Former First Lady in Oregon Agrees to Settle Ethics Charges

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – Former Oregon First Lady Cylvia Hayes has agreed to pay $44,000 for ethics violations arising from her use of public office for personal profit.

The Oregonian/OregonLive reports the settlement, signed Jan. 18 by Hayes and made public Tuesday by the Oregon Government Ethics Commission, states Hayes will not contest that she broke ethics laws 22 times. But it allows Hayes to maintain that she didn’t knowingly break the law.

Private groups paid Hayes more than $200,000 to lobby for eco-friendly policies, work investigators later concluded she obtained because of her access to Gov. John Kitzhaber and his aides in violation of state law.

The resulting influence peddling scandal enveloped Kitzhaber and Hayes, who was his fiance, and ultimately led to Kitzhaber’s resignation and Hayes’ financial ruin.

The full Ethics Commission will vote Thursday on whether to accept the settlement.
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Information from: The Oregonian/OregonLive, http://www.oregonlive.com