Saint Hatfield's halo picks up some new tarnish
When he died, nobody wanted to talk much about it, but Oregon's political hero appears to have been a bit of a crook personally. The scam with his wife and the Greek tycoon was a disgrace. And there's more out there in various corners.
This paragraph in the latest story is interesting:
It was toward the end his tenure, in the 1990s, that Hatfield won support for many of the region's signature federal projects. When he retired in 1996, after 30 years in the Senate, he had brought Oregon hundreds of millions of dollars in federal money. Those later projects include parts of Portland's light rail system, sophisticated research labs at Oregon Health & Science University, and the $128 million federal courthouse named for Hatfield in downtown Portland.
Think there was any monkey business with all the money that flew around with those projects?
Anyway, may Hatfield rest in peace, but may the history books include the whole story.
| Posted at 10:31 AM | Permalink |
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Comments (14)
Sig Unander could have added at least one ugly footnote. But he's dead too.
Posted by David E Gilmore | June 2, 2012 10:59 AM
Hatfield was a hypocritical creepy creep. Makes Wyden look just a run-of-the-mill weirdo.
Posted by Mojo | June 2, 2012 11:41 AM
Mojo cuts St. Mark far far too much slack.
Posted by Nonny Mouse | June 2, 2012 12:38 PM
Hatfield was a politically powerful, closeted gay man. Thus, he understood the value of being something other than his public persona. You wonder how much for what he did was due to blackmail....
Posted by Ivan Pitt | June 2, 2012 12:42 PM
Let the dead rest in peace.
Posted by Dutch | June 2, 2012 1:25 PM
Some over on the O are saying this story has been vetted in the past, the "rest in peace" line. But I think it is fair to get history correct with some of the info from the recent opened records.
Also, we are in different times where we seem to have an abundance of political favoritism, corruption, under the table malfeasance. We need to examine this as government respect is severely depleted as all polls show.
Posted by lw | June 2, 2012 2:33 PM
The facts that the Greek dude was indicted and it was kept secret are important.
Posted by Jack Bog | June 2, 2012 2:44 PM
"Let the dead rest in peace."
I don't see how they can be stopped.
Posted by Allan L. | June 2, 2012 4:21 PM
A person who worked at the Portland Hilton when Hatfield was in office once said that when he held events there and they ran long, he expected the Hilton staff to stay on without being paid for overtime.
Posted by TR | June 2, 2012 7:59 PM
Who would have ever known? Oregon does as a good job as Louisiana does at picking corrupt leaders.
Just as Packwood and Goldschmidt disgraced themselves, Hatfield made his own poor choices.
The national AND local media not following up on this story back when it first surfaced is shameful.
Jeff Mapes is like school in summer...NO CLASS!
Posted by Brian | June 2, 2012 8:59 PM
There was a story going around that when St Mark was gov he used to tell his driver to stop by the side of the road and they would get out of the car, kneel down, and pray together.
Posted by portland native | June 2, 2012 9:06 PM
And then they'd get back in the car and go who knows where -- Governors and State Trooper chauffeurs: stop me if you've heard this one before....
Posted by Mojo | June 3, 2012 12:50 AM
Did The O KNOW this and COVER for Hatfield? Did Hatfield's pro old growth logging stance have anything to do with any cover up by The O? Some green folks think that's the case. Recall how close Hatfield came to losing to the Bend guy (Lonsdale?) but of course lots of (so called) D's went into convulsions to hurt Lonsdale's campaign both in public and behind the scenes. Some went public and urged other D's to support Hatfield such as the woman who represented the 1st District Elizabeth what's-her-name. AuCoin denied ever doing anything to help Hatfield to which many greens laughed hysterically. Hatfiueld and his driver did at times pray at the side of the road and I recall both confirming it.
Posted by paul | June 3, 2012 12:20 PM
About The O's vacuum of "coverage": Remember, Meier & Frank were The O's biggest advertiser and Gerry Frank was "his longtime friend and aide."
http://www.legacy.com/ns/obituary.aspx?pid=153005696
Allan L.: "Let the dead rest in peace." I don't see how they can be stopped.
HILARIOUS!!
Posted by Mojo | June 3, 2012 12:47 PM