Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber just can’t catch a break these days.
From discovering that his fiancée illegally married someone so that they could obtain a green card to dealing with the realization that she has also been using her influence for personal financial gain — he may want to turn to eHarmony for help.
Cylvia Hayes, the governor’s fiancée, fessed up about her illegal marriage. She also came forward about purchasing land in her past to illegally grow marijuana and is now being accused of using her self-identifying title as “first lady” to gain consulting work and big bucks from companies that conducted business with the State of Oregon.
One of the most troubling accusations is that Hayes reportedly received $118,000 for a fellowship with a green energy group, a tidy total that did not match the one she filed on her annual earnings report.
It comes as no surprise that a recall effort has begun. The effort is led by the former policy and campaign managers for the campaign to elect republican Dennis Richardson for governor — whom Kitzhaber defeated in 2014.
Secretary of State Kate Brown invalidated a recall petition because under Oregon law, an official must have been in office for at least six months prior to the launch of a recall. The recall can’t be initiated until June, however, an ethics investigation is already underway and won’t be due until March.
Given the delay, wouldn’t it be sensible to have a cooling off period? Give Kitzhaber some time to decide what he’s going to do about separating his personal life from his political life and how he’s going to win back the public’s trust.
Cylvia Hayes apparently lacks good judgement. She has made extremely poor decisions and Kitzhaber’s primary lapse appears to be allowing her to run roughshod over ethical considerations and use her position to garner and sell influence. Because she is close to the governor, her behavior raises red flags, but there’s still no evidence of illegal acts on Kitzhaber’s part.
It’s inappropriate for her to be making money from people who are doing business with the state but then again it’s being judged that the only reason for hiring her is that she sleeps with the governor.
I think the main concern is whether any of these “ill gotten gains” she profited from have gone into his pocket. If not, then the case is primarily against her, and again, it’s largely circumstantial. It may look bad and may even lead to the governor’s undoing, but at this point where’s the evidence that a crime has been committed by him?
In the interim, Hayes should step down from any and all contracts she holds with businesses seeking favors from the State of Oregon, and agree not to take any more on while her fiancé remains in office.
After all, there’s more than just a little political opportunism here. Republicans who lost against Kitzhaber are clearly trying to take advantage of a scandal to win what they couldn’t in the general election.
Given there cannot be any recall effort launched until June, and the ethics investigation won’t be completed until sometime in March, why the rush to judgement? Let’s take a little time to get this right.  It could be that Kitzhaber should choose his romantic partners more carefully. At a minimum, he owes the people of Oregon an explanation. In the meantime, he should show Hayes the door and lock it behind him.
Until we know for sure what happened, everyone should take a break from the witch-hunt and give Kitzhaber some time to sort it all out and present his case. Until then cut him some slack.