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Mayor Charlie Hales declared after he won election in 2012 that he would show no favoritism toward the program his wife, Nancy Hales, runs at Portland State University.
After the mayor took office in 2013, the city cut off its funding for Nancy Hales' First Stop Portland, a program that brings delegations to the city to study its sustainable infrastructure and practices.
Under former Mayor Sam Adams, the city had given First Stop between $12,000 and $25,000 annually.
But it turns out Charlie Hales actually kept city money flowing to First Stop, WW has learned from recently obtained emails.
A city agency that Hales controls, the Portland Development Commission, contributed $20,000 to First Stop in 2014-15. That money equaled nearly 10 percent of First Stop's budget.
In a statement, Hales defended the expenditure. "It's completely appropriate for the Portland Development Commission to compensate Portland State University for services provided," Hales says.
Willamette Week
