Kitzhaber, J Gov

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John Albert Kitzhaber (born March 5, 1947) is an American former politician and physician who served as governor of Oregon from 1995 to 2003 and again from 2011 to 2015. In February 2015, shortly after beginning his fourth term, Kitzhaber resigned from office and was replaced by Secretary of State Kate Brown. A member of the Democratic Party, Kitzhaber was the longest-serving governor in the state's history.

A physician in Roseburg, Kitzhaber was elected to the Oregon House of Representatives in 1978. After one term, he won an Oregon Senate seat in 1980, serving three terms, until 1993. He was Senate President from 1985 to 1993. In 1994, he was elected governor of Oregon, defeating his Republican opponent Denny Smith. He was reelected by a wide margin in 1998 and left office in January 2003. In 2010, Kitzhaber ran for governor again and narrowly defeated his Republican opponent Chris Dudley. He was reelected in 2014, to become Oregon's longest serving governor.

Kitzhaber resigned from office only a month into his fourth term on February 18, 2015,^[2] as state and federal authorities were investigating criminal allegations against him and his fiancée Cylvia Hayes.^[3] In 2017, the federal government dropped its investigation against Kitzhaber without filing charges.^[4] The Oregon ethics commission found 10 instances when Kitzhaber used his political office for personal gain. He agreed to pay a settlement fine of $20,000.

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Kitzhaber presided over the failed launch of Cover Oregon, the state's Affordable Care Act insurance exchange website.^[27] He was also disappointed in 2014 by the collapse of the Columbia River Crossing infrastructure megaproject, amid opposition from some urbanists in Portland^[28] and by Republicans in Washington's state Senate and Clark County government.^[29][30]

A more personal scandal struck the governor's office late in 2014 when the Willamette Week exposed a previously unknown marriage between First Lady Cylvia Hayes and an Ethiopian immigrant in 1997. Hayes admitted to the union, which was dissolved in the early 2000s, and said it was an illegal green card marriage into which she entered for money during a difficult period in her life. Kitzhaber was reportedly unaware of the marriage until the Willamette Week's investigation.^[31] Just days later, local news stations reported that Hayes was involved in another criminal scheme in 1997 involving a marijuana grow operation in Washington, to which Hayes also admitted.^[32][33]

At the same time, Kitzhaber faced questions over Hayes' consulting business and whether the first lady improperly used her position and relationship to the governor. Kitzhaber asked for an ethics review into Hayes's business activities,^[34] which the state commission declined to look into.^[35] Kitzhaber publicly defended Hayes against criticism, saying the state executive branch followed protocol with regard to her consulting work and calling her past marriage a "personal issue", although he admitted at a debate that he was "taken aback and hurt" to learn of it.^[36][37]

Fourth term, 2015

Kitzhaber ran for reelection in 2014. While he consistently led opponent Dennis Richardson, a conservative Republican state representative from Central Point, in public polling and defeated him by a margin of 5.6 percent, his campaign faced controversy over the failure of Cover Oregon and the activities of Kitzhaber's fiancée, Cylvia Hayes, with Richardson charging that the Governor and the First Lady were corrupt.^[38] Kitzhaber was cross-nominated by the Working Families Party of Oregon.

Kitzhaber was sworn in for a historic fourth term as governor on January 12, 2015.^[39] At the start of his fourth term, he enjoyed the largest Democratic majorities in the Oregon Legislative Assembly he had seen in more than 12 years as governor.^[40] In his inaugural address, Kitzhaber indicated his fourth gubernatorial term would be the last one he would seek, saying it "will complete the arc of my political career". He said he wanted to focus on socioeconomic inequality in Oregon during his last four years as governor of the state.^[41]

Hayes influence peddling scandal and aftermath

First Lady Cylvia Hayes

Despite his efforts to pivot toward policy, Kitzhaber continued to grapple with controversies related to his fiancée and her work as a consultant and for the state. At a press conference on January 30, 2015, he said Hayes would play no further role in his administration, although he confirmed the couple still plans to marry.^[42] The Oregonian, which endorsed him in his 2010 and 2014 campaigns, went so far as to call on him to resign, although Kitzhaber said he would43] Major Democratic officeholders in the state, including Treasurer [Ted Wheeler not consider doing so.^\, Senate President Peter Courtney, and House Speaker Tina Kotek, all issued statements on February 12 urging Kitzhaber to resign.^[44] Also on February 12, the Willamette Week reported that Kitzhaber's executive assistant had tried to have thousands of the governor's emails deleted the previous week.^[45] The next day, February 13, Kitzhaber announced his resignation (effective February 18, 2015) amid the scandal.^[46]

In 2017, following 28 months of investigation, the federal government announced that it had dropped its investigation into allegations that Kitzhaber and his partner Cylvia Hayes had used their positions for personal gain.^[47] In a statement posted on his Facebook page, Kitzhaber said:

There was nothing to pursue. As I have said from the beginning, I did not resign because I was guilty of any wrongdoing but rather because the media frenzy around these questions kept me from being the effective leader I wanted and needed to be.^[48]

In January 2019, Kitzhaber agreed to pay $20,000 in civil penalties to the Oregon Government Ethics Commission for conflicts of interest involving Hayes while he was governor.^[49] That month, Hayes also agreed to pay the Commission fines totaling "$44,000 for ethics violations arising from her use of public office for personal profit."^[50][51]

Activities outside governorship

Dr. Kitzhaber (right) speaking with Dr. David Schleich at the National University of Natural Medicine promoting the Archimedes Movement, a health care reform movement.

Kitzhaber serves as the director of the Center for Evidence Based Policy at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland, Oregon. He holds an endowed chair on health care policy at The Foundation for Medical Excellence, an educational foundation that produces continuing-education programs for physicians.^[52] Kitzhaber also serves as the president of the Estes Park Institute, a continuing-education organization for community health care leaders and hospital executives.^[53]

On January 13, 2006, Kitzhaber announced the Archimedes Movement, an organization seeking to maximize the health of the population by creating a sustainable system which uses the public resources spent on health care to ensure that everyone has access to a defined set of effective health services. The goal is to create a vision for a more equitable and sustainable system as well as the political tension necessary for its realization. A legislative proposal that took input from many Oregon residents was introduced in the 2007 Oregon legislative session.^[54]

The Oregon Better Health Act failed to pass the 2007 Legislature after Kitzhaber was unable to overcome concerns raised by AARP about his inclusion of Medicare in his plan.^[55] Another health reform bill, a Senate proposal which was amended to include portions of the Archimedes Movement bill, passed instead.^[56]

With the withdrawal of Tom Daschle's candidacy for United States Secretary of Health and Human Services, there was speculation Kitzhaber could be tapped for the position.^[57][58] However, Kitzhaber denied interest in the position and said that he was not being vetted.^[59]

On February 7, 2014, Kitzhaber endorsed fellow Democrat Donald Berwick for Governor of Massachusetts.^[60] On May 2, 2016, Kitzhaber announced his endorsement for Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders in his 2016 race for the Democratic presidential nomination.^[61]

Personal life

Kitzhaber in 2008

Kitzhaber is of German descent.^[62] He married Rosemary Linehan in 1971; they divorced in 1974.^[63] He married Sharon LaCroix in 1995 and had one son, Logan, who was born in October 1997. The couple sought a divorce in 2003, soon after the end of his second term as governor.^[64]

Kitzhaber lives with his fiancée Cylvia Hayes, founder of the environmental consulting firm 3EStrategies.^[65][66][67] In August 2014, the couple announced their engagement; no wedding date has been announced.^[68]

During his political career, Kitzhaber became famous for wearing blue jeans during speaking engagements. When he wore jeans to his inauguration in 1995, he created a minor stir.^[69] During his 2010 campaign for a third term as governor, Kitzhaber frequently avoided the necktie as well, preferring a button-down shirt and suit jacket with no tie.

Kitzhaber lives and works in Portland, and declined to use the official gubernatorial residence of Mahonia Hall in Salem during his service as governor.^[70][71][72]

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Matt Dempsey, a former aide to Senate Environment and Public Works Chairman James Inhofe (R-Okla.) and senior director at FTI Consulting

Kitzhaber saga fuels conservatives' fight on clean energy

The former governor's downfall hands conservatives ammunition to use against environmentalists.

By Jonathan Topaz and Elana Schor E&E?

:{:{02/18/15}:

:{:{Updated 02/18/15}:

For years, conservatives have decried efforts at the state and federal level to support renewable energy producers as crony capitalism.

In Oregon, Gov. John Kitzhaber, they may now have their poster child.

The downfall of Kitzhaber — the Democrat who last week said he would resign because of conflict-of-interest allegations over his first lady’s consulting contracts — hands conservatives on and off Capitol Hill ammunition to use against billionaire environmentalist Tom Steyer, green nonprofit groups and national Democrats advocating clean energy.

“This is just another example of environmental activist groups attempting to influence policy under a veil of secrecy, and one more reason these groups merit additional scrutiny,” Senate Environment and Public Works Chairman Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.)said in a statement Tuesday. “Beneath the violation of public trust by the Oregon state officials, we have far-left foundations funneling significant funds to an environmental group to orchestrate this type of activism without any public disclosure.”

Sen. David Vitter (R-La.), who opened an investigation into environmental nonprofits giving during his time as the environment committee’s top Republican, on Tuesday connected the Kitzhaber investigation to “a well-funded, highly developed far-left environmental network in place to influence environmental public policy.”

“This appears to be only one key example of how far they are willing to go to advance their agenda,” Vitter, who is running for governor of the Pelican State this year, said through a spokesman.

Democrats for weeks have distanced themselves from Kitzhaber, whose fiancée, Cylvia Hayes, earned at least $213,000 on contracts closely tied to her work in the Kitzhaber administration. Most of those contracts were related to clean energy, a major priority in the governor’s administration on which Hayes served as an unpaid adviser.State Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum has an open criminal investigation into the Kitzhaber administration’s actions, and federal authorities on Friday issued a criminal subpoena to the Oregon Department of Administrative Services for information related to Hayes’ contracts.

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Kitzhaber, who leaves office on Wednesday, was just beginning a record fourth term as governor.

Oregon Secretary of State Kate Brown, a Democrat, took over and became the state’s 38th governor. When asked about how committed Brown will be to clean energy in her upcoming administration, spokesman Tony Green said she wasn’t yet ready to address specific policy questions.

But conservatives are seeking to link Kitzhaber’s administration to the national green-energy policies advocated by the White House and other Democrats. They claim that Democrats have propped up failed clean-energy projects that aren’t financially sustainable without government aid, and that aid ends up financially benefiting only the politically connected companies lobbying for it.

“The skepticism is with Washington politicians picking winners and losers in the marketplace,” said Catherine Frazier, spokeswoman for Sen. Ted Cruz(R-Texas), who argues that government funding for clean energy projects amounts to “corporate welfare.”

Kate Brown is pictured. | AP Photo

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“I have no doubt that this should serve as a call for an investigation beyond Oregon’s borders,” said Christopher Horner of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a free market think tank. Horner and others cited emails, obtained by Freedom of Information Act requests, between officials in the governors’ offices in Oregon, Washington state and California in 2013 discussing a multistate climate strategy. In the emails, state officials discuss potential funding from Steyer and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and indicate that White House Council on Environmental Quality staff are “interested” in the proposal.

In the past several days, bothThe Wall Street Journal and National Review have published opinion pieces highlighting Oregon as an example of the failures of the clean energy industry. “[T]he Hayes-Kitzhaber operation exposes the underside of the big-money, insider politics that has come to dominate the environmental movement,” the Journal wrote in an editorial, an argument congressional Republicans have also used to criticize the Obama administration’s backing of companies such as Solyndra and Fisker Automotive.

Conservatives also argue that liberals — and the media — are holding the oil industry to a much higher ethical standard than the clean energy industry. “When Obama is giving tens of billions of dollars in tax breaks, this isn’t for a mom-and-pop wind or solar company. It’s for corporations,” said Charlie Pearce, a former campaign official for Dennis Richardson, the Republican who lost to Kitzhaber in November. Pearce vowed to launch a recall petition against Kitzhaber before the incumbent announced his resignation.

And the situation in Oregon also allows conservatives to target Steyer, the billionaire climate advocate that has become a major player in national electoral politics — someone who, Pearce acknowledged, has become “the Democratic boogeyman” — akin to Charles and David Koch, who support GOP candidates.

For Republicans dedicated to undercutting the network of Democratic campaign support and activism that Steyer has helped build, his ties to the Oregon scandal advance a simple but potent argument: Wealthy environmentalists are not above the same tactics they savage conservatives for using.

“I don’t object to Steyer spending his money trying to persuade people; I object to the hypocrisy,” GOP energy lobbyist and strategist Michael McKennasaid in an interview. “Whether it’s criminal or not, it all smells pretty bad, and it’s a rebuke to everybody who says our side’s different from the other side.”

American Energy Alliance President Tom Pyle, whose pro-fossil fuel nonprofit is backed in part by funding from the Kochs, said in an interview that the Oregon flap is “indicative of systemic problems with all these programs” focusing on green energy.

“They’re so heavily dependent on government intervention and involvement,” said Pyle, a former Koch Industries lobbyist. “It’s beyond cronyism — bordering on corruption.”

The web of nonprofit grants and support that connects Steyer to Hayes might be indirect, but its structure mirrors the conclusions of Vitter’s report last year, which traced the financial influence of a group of wealthy green donors Republicans dubbed “the Billionaire’s Club.”

The Energy Foundation, one of two massive nonprofits that paid for Hayes’ $118,000 fellowship — income she failed to publicly disclose until questioned by Oregon media — got a $500,000 grant approved from Steyer’s TomKat Charitable Trust in 2012, according to the trust’s tax filings for that year.

The Energy Foundation steered two $25,000 grants in 2012 and 2013 to the Clean Economy Development Center, which gave Hayes her fellowship, federal tax forms show.

The GOP Senate report targets the Energy Foundation as “a quintessential example of a pass-through frequently employed” by a nationwide network of green donors working to influence federal and state policies.

The Energy Foundation said conservative attacks are skirting the issue on clean energy. “It’s unfortunate that some are using recent events in Oregon to make old, familiar attacks on clean energy work being done in the Pacific Northwest and across the nation,” the foundation said in a statement to POLITICO.

Bobby Whithorne, a spokesman for Steyer’s NextGen Climate political action committee, said the Oregon attacks are part of a broader industry campaign to twist the truth.

“It’s no surprise the Big Oil special interests and their feckless minions will blow as much dirty smoke as they can - in the last several weeks they have denied basic climate science, rejected human evolution and, in this case, ignored the actual facts,” he emailed Wednesday.

The TomKat trust’s Energy Foundation donations amounted to less than 1 percent of the latter group’s annual intake for 2013, NextGen noted, and were not permitted to be used on “legislative, lobbying or electoral purposes.”

In a Feb. 6 statement posted on its website, the Clean Economy Development Center said Hayes’ work focused on “communicating the economic benefits of clean economy projects” and that it “does not engage in any lobbying activities.” CEDC did not return a request for further comment by press time.

One of the projects on which Hayes focused during her fellowship, CEDC said, was a Gulf Coast sustainable communities project set up after the BP oil spill that won praise from the White House in 2011 for having “established a model of collaboration that brings together local communities, federal agencies, nonprofits, and businesses to rebuild neighborhoods.”

CEDC’s executive director Jeffrey King co-founded a group called Clean Economy Network that in 2011 became part of Advanced Energy Economy, another green nonprofit, of which Steyer is a co-founder and board member. The CEN’s affiliate education fund received $2.5 million in grants from Steyer’s TomKat trust in 2012, according to federal tax returns.

:{:{Former Inhofe aide Matt Dempsey, now a senior director at FTI Consulting, predicted that the Oregon scandal would come back to haunt Steyer as the hedge funder seeks to influence the next election.}:

“This is a black eye for his efforts moving forward in 2016,” Dempsey said.}:

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/02/john-kitzhaber-oregon-clean-energy-115287#ixzz43Glx7Gvb

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/02/john-kitzhaber-oregon-clean-energy-115287#ixzz43GljMi2I

ORE sellout

http://www.prwatch.org/node/12486

Even though the state of Oregon enacted a law to override the ability of localities to regulate their own food systems, local ballot measures to ban GMO crops passed overwhelmingly in Jackson and Josephine Counties on May 20, according to news reports. "We fought the most powerful and influential chemical companies in the world and we won," Elise Higley, a local farmer with the anti-GMO group Our Family Farms Coalition, toldThe Oregonian.The Progressivemagazine tells the backstory below and reveals that the preemption measure shares language with an ALEC model bill.}:

When the headline said that Oregon’s Democratic governor, John Kitzhaber, had signed into law a corporate-backed bill overriding local counties’ ability to regulate their own food systems, Lisa Arkin was shocked.

“I can viscerally remember the day I looked at the headline,” she says. “It was such a deep feeling of disgust and disbelief. I couldn’t believe that any amount of money from outside corporations could convince our elected leaders in Oregon to abandon the democratic process in that way.”