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Joshua Marquis's avatar

Thank you for reporting on this egregious violation of law and ethics by OHA.

Back in 1986 I was a Deputy DA and was advocating (on my own time and dime) for what was then-called Measure 10 - the very basic statutory victims rights law that is now part of the Oregon Constitution. A powerful group of state officials threatened to file charges against any advocacy to change the law. It passed - overwhelmingly.

State law forbids state employees from engaging in political advocacy on government time (the "mini Hatch Act") and only elected officials are exempt from this prohibition.

There is little question the Attorney General's Office would have already filed charges if state employees had been promoting a ballot measure that was NOT sponsored by the radical elite that governs State and County government.

Almost as outrageous is the fact that "mainstream media" the O, OPB, the TV stations have studiously ignored this effort!

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Richard Cheverton's avatar

Great reporting, Jeff. You are filling a real media vacuum here. What this points to is the darkest secret (next to cartel influence) in OR politics--the nexus of government and nonprofits.

No one audits the nonprofits and the IRS is woefully slow at posting Form 990s--which are, themselves, a scandal of iffy numbers and no real sense of where the money is finally trickled down.

In addition, although federal laws are explicit that nonprofits should be nonpolitical, this is a joke. They are knee-deep in attaching their endorsements to political flyers, and endorsing candidates, including mobilizing their memberships for outright campaigning.

The state's media is deaf-and-dumb to this.

Keep at it. This is the--THE--major story in Oregon politics.

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