Report on alleged ethics violations by Rep. Greg Smith could be delayed until after primary

The Oregon Government Ethics Commission was expected at its monthly meeting on Friday to share the findings of an investigation into allegations that Rep. Greg Smith, a Republican from Heppner, took pay from his work on a public development authority in eastern Oregon while he was otherwise doing work for his consulting business and working as a state legislator. Commission staff have 180 days to complete an investigation, and commission members voted to launch the investigation into Smith in October.

Instead, Smith’s attorney in February requested and received a time waiver to explore potential settlement negotiations, forgoing any public meeting on the matter until deliberations have concluded.

Susan Myers, executive director of the ethics commission, said in an email that negotiations are ongoing, and that it’s not uncommon for people under ethics investigations to pursue settlement negotiations. Smith did not respond to a call, text or email from the Capital Chronicle on Wednesday.

He is currently running for reelection in the May primary against Jim Doherty, a former Morrow County commissioner and rancher who has been trying to make Smith’s ethics concerns a key issue in the race.

Postponing means the earliest the commission might discuss the latest Smith investigation is at its meeting on May 8, a little more than a week after election officials begin mailing primary ballots to voters, and roughly a week before the May 19 primary. It could even happen in the months following the primary.

“We cannot calculate at this point when that process might end or whether the negotiations will be successful,” Myers wrote. “Political calendars and any other concerns do not play a role in the decision to agree to waive time in a case.”

The commission late last year found Smith leveraged his job as a public official to illegally secure a raise for his work as director of the Columbia Development Authority of Boardman and then improperly kept the excess pay. Smith abruptly resigned from the authority in January after contract negotiations became fraught.

Earlier this year, the commission also found Smith violated state ethics laws when he did not fully disclose clients of his private consulting company on the economic interest statements he must file annually as a public official. The commission dinged him for the same violation last year.

Doherty, Smith’s challenger for the House seat representing nine mostly eastern Oregon counties, said he believes Smith asked for the time waiver and possible settlement because he’s “facing the electorate in the May 19 election.”

“It’s the cornerstone of what I’m running for: clean water and clean government. And, you know, the plethora of ethics violations he’s faced this year is outstanding, frankly,” Doherty said.

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