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Earlier this week, the Oregon Department of Justice released a report by an independent investigator that recommended pulling down an audit of the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission that was caught up in former Secretary of State Shemia Fagan’s moonlighting scandal.
The investigator recommended the state take down the audit because state auditors had not adequately addressed the threat to its independence poised by Fagan’s moonlighting. That guidance was publicly supported by Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum.
But it’s not being heeded by current Secretary of State LaVonne Griffin-Valade.
Griffin-Valade, who was handpicked by Gov. Tina Kotek to serve out the remainder of Fagan’s term after her May 2 resignation, says she’ll review the audit herself.
“I will personally oversee a reevaluation of the evidence presented in the OLCC audit,” Griffin-Valade says. “With 16 years of experience as a government auditor...I am well equipped to ensure that every action is taken to restore the public trust in this report.”
Her staff added that she will consider the investigator’s recommendation, “along with other information she is gathering,” to “draw her own conclusions.”
“Depending on the results of that examination,” Griffin-Valade said, “I may take additional action and will inform the public as appropriate.”
She and her staff declined to answer questions about a timeline for her review or what it would entail. She didn’t say why she wouldn’t pull the audit off the internet while conducting her review—or what was insufficient in the independent review that she would need to conduct her own.
But it’s worth noting the investigator did not blame only Fagan for threatening the audit’s independence. The report also faulted state auditors—who remain in their jobs and now report to Griffin-Valade.
The independent investigation, conducted by California-based Sjoberg Evashenk Consulting, concluded that top auditors had plenty of warnings that Fagan’s conduct could compromise the independence of the audit—and did not adequately respond to those red flags.
The Audits Division “did not take sufficient steps to identify and assess threats to independence (either ‘of mind’ or ‘of appearance’) at all levels....Nor did it adequately reassess those threats as new facts became known,” the investigators wrote. The investigation stopped short of concluding that the audit itself was corrupted.
By keeping the audit online, Griffin-Valade may have avoided rancor in her own office. But she is risking blowback from Kotek, who asked for the independent review, and Rosenblum, who oversaw it. (Disclosure: Rosenblum is married to the co-owner of WW’s parent company.)
Kotek did not respond to a request for comment, and Rosenblum did not comment on Griffin-Valade’s decision.
But Oregon House Speaker Dan Rayfield (D-Corvallis), who earlier this week declared his candidacy for Oregon attorney general, says that he supports the investigator’s recommendations.
“It’s imperative that the state strengthens and improves Oregonians’ full trust in our audit process,” Rayfield said. “While I trust the secretary’s ability to thoroughly conduct the additional work recommended, I see no reason for the report to remain posted while that work is done.”