This one has now hit the national news
The Wall Street Journal
Oregon’s secretary of state is resigning after it was revealed that she worked on the side as a consultant for a cannabis company, earning $10,000 a month, while her office was overseeing an audit of the state’s marijuana regulator.
Democrat Shemia Fagan announced her resignation Tuesday, as fallout and political pressure over the consulting job grew. Gov. Tina Kotek last week asked the Oregon Government Ethics Commission to investigate Ms. Fagan’s dealings. Gov. Kotek also asked the state’s Justice Department to look into a recent audit of the cannabis industry overseen by the secretary of state’s office.
Ms. Fagan had recused herself from the audit in February, before her consulting work began, according to a memo published alongside the audit.
Day after apologizing and dropping side job, Fagan resigns as Secretary of State
Gov. Tina Kotek said she supports the decision and that it’s the “first step” in rebuilding trust in the office
Secretary of State Shemia Fagan will resign next Monday, a little more than a week after news broke of her moonlighting for a troubled cannabis company that played a key role in an audit conducted by her office.
Fagan’s emailed announcement on Tuesday followed a tearful virtual press conference on Monday during which she apologized for breaking trust with Oregonians and said she couldn’t survive on her $77,000 state salary. She has also ended her $10,000-a-month contract with La Mota, a cannabis company whose co-owner donated $45,000 to her campaign.
The Oregon Government Ethics Commission began investigating Fagan’s contract on April 28 in response to a written complaint and has since received a second complaint, Executive Director Ron Bersin said in an email. There’s a 60-day preliminary review process for complaints before the commission decides whether to dismiss or launch a full investigation.
Gov. Tina Kotek urged the commission to investigate and asked the Department of Justice to analyze the recent Secretary of State audit of the cannabis industry for any influence Fagan had had on that. It indicated that looser regulation would help the industry.
“While I am confident that the ethics investigation will show that I followed the state’s legal and ethical guidelines in trying to make ends meet for my family, it is clear that my actions have become a distraction from the important and critical work of the Secretary of State’s office,” Fagan said in a statement.
“Protecting our state’s democracy and ensuring faith in our elected leaders – these are the reasons I ran for this office,” she continued. “They are also the reasons I will be submitting my resignation today.”
Deputy Secretary Cheryl Myers will oversee the agency until Gov. Tina Kotek appoints a new secretary to serve through the 2024 election. The Secretary of State’s Office is in the midst of overseeing the May 16 special districts election, with ballots already in voters’ hands.
“This is a resilient agency, with strong division leadership and internal systems that can withstand change,” Myers said in a statement. “We are ready to continue the important work of the Secretary of State’s office during this transition.”
Kotek said in a statement that she learned Fagan would resign on Tuesday morning and that she supported the decision.
“It is essential that Oregonians have trust in their government,” she said. “I believe this is a first step in restoring that trust.”
The secretary of state is next in line for the governorship because Oregon doesn’t have a lieutenant governor.
House Speaker Dan Rayfield of Corvallis, Senate President Rob Wagner of Lake Oswego, House Majority Leader Julie Fahey of Eugene and Senate Majority Leader Kate Lieber of Beaverton, all Democrats, said in a joint statement that Fagan’s decision to resign will allow the state to move on and build trust.
“As elected leaders, we know that our work depends solely on our ability to hold the trust of the people we serve and represent,” they said. “Secretary of State Fagan’s severe lapses of judgment eroded trust with the people of Oregon, including legislators who depend on the work of the Audits Division for vital information on public policy.”
Day after apologizing and dropping side job, Fagan resigns as Secretary of State
Also at OPB
Oregon Secretary of State Shemia Fagan will resign next week, a stunning fall from grace for a top Democrat who once looked like a good bet to climb to higher office.
The secretary announced Tuesday that she will step down May 8. The resignation is the swift reaction to a mounting scandal over her decision to accept lucrative side work as a cannabis consultant. Her deputy, Cheryl Myers, will step into the position until Gov. Tina Kotek appoints a successor.
Fagan’s announcement followed days of escalating fallout over revelations, first reported by Willamette Week, that she’d inked a $10,000-per-month contract with the owners of an Oregon cannabis chain at the same time her office audited state regulations on cannabis businesses. The cannabis entrepreneurs are also high-profile Democratic donors.
https://www.opb.org/article/2023/05/02/shemia-fagan-resign-cannabis-oregon-secretary-state/
