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Tensions between Multnomah County and its former Preschool for All director rage on.
Leslee Barnes, formerly the county’s director of preschool and early learning, resigned July 31. Her resignation came shortly after a WW story reported that her preschool, Village Childcare Enterprises LLC, had been flagged in a secretary of state audit for “wasteful” spending of Preschool Promise dollars. (That’s a state program that provides child care to low-income families.)
In the weeks since, many county officials have asked how the county could have missed what they see as a blatant conflict of interest. The fact Barnes owned a preschool, two county commissioners said, should have disqualified her from a role in which she could significantly alter the region’s early child care landscape. It also raises questions about who knew about Barnes’ ownership role, and how the county missed it during annual conflict-of-interest declarations.
As WW reported last week, Barnes’ hiring letter both acknowledged her role at Village Childcare and did not explicitly ask for her to end her ownership of the preschool. “Upon accepting this position, you will end your role as Executive Director of Village Childcare on your LinkedIn account and future résumés,” it reads.
Denis Theriault, a spokesman for the county, says Barnes was required to fill out conflict-of-interest forms. As The Oregonian first reported Aug. 26, Barnes did not disclose her business ties in those forms, which are filed annually. Barnes has maintained she ran her ownership of the preschool by her supervisor and that she disclosed everything she was supposed to in the years after her hiring.
The county did not make clear to WW whether the hiring letter was meant to permit Barnes’ continued role as executive director of Village Childcare. “The offer letter was intended to request that she make that apparent separation clear on her LinkedIn and other public sites so there was no confusion,” Theriault told WW.
There are also escalating questions about what County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson knew about Barnes’ hiring and apparent conflict of interest. Vega Pederson has maintained she did not know of Barnes’ continued stake in Village Childcare, and she has since approved an external investigation of the county’s code of ethics and conflict-of-interest policies.
In a follow-up with WW, Barnes seemed unconvinced the chair was unaware of her continued role at the preschool. Barnes sent along a county press release from her hiring back in March 2021, pointing to Vega Pederson’s quote in which the chair described Barnes as “a preschool provider.”
“There is a direct quote from her in the announcement,” Barnes said.
