Ron: I started with the agency in November of 2006. Before that, I was the Executive Director for the Tax Board. I joined the Tax Board in 2000, coming from the Department of Revenue as a field agent… I think there was a newspaper article that the Executive Director of the Ethics Commission went to Nevada and I was lucky enough to get this job.

Virginia:I started with OGEC in 1993. The agency was far different than it is today. There were 5 [employees], which went down to 3 [employees] shortly after. [Before OGEC,] I was with the Judicial Department for the Marion County Courts for a number of years. 

 

The OGEC offices have moved a couple of times over the years. Before the OGEC office was in its current location, tell us about the other OGEC office locations and the reasons for moving around. 

Virginia: When I started with the agency it was downtown across from the Marion County Courthouse, there was a suite of offices there… We were there for quite some time until [we were required to] move into a State building, which took us to an old historic home… they converted into an office space. There were four rooms and a bathroom. There was another agency downstairs. Because of staffing levels, we were down to three people, and we were only 80 percent funded, so we could only work 80 percent of our time. 

Ron: You [Virginia] were in the house a while before I started. There was only one bathroom in that house [everyone] had to share… And there was no kitchen, so we had a tray that had a microwave, a toaster, and the coffee maker at the end of the long bathroom.

 

Tell us about OGEC's new funding model and how it came to be. 

Ron: In the 2005 Session, Kate Brown was the Senate Majority Leader, and she asked the Oregon Law Commission to look at the Ethics Commission and go over their laws and see if those laws could be rewritten. And find a more suitable, more stable, funding mechanism for the Commission… The Law Commission had been meeting for almost two years on this… Also, around this time… the public was upset at the way the gift statute was written. [As a result,] the Law Commission changed the gift limit to $50 in a calendar year.  

When the Law Commission submitted their report, it stated there was no stable funding source for the Commission. That upset Kate Brown. We came up with a funding model… 85 percent of the work that [the Commission does] is with local governments… and they didn’t want to pay for just enforcement… [so] we focused on education instead of enforcement, trying to prevent things from happening… and they were getting services back. The fines were also raised, so if you knowingly break these laws, we are going to fine you at a higher rate. 

Kate Brown assisted with Senate Bill 10. At the time, it spread the cost of the Commission over about 1,700 jurisdictions… Half the budget was paid for by local, half was paid by the state… If the Commission had not come up with this new funding source, I think we would’ve had a more difficult time. 

Tell us about the training program. How did funding for this get approved?

Ron: [At one point] the governor’s budget eliminated a training position… And so, when we came into session to do my budget presentation and we got to the training part, Betsy Johnson basically [asked] what are you thinking? You know, this is what the people want. They were… whittling away the Commission and Betsy Johnson put an end to that, saying this isn’t happening, we’re not getting rid of them, in fact, we probably need more of them...that thought changed things; it’s not a burden we’re funding, it’s a benefit. 

 

Are there any Commissioners who made a lasting impression during their time on the Commission? 

Virginia: I think we counted them one time, there were 90 or so that I’d worked with when I retired. So, a lot of different personalities came through. Judy Stiegler was one of my favorites (she helped keep the Commission focused). John Kopetski and Jeff Jones... he kept people in line. 

Ron: I have a soft spot for John Kopetski… David Fiskum sticks out to me… it’s his passion for the position, he loves being a Commissioner. Nathan Sosa was another one… he was always that calming effect. I was thinking about Alison Kean… who was chair during a very difficult time. Ken Lewis was another very passionate person. 

 

During your time with OGEC, were there any memorable cases you were a part of?  What made them stand out? 

Ron: The Kitzhaber case was a big deal… It’s always difficult to take on the leader of the state, your ultimate boss. I appreciated John’s willingness to participate in the process. Another case where a lobbyist paid to send [public officials] to Hawaii to play golf… It changed the ethics laws… now you can’t really do that. But what we got them for was not filing it on their SEIs.  

I had a State Police Captain with Internal affairs who decided he was going to fill up his own car with fuel. And another one that [stuck out], because I like to hunt, I had a state police officer… his son had poached an elk on private land, and he got his dad to take the state police vehicle to get it. This case showed that we are looking at these smaller cities in [Eastern Oregon]. A lot of times it’s the little ones that make a difference. 

 

What were some of the biggest changes to OGEC you’ve seen over the years? 

Virginia: [The electronic SEI filing system was significant because before] we had to mail [SEIs] to them, they would correct it, add and delete, and mail it back… we had to get all that information out of the database. The print shop would print labels and then we had to manually stick thousands of labels on the [SEIs]… it was historically a 75 percent return by the due date, and we had to track down those who didn’t file.  

Ron: One of our biggest changes was to put our files online. We used to have all these filing cabinets for paper SEIs. Instead of SEIs and Lobbyist reports being filed on paper, now they’re online… and as soon as it’s online it’s available for free. There is no public records request. I relied on Virginia’s attention to detail... The Commission had two employees and 5,000-6,000 SEI filers. Another [good] change that happened was, before,[the Commissioners] could only serve one term… until we got up to two terms. 

 

How have the ethics laws changed over the years? What was the impact of those changes? 

Virginia: For me, just being on the admin side mostly, any changes we made to SEI’s [were significant. There was a time] when filers had to add family members.

Ron: The focus was on enforcement when I started. We started focusing on education instead of enforcement, trying to prevent [violations] from happening. The law change increasing penalties [was notable]. 

Also, the new staff with law backgrounds helped close some holes in the ethics laws… And for a tiny agency, we go up against some of the top lawyers in the state of Oregon… and you have to be on solid footing.  

 

What would you say was the most difficult ethics concept for public officials to understand? Was there a specific issue or violation that would come up over and over again? 

Ron: Executive sessions were a repeat problem. A lot of volunteers that were not well educated on the subject. Especially with Public Meetings Law… Also, local jurisdictions [frequently encountered] conflicts of interest, but they had that important requirement to declare out in public. 

 

You were both involved in the development of OGEC’s Case Management System (CMS) and the Electronic Filing System (EFS). Tell us about the development of these systems and how they changed things for OGEC. 

Ron: I saw what the old system did and it was labor intensive. I remember the first [electronic SEI] I did. I did in the morning, and I was like, “It worked!” … I just remember me getting my email that day, there was a lot of relief, and how proud I was that we pulled this off.  

 

What do you miss the most about working at OGEC? 

Virginia: Every day was an adventure with challenges to overcome. It was not boring. There were always new things… The people and the teamwork… Everyone had their own ownership of what their jobs were. And potlucks. 

Ron: I enjoyed the meetings, even the long-painful ones. Budget hearings… walking out the door having accomplished it. Great discussions… There were a lot of [occasions when] we had good times. 

 

Do you have any advice for current or future employees at the organization? 

Virginia: Be ready for change. Learn as much as possible about the entire process whenever you can because that just strengthens the team environment… Always look for ways to improve the process. 

Ron: What I enjoyed the most was, I had a lot of control with the environment I worked in. For the most part, we created an environment I wanted to come to every day, and everyone did their job to the best of their ability.