Governor John Kitzhaber Resigns

Saturday, February 14, 2015

GoLocalPDX News Team

Four-term Oregon Governor John A. Kitzhaber announced he would resign Friday afternoon amid a storm of controversy over his fiancee, Cylvia Hayes, and allegations of corruption.

Kitzhaber's resignation came after a tumultuous three days of speculation, calls to step down, new revelations and a frenzied state media.

In a statement made by the Governor Friday, he announced he would resign his post Wednesday, Feb. 18. Secretary of State Kate Brown will succeed Kitzhaber as the state's next chief executive.

"As a former presiding officer I fully understand the reasons for which I have been asked to resign," he wrote.

Kitzhaber pointedly did not address a media swarm gathered at the Capitol. Rather, he released written and audio statements.

In the statement, Kitzhaber apologized to the people who gave their time and put their faith in him over the past three decades. Kitzhaber acknowledged he had become a liability to the very causes he dedicated his career to, and wished Democratic leaders Peter Courtney and Tina Kotek success. Still, the governor protested the process of his downfall.

"I must also say that it is deeply troubling to me to realize that we have come to a place in the history of this great state of ours where a person can be charged, tried, convicted and sentenced by the media with no due process and no independent verification of the allegations involved," Kitzhaber said. He also criticized his former allies for accepting the judgement at face value.

TV crews camped out outside the Governor's mansion and his Southwest Portland home for nearly two days, following his, and Brown's every move.

'Nail in the Coffin'

The Governor became embroiled in a scandal involving Cylvia Hayes, his long-time girlfriend and fiancee of five months' use of public office to advance her environmental consulting firm, beginning in October 2014, when the Willamette Week exposed Hayes' illegal marriage to an Ethiopian immigrant, and dubious contracts with environmental interest groups.

In the governor's statement, he said the allegations and media fever reached a "point of no return."

Following a bizarre string of events that generated a whirlwind of rumors Wednesday, a report surfaced Thursday afternoon that the governor's assistant, Jan Murdoch, requested thousands of the governor's personal emails be removed from the state server. The revelation came at a time when the governor is facing a criminal investigation by the Attorney General, and a state Ethics Commission review. Willamete Weeks' Nigel Jaquiss had requested those emails just days before.

Tuesday, the governor summoned Secretary of State Kate Brown, who is next in line for the governorship, back from D.C. two days ahead of schedule, triggering a flurry of rumors Wednesday that resignation was imminent. But when she returned, the governor stated he had no intention of resigning. By Thursday, Senate President Peter Courtney, House Speaker Tina Kotek, and Secretary of the Treasury Ted Wheeler asked Kitzhaber to resign, following months of unfolding revelations about the governor and his fiancee, Cylvia Hayes, their finances, and allegations of corruption.

However, Wednesday, the governor wavered and stated he would not resign.

Kitzhaber served in elected office in Oregon for the better part of the last four decades, including as a House Representative, in the Oregon Senate, and as Oregon's chief executive. The governor maintained he has not broken the law, and that those that assertion would come to light in the coming months.

Democrats look to Kate Brown

Democratic leaders are holding for Secretary of State Kate Brown, who will be sworn in as governor after Kitzhaber resigns Feb. 18. Based on protocol, Brown will hold the office until the 2016 general biennial election.

Read the full statement:

I am announcing today that I will resign as Governor of the State of Oregon.

It is not in my nature to walk away from a job I have undertaken – it is to stand and fight for the cause. For that reason I apologize to all those people who gave of their faith, time, energy and resources to elect me to a fourth term last year and who have supported me over the past three decades. I promise you that I will continue to pursue our shared goals and our common cause in another venue.

I must also say that it is deeply troubling to me to realize that we have come to a place in the history of this great state of ours where a person can be charged, tried, convicted and sentenced by the media with no due process and no independent verification of the allegations involved. But even more troubling – and on a very personal level as someone who has given 35 years of public service to Oregon – is that so many of my former allies in common cause have been willing to simply accept this judgment at its face value.

It is something that is hard for me to comprehend – something we might expect in Washington, D.C. but surely not in Oregon. I do not know what it means for our shared future but I do know that it is seriously undermining civic engagement in this state and the quality of the public discourse that once made Oregon stand out from the pack.

Nonetheless, I understand that I have become a liability to the very institutions and policies to which I have dedicated my career and, indeed, my entire adult life. As a former presiding officer I fully understand the reasons for which I have been asked to resign. I wish Speaker Kotek and President Courtney and their colleagues on both sides of the aisle success in this legislative session and beyond. And I hope that they are truly committed to carrying forward the spirit of bipartisanship and collaboration that has marked the last four years in Oregon.

In 1968 I was inspired to commit my life to public service by the last campaign of Robert Kennedy. Forty-one years ago I started work as an emergency room doctor in Roseburg with a goal to make life better for those in my care. Ever since then, I have sought to keep that focus by trying to make things better for the people and the communities of this state that I love. I have had the extraordinary privilege of pursuing that work as a State Representative, State Senator, Senate President and as your Governor.

Over those years, I have had the honor to be a part of some remarkable achievements.

* We responded to the worst recession and financial crisis since the Great Depression by rebuilding an Oregon economy that has added jobs and vitality in many regions of our state. And, unlike many other parts of our nation, we did it together with cooperation and respect for Oregon and for each other.

* We successfully defended Oregon’s spectacular natural heritage of clean water, clean air, forests, farmland and special places. We created the Oregon Plan for Salmon and Watersheds and nearly 90 watershed councils.

* We have also found ways to support our rural communities and to create jobs in our natural resources industries while enhancing the environment.

* When forces of intolerance sought to divide us we stood up for the principal that every Oregonian deserves respect and basic rights – including the right to choose and the right to marry the person we love.

* And I am proud that Oregon has not invoked the death penalty during my last four years on the watch.

* We have stood by our working men and women steadfastly supporting collective bargaining and the right to form a union.

* We have transformed our health care system, improving access and quality while lowering costs through our new Coordinated Care Organizations. Tonight over 95 percent of Oregonians will go to bed knowing that they have health insurance coverage. We did that together.

* In a three-day special session we reformed our public pension system, provided tax relief to small businesses and raised new revenue for mental health and for public education — the foundation of our future.

* We have passionately pursued the goal of equity and opportunity – especially for those Oregonians who have been left behind: communities of color, English language learners and those in poverty, those in the rural parts of our state, the very young and the very old.

* We have laid the groundwork for eliminating the achievement gap and ensuring that over 90 percent of our children could be reading at level in 3rd grade within five years.

* And we are poised to reach agreements that will resolve the century-old water crisis in the Klamath Basin and expand irrigated agriculture in the Umatilla.

As important as what we have accomplished – how we have accomplished it is perhaps even more important. We have had a great tradition of overcoming partisan differences in this state and doing what is right for Oregon. That tradition had faltered, but over the past four years we have rebuilt a functional political center, reaching across party lines to do difficult, important things by reducing polarization and building community to help right the ship and chart a better course for our future.

I ran for a fourth term as your governor to continue that progress. But the questions that have been raised about my administration – specifically allegations against me concerning the work done by my fiancé Cylvia Hayes and the contracts she obtained during my last term – and the escalating media frenzy that has stemmed from this – has clearly reached the point of no return.

I am confident that I have not broken any laws nor taken any actions that were dishonest or dishonorable in their intent or outcome. That is why I asked both the Ethics Commission and the Attorney General to take a full and comprehensive look at my actions – and I will continue to fully cooperate with those ongoing efforts. I am equally confident that once they have been concluded Oregonians will see that I have never put anything before my love for and commitment to Oregon and faithfully fulfilling the responsibilities of the public offices I have held

But it is also clear that this process will take months.

I have always had the deepest respect for the remarkable institution that is the Oregon Legislature; and for the office of the Governor. And I cannot in good conscience continue to be the element that undermines it. I have always tried to do the right thing and now the right thing to do is to step aside.

One thing I hope people know about me is that I love this state and its people, its rivers, its mountains and its landscapes with every fiber of my being. It is because of that love that I tender my resignation as Governor, effective at 10 a.m. on February 18, 2015. Secretary of State Kate Brown will take the oath of office as Oregon’s Governor at that time. Oregon will be in good hands and I wish her well.

Thank you for allowing me to serve you and our state. It has been the honor of my life. And I believe I can say that looking back over those years we have left it better than we found it.