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The director of Oregon's Elections Division who resigned last month "for personal reasons" left the agency following an investigation into allegations of inappropriate behavior toward a female temporary employee.
The allegations are spelled out in hundreds of pages of investigative files released by the Oregon Secretary of State's Office in response to a public records request from WW. The name of the employee allegedly harassed by Jim Williams, as well as other elections division employees who were interviewed as part of the investigation, were redacted. But a clear picture emerges, which Williams acknowledged in an email to superiors.
"I'm absolutely shocked and saddened at the situation I've put us in," he wrote in a July 3 email. "I know it doesn't look good."
The investigation started June 28 after a new employee found a notebook at a work station with handwritten notes under the heading "director from hell."
It led officials with the Secretary of State's Office to unravel a scenario in which Williams had invited a female temporary employee to join him at a beer garden near the office during the work day, gave her raises, then fired her after alleging she had many absences.
Before resigning July 19, Williams sent Deputy Secretary of State Robert Taylor a text message that showed he continued to understand the gravity of his situation. "I'm prepared to resign, if allowable, to bring this to an end," he wrote. "I can't deal with it."
His superior, Taylor, wrote back: "I have just completed meeting with our DOJ investigator. Based on that meeting, the Secretary and I no longer have confidence in your ability to manage personnel issues effectively in the division. Accordingly, we will accept your resignation before noon tomorrow. If we do not receive your resignation by then, we will terminate your employment by the end of the day tomorrow."
The resignation comes as Oregon prepares for the November general election.
Willamette Week