Delayed Capitol investigation may hurt Kotek’s Governor bid

By Taxpayers Association of Oregon
OregonWatchdog.com

A fellow former Democrat lawmaker has accused the former House Speaker, Tina Kotek, of abusing her power as she “threatened to kill legislation, demote lawmakers and end one former legislator’s political career as she sought support for a high-stakes bill has been under investigation for more than 16 months — far longer than the 84-day window in which legislative policy says such matters should be resolved.”

OPB further reports, “…the document does show that Hernandez has been consistent in his account. He texted other lawmakers about being bullied by Kotek immediately after he says the threats occurred in May 2019…An outside attorney — paid more than $350 an hour — has yet to release findings nearly 500 days after Hernandez filed the complaint. That’s far longer than any other investigation made public since lawmakers enacted a new policy on workplace conduct in 2019, and possibly ever.”

The report is obviously being delayed and poses a massive threat to the Tina Kotek campaign for Governor.

This abuse of power is exactly what another Oregon Democrat Lawmaker has said this year when State Representative Marty Wilde stated;

“I could not continue to participate in a caucus that had stopped acting democratically. We had failed to set a positive example of transparency and engagement and stopped supporting laws that returned power to the people we represent. Instead, we let our partisan desire to maintain power override our duty to the people….Since I joined the caucus in 2019 as a freshman legislator, it has become less and less democratic. My fellow Democratic lawmakers and I met privately each day during the legislative session. We debated proposals like the Student Success Act and public pension reform, and we did not even inform the public about the topics of our discussions and preemptive decisions…Over time, we even stopped debating the issues, as caucuses became a forum for leadership to give orders to ensure the Democratic agenda prevailed over the Republicans’ agenda, regardless of whether it was in the public interest…worst of all, leadership positions were filled based on success in fundraising, not merit or expertise. The House Democratic leaders even stopped telling the caucus members about their discussions. In effect, the content and direction of legislation for all of Oregon was decided by a group of 10 or fewer people picked by their ability to raise money, in secret.”

This abuse of power is similar to when then-Speaker Kotek violated her pledge to produce a bipartisan equal redistricting commission.  Both Democrat and Republican lawmakers unsuccessfully sued against Kotek’s biased plan.

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