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Last week, WW reported that Secretary of State Tobias Read had referred an investigation of Portland Public Schools’ $61 million contract with a Texas-based construction firm to the Oregon Department of Justice, which handles criminal investigations. Read’s deputy, Michael Kaplan, wrote in a Sept. 23 letter to the Oregon Government Ethics Commission that his office had found evidence to support “potential violations” of two state statutes that prohibit elected officials from using, or attempting to use, their official position for private gain. The letter did not identify which school officials may have violated state laws. (The matter has also been referred to the ethics commission for potential civil violations.) Here’s what our readers had to say.
Ratfishtim, via wweek.com: “Don’t forget. The superintendent’s daughter got a cush job as office manager with Procedeo here. The superintendent claimed she didn’t know her daughter was applying.
“Well, Procedeo knew who they were hiring, and the superintendent never told her daughter to look elsewhere, nor Procedeo that the hire crossed ethics lines and to withdraw the offer.
“And of course the board thought it was OK. Never did anything either.”
Koolhandluke, via wweek.com: “Anyone who has seen this whitewashing episode play out before knows that nothing will happen other than maybe someone getting a toofless reprimand from a toofless state agency that was created to offer the illusion there are ethics in this pathetically corrupt state.”
Diva, via wweek.com: “Well, we know that Oregon Secretary of State Tobias Read is…malleable. These barely there allegations confirm this reality.
“The five W’s and one H basic to journalism are missing because not enough information is available to write a substantive article. I believe some former employees of PPS work for Procedeo. Is that the grounds for the complaint? Are the evaluators complaining because Procedeo has leaders from racial/ethnic minorities? Much of the complaining in the previous article is because Procedeo said 30 PPS employees were redundant because its staff will fulfill their functions. Replacing them is not in itself fraud. So, what fraud?”
Working_Tomorrow9846, via Reddit: “Meanwhile, I’m just out here trying to teach my 35 teenagers in each of my dang classes and my whole school is rationing tissues and pencils.”
IPad_Kidd, via Reddit: “Anyone who works in government contracting knows that with a job like this (something any construction management company could do) the government has a duty (under the law) to find the best value for the taxpayers. Giving this to a company in Texas raises so many questions, chief among them, why didn’t they reach out to any Oregon companies that could have provided a lower cost quote and could have been more closely involved due to their location?”
CommanderKruge, via Reddit: “Superintendent needs to save what little shred of dignity she has left and resign; ideally move out of the state while she’s at it.”
Givepeteachance, via BlueSky: “Public confidence in the ability of public officials to steward public funds takes another hit.”
Letters to the editor must include the author’s street address and phone number for verification. Letters must be 250 or fewer words. Submit to:
P.O. Box 10770
Portland, OR 97296
Email: amesh@wweek.com
