Three of remaining OLCC Bourbongate managers terminated

A source close to the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission (OLCC) tells the Oregon Roundup the OLCC has terminated the employment of five managers who, along with former director Steve Marks, are alleged to have purchased, or helped others purchase, valuable liquor at below-market prices. Marks previously resigned at the request of Governor Tina Kotek.

The OLCC managers, other than Marks, alleged to have participated in the bottle set-aside scheme are:

Will Higlin, Deputy Director

Bill Schuette, Budget Manager

Chris Mayton, Director of the Distilled Spirits Program

Boba Subasic, Chief Information Officer

Kai Nakashima, Director of Office of Information Services

The source did not know the effective dates of the terminations.

After I published this initial post, OLCC spokesperson Bryant Haley confirmed that as of March 13, 2023, Will Higlin, Chris Mayton and Boba Subasic no longer work for the OLCC. He did not have any additional information regarding Bill Schuette or Kai Nakashima.

The terminations are the latest attempt by what remains of OLCC leadership and Oregon Governor Tina Kotek to recover from the bottle set-aside scandal, which received national media attention. In 2022, an internal OLCC investigation determined that Marks, Higlin, Schuette, Mayton, Subasic and Nakashima had violated Oregon ethics laws by using their positions within OLCC to procure rare bottles of liquor, including the sought-after Pappy Van Winkle bourbon, which are available at prices well below market in Oregon.

As the story about the scandal broke in early February, Kotek demanded the termination of the involved managers. She also claimed that her administration was unaware of the scandal or resulting investigation when she had asked for Marks’s resignation a week earlier.

Kotek appointed Craig Prins, former inspector general of the Oregon Corrections Department, interim director of the beleaguered OLCC. Prins is himself the subject of an employment complaint from an Assistant Director of at the Department of Corrections, who claims Prins drew a moustache on a picture of her at a Department meeting. The Assistant Director identifies as LGBTQ.

The OLCC regulates and sells all alcoholic spirits in Oregon. Its alcohol sales were estimate to approach $1.7 billion in the 2021-2023 biennium.

I will update this story as new information becomes available.

*Story updated at 4:30 pm March 13 to add confirmation from OLCC.