Sec-State pot job scandal: Won’t talk to media, Kotek says investigate!

By Taxpayers Association of Oregon
OregonWatchdog.com

Oregon Secretary of State, Shemia Fagn, has come under fire for taking a side job as a consultant for a large marijuana businesses embroiled in a controversy over not paying millions in taxes, as the very businesses is being audited by … you guessed it … the Secretary of State Office.

Oregon Governor Tina Kotek has called for two different investigations (wow!)  One which will include the Oregon Government Ethics Commission and the other the Department of Justice to cover the just released audit.

The Oregonian blasted Shemia Fagan for ignoring their calls and not answering her door.

The Oregonian reports, “Yet for 24 hours after news broke Thursday that Fagan landed a paid contract consulting for an affiliate of an embattled cannabis company, the secretary of state repeatedly refused to answer basic questions about her side job working for La Mota, a politically connected Oregon-based business.  Fagan did not return a phone call from The Oregonian/OregonLive on Thursday, skipped a Friday morning press conference about an audit of state marijuana regulations released by her office and declined to come to the door of her Happy Valley home early Friday afternoon. As Fagan stood inside, an unidentified man came to the door and said the secretary of state was unavailable…They said Fagan had recused herself from the audit in February once she “contemplated a private consulting contract with a cannabis company before the contract started. But by the time Fagan walled herself off from involvement with the audit, it was effectively complete. Audit records revealed that Fagan was heavily involved early on, urging auditors to get input from dispensary chain La Mota’s co-owner Rosa Cazares, now one of Fagan’s employers.” (there’s more to read here).

This marijuana consulting job is Shemia Fagan’s third job as she is also a Willamette University teacher in addition to pot consultant and Secretary of State.

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