Inbox: The Energy Department Case

Thanks for plowing into this ["The Cylvia Files," WW, June 15, 2011] and making sense of it for us. I was turned off and confused by all the lawyerly nitpicking and posturing and didn't follow this story that closely. As such, I tended to think this was all much ado about nothing, but now it's clear there really was some "there" there; i.e., some questionable and potentially unethical (if not strictly illegal) behavior. For all its pretensions to enlightened progressiveness, in some ways Oregon remains an inbred, podunk state. Love seeing the remnants of the Goldschmidt network scuttle to protect its own and set up the whistle-blower as the fall gal for not blowing her whistle loud enough.—“Davey_Blun” 

Excellent reporting of the real story, not the spin put out by Bill Gary and the well-heeled good old boy network the "other" newspaper seems to be in thrall to. Don't stop here. Oregon is not as clean as it would like the public to think.— "Jason"

So the "crooks" get a paid vacation and restored employment, those that remained honest and tried to shed light on this mess end up living and working in fear of those who returned from their wrong doings? Where is the justice in all this, does Oregon have no sense of ethics, morality or justice?—"Curtis M. Wise"

Thank you, Mr. Jaquiss, for a great article and bringing back memories of the old WW which used to take no prisoners as far as political coverage. Ms. Hayes is noteworthy only because of her relationship to the governor; these sorts of things occur all the time in state government. Not technically illegal, but they sure smell bad, and make everyone's job more difficult.

Until the secretary of state's audit division gets off their collective a$$es and starts auditing agencies like they used to, the brazenness will continue to get worse. Agencies in bed with the industries they are supposed to regulate, nepotism, managers who are promoted not because of their abilities but because of how willing they are to blindly do what they're told, hiring incompetents because of who they are or who they're related to...the list goes on and on. I used to be proud of working for state government. Now it's discouraging, frustrating and embarrassing. The vast majority of state employees I know are honest, ethical people, but when you get a bad apple at the helm, it doesn't matter how honest the employees are, they don't have control of the wheel. Again, bring back mandatory audits of state agencies and I bet you'd see some changes. —"Mildred Buc"

Keep an eye on the Governor's trip to China! Will Oregonians keep paying for the Gov and Girlfriend's vacations? Reviewing the past few months' schedule, it always seems like we get to pay for the Gov and First Squeeze to attend events on the weekend on the coast, the Rogue River and other nice spots, all on the taxpayers' dime. But he can't make it to a Memorial Day event for our veterans…this is immoral and just plain wrong. We make Mississippi look progressive!—"Ritterboy"

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: 2220 NW Quimby St., Portland, OR 97210.
Fax: (503) 243-1115, Email: mzusman@wweek.com

WWeek 2015