The Oregon Capital Chronicle has the story:
Former Oregon State University President F. King Alexander won’t face any consequences for using university attorneys to respond to a probe into Louisiana State University’s handling of campus rape allegations during his tenure there.
The Oregon Government Ethics Commission voted 3-2 Friday morning to dismiss a complaint against Alexander. The vote ultimately didn’t matter, however, because state law requires 5 votes in favor of any commission action.
The complaint will be automatically dismissed next Thursday, 181 days after the commission agreed to begin an investigation.
In a preliminary report, commission staff had recommended that the group find that Alexander broke two state ethics laws by receiving help from OSU’s general counsel and vice president of marketing in responding to questions about his knowledge of LSU’s handling of sexual assault and domestic violence complaints. Federal law requires public university administrators to investigate sex crimes on campus. …
It takes 5 votes to impose a penalty, and the commission is two members short.
effin’ A!
F****king Alexander
Can anyone explain this to the less educated in the room?
That does not seem right. I always hear about how we are not allowed to use State Resources for personal use or gain. Since the lawsuit in no way involved Oregon or OSU how can he use the OSU lawyer and PR lackey… OK perhaps I can see the PR flack to spin it to try to keep the flying shit of of OSU…. But even then the OSU board and chair would probably be better served by the lawyer and lackey working for them and OSU.
Can any employee use this free lawyer service for personal matters or just the President?
From Capital Chronicle article :
“Commissioner Shawn Lindsay, an attorney and former Republican state representative, moved to dismiss the complaint against Alexander, saying that if he were in Alexander’s shoes he would have done the same thing.
“I understand his position, trying to do nothing intentionally wrong here and in my opinion, trying to comply,” Lindsay said.
Commissioner Amber Hollister, a Portland attorney, and board chair Daniel Mason, a Portland property manager, agreed with Lindsay’s assessment.
But Commissioner Karly Edwards, who works as Portland City Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty’s chief of staff, said it was clear to her that Alexander violated the spirit of state ethics laws. The commission often handles missteps by sending educational letters instead of assessing fines, but that wouldn’t cut it in this case, she said.
“A letter of education or something like that wouldn’t have done the job,” she said. “I think the staff has done its due diligence. That to me feels like the best way moving forward to exercise the goals of this commission.”
In the 3-2 vote, retired lobbyist and Commissioner Dave Fiskum joined Edwards in voting to act on the complaint.”