... Yeah, just keep doing that.

Not known for quick reactions, Dan sure jumped on that!!!

Funny, when I went and read that pitiful excuse for a memo (amazing that they got the whitewash ink to show up as black on the net) there was an advert up above "Ask a lawyer online."

Oh well, the election's coming up, we will find out if an honest-to-God "Sweetheart Deal" is enough to rouse Portlanders from their slumber where The Legend is concerned.

(Query how someone with such obviously defective ethical radar can be in charge of trying to contain and retrain the bullies in blue.)

Nice how they over-looked the fact that she is a fund-raiser whose job depends on raising funds and that her boyfriend made sure she got $600K to the exclusion of other non-profits.

This lawyer is a rubber-stamp like the auditor is - Quis custodet ipsos custodes (I think?)

Where is Ms. Rees inquiry into the ethical questions of "appearance" of conflict of interest in the city codes? That needs an answer. But it won't be forthcoming because that can't be answered without a total smirky face and a requirement that it should be legally reviewed with legal followup at the State level.

Fugettaboutit. Dis is the City that steals, wheels, and deals. We don't need no government that works (for us).

Paging the US Attorney's Office. Charges available - theft of honest services, RICO, . If the governor of NY state can face ethics charges over Yankees tickets, how can this stand?

Easy. New Yorkers have a higher level of political education and understand unvarnished, in-your-face crock when they see it, and also are good at making noise about it.

In Oregon, we have an excessively relaxed population, somewhat dulled by a seriously dumbed-down education system, and very enamored of the good things in life, with which Oregon overflows.

Posted by gaye harris: "In Oregon, we have an excessively relaxed population"

More accurately, Portland has an excessively stoned population of voters.

Saltzman has said the story is "the politics of desperation" in his bid for reelection.

http://blogtown.portlandmercury.com/BlogtownPDX/archives/2010/05/04/saltzmangate-dan-says-ethical-breach-accusations-are-politics-of-desperation-in-run-up-to-election

It just takes a call to the Attorney General's office to initiate a misconduct investigation.

The useful thing the City Attorney's letter tells us is she's either incapable or unwilling to adjudicate conflicts of interest in City Hall.

In the minds in Linda Meng's office, the city's ethics rules have no content whatsoever -- they either duplicate other laws or are merely "aspirational." What a sleazy little town.

Amen! Jack
I get more disgusted every day.
What exactly does "Dan the legend" do with all those children anyway? This smells...

Not indicted = re-elected in Stumptown. I am not a Crook! Nothing aspirational about that.

If Mr. Saltzman is so 'shy' and didn't want to tell the four other Children's levy board members that he has a girlfriend, then why in his opening statement at City Club that was broadcat three times on television did he introduce his girlfriend?

Yes, there is the letter of the law- and there is the spirit of the law. After 17 years as an elected official, Mr. Saltzman violated the public trust with his actions. This is our money he's allocating. It doesn't take much common sense to know what to do in this situation.

How hard would it have been to recuse yourself for personal reasons? Bad judgement, putting oneself first, instead of the fragile trust of the public he 'serves.'

ML,

Do you work for Saltzman, or is he just a friend of yours?

Jack's criticisms of the City of Portland are (roughly) 40% debt/fiscal profligacy , 30% cronyism and mismanagement, 15% hypocrisy, 10% PPB mismanagement/brutality, and 5% Mayor Creepy's and Randy's personal shennanigans.

The criticism of Saltzman falls under the 30% cronyism heading. Not because he's the devil, or a MOT, or has a girlfriend.

Cronyism is when insiders receive contracts, employment, GRANTS, from their friends/family at City Hall and their special status as an insider is suppressed.

By not disclosing the potential conflict of interest, Saltzman created the appearance of impropriety. That he didn't violate the letter of the law may be lost on some voters.