Seen a Rogue on the loose? Get in touch with our Roguemeister: JOHN SCHRAG jschrag@wweek.com (503) 243-2122 FAX: (503) 243-1115 In recent years, construction-fraud investigators for the Oregon State Police have been praised by prosecutors and victims and in newspaper editorials for their work cracking down on unscrupulous builders who prey on the elderly and other unsuspecting homeowners. Some contractors, not surprisingly, have long wanted to eliminate the OSP Construction Contractor Fraud Unit, and the way one sympathetic lawmaker is helping them makes him look almost as suspicious as the shady characters the OSP investigates. By his own admission, state Rep. Tom Butler, a Republican from Ontario, appears to have a serious conflict of interest when it comes to the fraud unit. On April 20, Butler voted on his own proposal to eliminate all funding for the OSP fraud unit without acknowledging his links to a company suspected of construction fraud. During his 1998 campaign, Butler received $2,500 in contributions from Inspections, Inc., a company based in Butler's hometown that's being investigated by state police. Butler, an accountant, has another connection to Inspections, Inc. He used to work for Andrew King CPA. Butler retired about 18 months ago. Since then, Andrew King CPA has done work for Inspections, Inc. Rep. Randy Leonard learned of Butler's connections after Butler voted to gut the OSP investigation budget. Leonard confronted Butler and another GOP lawmaker, Rep. Leslie Lewis, who co-chairs the Joint Ways and Means Committee. "I am concerned about the relationship between Butler and Inspections, Inc., such as taking a $2,500 contribution and slashing the budget for the police unit investigating Inspections, Inc.," Leonard says. Butler concedes that at the time he cast his vote he knew Inspections, Inc., was under investigation. But, he says, he thought the Attorney General's Office, not the state police, was conducting the probe. Once Leonard confronted him, he says, he immediately went to Lewis and asked that the police investigation budget be moved out of his subcommittee. "I was aghast," Butler told WW. "I immediately went to my co-chair and said, 'There's an appearance of impropriety. We're going to have to pull that budget back.'" That may have been the right move. The problem is that ignorance is no excuse--and Butler has yet to explain his actions to his legislative colleagues or the state police. "It appeared a tempest in a teapot," he explains. "I just haven't had the time." - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Willamette Week | originally published April 28, 1999