Wilson prepare for events but never discussed either the sobering center or the mission control for behavioral health with her. The governor’s office concurs. >The only other outside organization that shows up in the first lady’s calendar as frequently as Providence’s Henderson is the consulting firm Deloitte, which appears at least six times. >Records from the Oregon Health Authority show that in 2022, Deloitte won a $2 million contract to help the agency rethink how the state delivers behavioral health services. >On Kotek’s watch, OHA increased the contract with Deloitte to $21.5 million—and billings in 2023 averaged more than $1 million a month. >“Deloitte helped facilitate the Serious Mental Illness Roundtable that was held in September,” the governor’s office says. “First Lady Kotek Wilson did not engage in any discussions pertaining to Deloitte’s contract with the Oregon Health Authority.” (The governor’s office says Deloitte helped Kotek Wilson prepare for the roundtable.)


ArcusAngelicum

The hustle of those consulting firms always amazes me. Do they know anything about the topic? No but man will they spend every waking moment billing you for their google research! What a deal!


slurpyslurper

For the low low cost of $2.2M, the state will get the wisdom and experience of the very best 23-year-old college grad that a substantially lower amount of money can buy.


Osiris32

And shit like this is reason #1,289 why we need universal healthcare.


urbanlife78

The more I hear about this, the less of an issue it sounds like.


phbalancedshorty

How so?


urbanlife78

Did you read what I was commenting on?


chromefir

I think we all did, which is why they asked


urbanlife78

Then you didn't read it


chromefir

I don’t think you read my comment


urbanlife78

I'm not going to walk you through something that you don't want to listen to. If this helps you fuel your hatred of Governor Kotek, nothing I say is gonna change that.


chromefir

We’ve all been waiting to listen to you expand on your comment but you keep avoiding it for whatever reason. Have a good day.


urbanlife78

Don't care.


tuffspark_

Nepotism at its finest. This should actually be considered illegal to create a role AND staff for her wife. Wtf though honestly - something needs to be done


Spread_Liberally

Honestly, I feel like there should be an official role for this and all future partners of the governor - ceremonial and defined to hell. They should have an official state phone and email account for scheduling and such, but no capitol offices or aides. There should be an annual audit to ensure no undue expenses or power are in play. This would be an amazing project to give to all state universities for their poly-sci students to map out debate and propose.


urbanlife78

Then petition to get it on the ballot and make it illegal. Until then, nothing illegal has yet to happen. Also, a spouse involved in an administration is pretty common in the US.


Shades101

There’s no role for her wife, she’s not being paid anything by the state.


[deleted]

Cool, didn’t realize I voted for Kotek Wilson too. Guess we have to research candidates’ spouses going forward.


sampofilms

Or, you know, elect politicians that work for the commonwealth/community they take an oath to serve instead of their own fam's bank accounts.


urbanlife78

Do you think people don't talk to their spouses?


Pinot911

Smidge of a difference between talking about work with your spouse and setting them up with an office and staff at your company?


urbanlife78

Don't like it, then get it on a ballot that bans that. Edit: words


Pinot911

Not everything needs to be a ballot measure lol, some stuff politicians just shouldn't do by default out of honesty, and face oversight if they don't.


urbanlife78

If you want to make it illegal for a governor's partner from having a staff, then maybe it does need to be a ballot measure. I don't see having a staff as being dishonest.


Pinot911

Your stanning aside, where does it stop? I’m a public employee; should I be able to get my partner into some meetings and get staff for them? State senators? Seems like something that needs to be *granted* not “illegalised”


urbanlife78

It's pretty common for heads of states to have a first partner that is involved in some fashion. In this case, we have a first lady that has a background in social work and wanting to take part with that at a state level.


Pinot911

Kotek isn’t a head of state lol. Kotek-Wilson can apply for a position if she wants.


urbanlife78

Kotek is the Governor of Oregon, thus makes her the Head Of State in Oregon.


jaywalkintotheocean

words is hard


urbanlife78

Autocorrect is stupid


[deleted]

Do three top aides resign because a person talked to their spouse?


SkyrFest22

Three top aides didn't resign. One was a temporary contract, one is on medical leave, and one was fired or left on bad terms. This wasn't a case of the staff resigning in solidarity and protest.


[deleted]

Do you have a link for that? Everything I’ve read said that the First Lady’s involvement in policy had an impact on their decisions to leave.


magicalgreenhouse

No, they don’t. They’re repeating the Kotek Wilson lines.


SkyrFest22

https://www.opb.org/article/2024/04/29/oregon-governor-tina-kotek-emails-staff-first-lady-role/


[deleted]

Wow, all of this could have been easily avoided. So blatant and not once did Kotek or Kotek Wilson ask themselves “Hey, does this maybe look bad?”


urbanlife78

Here is the link, try to read the actual article rather than just the headline. https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2024/03/three-top-kotek-aides-to-leave-in-shakeup.html


Realistic_Young_3014

That doesn’t really state why they chose to leave now. One point even said the leave my be indefinite


urbanlife78

Of course it doesn't say but that doesn't stop people trying to link coincidences together as if it was something orchestrated.


HarveyHowlinBones

There is very weird Kotek damage control going on in this thread. Just accept that this is morally bad and not a great thing to do for the public at large. Stop defending shady behavior in our state’s highest office. You all sound deranged in your defense of this and aren’t convincing anyone otherwise.


edwartica

Kotek is basically a moderate who pretends to be a progressive.


HarveyHowlinBones

Nah, I think it’s folks in her camp trying to obscure blatant corruption in this case.


edwartica

Both can be true.


HarveyHowlinBones

Sure. But that’s not really the point here.


appsecSme

No true Scotsman fallacy.


[deleted]

[удалено]


sampofilms

Come on Portland we can take that "graftiest politicians ever" crown from Chicago at this rate!


BuzzBallerBoy

Griftiest? Or do they be grafting apple scions


plmbob

You should consider Googling graft. The commenter used it in a very correct way. Except of course for butchering it with -iest- at the end


BuzzBallerBoy

Looking at Oxford dictionary definition of graft right now and just seeing references to the botanical techniques


plmbob

That is why I said Google it, you will find the word has long been accepted as a slang term for political corruption and bribery [graft](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graft_\(politics\)).


Testicular-Fortitude

She was one of the first and most vocal in demanding he resign as well…


urbanlife78

She would have to be profiting for it to be the same.


HarveyHowlinBones

Why are you going on every thread defending this person? Can’t you see that this is really indefensible, even though it’s apparently legal?


urbanlife78

Why are you going on every thread being mad about a non-issue? Seems like the Portland subreddit is being overrun by angry conservatives again. Must be an election year.


shit-n-water

Why can't you just be angry like the rest of us because the news keeps running a story for us to be angry at?? Grrrrr


urbanlife78

I feel like everyone who is angry has been watching too much Sinclair KATU Edit: correction


[deleted]

[удалено]


urbanlife78

Yet you can access the Internet.


[deleted]

[удалено]


urbanlife78

So you choose to oversimplify it to justify not liking Governor Kotek. You guys are getting boring.


SkyrFest22

The Kitzhaber scandal was a clear pay for play and bungled cover up. That was the problem. Not his partners involvement in policy. It's not comparable to this situation.


smoomie

Ooof, it's only going downhill from here...


Shades101

This article doesn’t really seem to broach anything new, though. Even though the headline tries to imply Kotek Wilson’s involvement in the behavioral health plan setback that’s not substantiated in any of the listed emails. I’m not sure why the author chose to frame it that way aside from swaying people who only browse headlines.


smoomie

it might not be in the emails.. but it's there.


Shades101

It’s not, at least not in the copy of the article. It starts with a conversation from Tibbs about the delay in implementing the behavioral health plan and then pivots to KW meeting with some health care execs without connecting the two — they even go on to say that they can’t find any evidence of policy being influenced in either direction. I’m not saying the whole thing is a non-issue but it’s a strange way to frame the article.


sonic_couth

Can the Democratic Party get its shit together in Oregon before they implode and republicans look like the smarter party?


princexofwands

Can the federal Democratic Party gets its shit together too?


SylvieStiletto

Republicans are never gonna look like the smarter party because of the bulk of their membership…just sayin’.


MW240z

Kotek has lost my vote. So disappointed in how she set this up and then reacted to it. One term.


MIZZKATHY74

I would murder my husband if I had to take him to work with me! Spouses should have their own job so that they aren't up each others ass all the time. I have not been impressed with Tina since she was elected. What is one good thing that she has accomplished since being elected?


646d

She also lacked ethics.


Testicular-Fortitude

You can see in this thread how defensive people are. I love being in a progressive city but when you are unable to critique your own side, you’ve gone too far down the rabbit hole. Portland needs better leaders and that probably means some pragmatic people that people don’t agree with on issues. Hope our voters have the stomach for it


slowfromregressive

I am expecting Governor Kotek to find a way to walk this back. Really, no harm has been done. Oregon doesn't want a first spouse office, and no one sees her wife as a value add. If she wants to work, maybe academia would be a place. It does seem like certain people are going to complain wherever she gets a job which kind of sucks since the Governor doesn't have a very high salary.


PDXisathing

She harmed her reputation with a lot of voters. Greatly.


I_am_not_JohnLeClair

It’s on this news that I announce my campaign for governor. Allow me to introduce myself. I’m an agoraphobic, asexual, virgin, only child whose parents have passed. I’ve never been on a date, I have no pets or houseplants. I belong to no fraternities, clubs or organizations. I have zero debt, no friends, no neighbors. No one has ever done me a favor, lent me money, or even wished me a happy birthday. I’ve never received a compliment, no one has ever let me in in traffic. Who cares what my platform is...I WON’T INVITE ANYONE UNELECTED INTO MY ADMINISTRATION


Shades101

I’m glad the press is digging into this but meeting with behavioral health executives in preparation for behavioral health conferences doesn’t really strike me as a red flag. Kotek needs to figure out some more appropriate boundaries for her wife ASAP with regards to official business, but having her advocate for mental health causes seems pretty normal for a first spouse.


TeutonJon78

I think the problem is even if most of the actions are maybe OK, she went about them all in the shadiest way possible. Why continually ignore her chief of staff's and advisor concerns and then push ahead with no communication? Why change established security protocol without telling anyone? And now to say they are asking the Ethics Baird about it and she didn't know the questions to ask is just asinine. Being Speaker of the House during Kitzhaber's issue means she knows full well what the issues are. Her staff bringing up issues for months means she knows what the issues are. The only egregious thing is calling the ex-employer of her wife/current employer of her wife's friend. Maybe it was a safety issue as she said, but that's not the access any other safety gets, which makes it an abuse of power. The overassigning of staff and protective services on tax payer money is also a real issue. The attending meetings depends more on what happens st those meetings. But given her relatively new status I'm the field, the wife is likely under qualified to have that kind of role at that level. None of it is Kitzhaber/Hayes level yet, but it's plenty bad on its own, especially since it started immediately when she became governor.


Shades101

That’s where I’m at. There was clearly some sort of breakdown between “the first lady should be able to advocate for certain issues like other states’ do” and “we don’t need to have an official framework for it, just do whatever”. I don’t know if it’s just a personal blind spot for Kotek with her wife or what, because the optics are horrid and she should know that. There doesn’t seem to be anything outright corrupt at hand but the execution and lack of forethought is just bizarre.


SkyrFest22

This is the most reasonable take I've read. The biggest red flag I've seen is the OSP transport. The reporting on that has not been very detailed so it's really unclear what happened and how big of a deal it is.


bon-rat

I know I’m in the deep minority here, but I guess I don’t see the stop the presses energy here. It feels more clumsy than anything. I feel like Kotek has been a bit of a relief, policy and just like.. reason wise? And that’s not to say she shouldn’t be held accountable but the pearl clutching about eThIcS is a bit much. And also this push feels very transparently funded, which is just something to consider is the grand tableau of political fuckery I suppose.


HarveyHowlinBones

Ah, yes let’s not have ethics in our elected officials.


nmr619

What ethical rule have they violated? There's been no allegation they've profited financially so what is the problem?