The Oregon Government Ethics Commission is not launching a full ethics investigation into Gov. Tina Kotek and complaints related to First Lady Aimee Kotek Wilson’s role in her administration.
A vote to move forward with an investigation failed Friday during an executive session of the ethics commission, a nine-member citizen commission that enforces the state’s government ethics laws. One member of the commission was absent during the meeting.
“The information in this case does not appear to establish a substantial objective basis to believe that Governor Kotek violated the conflict of interest prohibited use of office or nepotism statutes,” Susan Myers, director of the commission, said.
The decision comes three months after it was revealed that top staff in the governor’s office had raised concerns about Kotek Wilson’s involvement, and then Kotek sought guidance from the ethics commission to define her wife’s role and eventually apologized amid the resulting backlash.
Myers confirmed on April 2 that the agency had received complaints against Kotek, shortly after OPB and Willamette Week reports tied the departure of three of Kotek’s top aides to friction over Kotek Wilson’s involvement in the governor’s office. The commission’s preliminary report released Friday reveals it received two complaints on March 25 and multiple additional complaints in the following weeks.
The ethics commission had 60 days to complete a preliminary review of the complaints received related to the First Lady’s role.
Emails released by Gov. Tina Kotek’s office detail concerns with First Lady’s role
The governor’s office on April 26 released more than 6,000 pages of records detailing questions and concerns from some of her former staff members about Kotek Wilson’s expanding role.
Records included an email from former special adviser Abby Tibbs referencing “several months” of requests from former Deputy Chief of Staff Lindsey O’Brien, former chief of Staff Andrea Cooper and herself for clarity about the role of the first spouse.
“I continue to believe that the office has an obligation to not only meet the letter of the law/ethics rules but exceed them and center the spirit of the laws/ethics rules because there are significant issues of public trust and the obligation to the people of Oregon,” Tibbs wrote on March 15. “I know there’s a shared commitment to ensuring that a first spouse has an opportunity to do meaningful work for an administration and for that work to be supportive of the success of the entire administration and center the highest degree of accountability and public trust, there are many considerations and issues that need to be addressed.”
The emails released also detail concerns with increased staffing and security for the first lady. Another email from Tibbs was sent in February to a member of the office’s behavioral health team saying she was committing to writing a prior discussion the two had about a request the governor made which she called “highly inappropriate.”
The governor asked the team member to call Cascadia Behavioral Health, where Kotek Wilson once worked, to discuss a friend of Kotek Wilson who was upset with her supervisor, according to Tibbs’ email.
“I also want to just recognize again that requests, and actions by the FL and/or Governor like the ones above are indeed highly inappropriate at best, and you flagging this and anything else that doesn’t feel right for me and Coop [Andrea Cooper] is totally the right thing to do,” Tibbs wrote. “The Governor has been reminded several times now of the power she and the FL hold in this office and externally and the appropriate use of their power.”
The emails also discuss the hiring of a new aide who joined the governor’s office on March 25 as a temporary six-month advisor charged solely with exploring “the establishment of the office of the First Spouse.”
Governor calls off efforts to establish Office of the First Spouse
After the emails were released, Kotek announced on May 1 that she was stopping her efforts to expand the role of the first lady and apologized for her “approach.”
“After listening to and reflecting on the concerns of Oregonians who have contacted my office, as well as the advice of staff, I want to be clear about next steps: There will not be an Office of the First Spouse. There will not be a position of Chief of Staff to the First Spouse,” Kotek said during a news conference.
“I am sorry for the way this conversation between my office and you has started,” Kotek said.
The preliminary…
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