Posted on 05/11/2004 12:39:12 PM PDT by dixiechick2000
The Oregon State Bar is investigating whether to discipline former Gov. Neil Goldschmidt after he confessed to having sex with a 14-year-old girl when he served as mayor in the 1970s.
Officials confirmed Tuesday that the bar has opened an investigative file on Goldschmidt, who has not practiced law for years but still holds a license.
Kateri Walsh, a bar spokeswoman, described the situation to KGW as "very preliminary," but indicated that the bar is now formally looking into the case.
"We're in the initial investigation stage but we are evaluating the issues," said Walsh.
The Oregon State Bar did not receive a formal written complaint from either a fellow attorney or a member of the public, Walsh said. She indicated the decision to look into the matter "was generated from inside the bar association."
Goldschmidt stunned the state last week when he confessed to a sexual relationship with the girl while he was mayor in 1975.
Sex between an adult and a child is defined as rape but the statute of limitations at the time was only three years, so Goldschmidt does not face any criminal charges or prosecution.
But there is no statute of limitations on attorney conduct that is subject to disciplinary action by the bar.
Possible disciplinary action includes a letter of admonition, a public reprimand, suspension of a law license from 30 days to 5 years, or disbarment.
Any suspension of six months or longer, up to disbarment, is automatically reviewed by the Oregon Supreme Court, Walsh said.
Walsh said the next step would be an investigation regarding rules that govern lawyer conduct. There is no timeline for that probe, which would be handled by the Disciplinary Counsels Office, she said.
After the investigation is complete, it would be reviewed by a State Professional Responsibility Board, comprised of nine unpaid volunteers -- seven lawyers and two non-lawyers. Walsh said this board would function similar to a grand jury and could recommend to prosecute.
If recommended, she said the formal prosecution process would consist of a three-person trial panel hearing; the panel could then render a written position and a recommended sanction.
Efforts to reach Goldschmidt were not immediately successful.
When Goldschmidt made the confession last week, he also disclosed that in 1994 he had agreed to pay the woman a financial settlement.
The Willamette Week newspaper put the figure at $250,000.
Until his confession, the 63-year-old Goldschmidt was one of the most influential men in Oregon.
He was mayor of Portland from 1973-79, U.S. transportation secretary under President Jimmy Carter, and Oregon's governor from 1987-91. He has also been a Nike executive.
Goldschmiddt stepped back into the public spotlight last fall, taking on two major jobs: serving on the state Board of Higher Education and with a company trying to acquire the largest utility in Oregon from bankrupt Enron Corp.
He resigned both positions as the Willamette Week was preparing to publish a story alleging he had had sex with a 14-year-old girl in the 1970s.
IMO, There has to be more to this than an old affair, underage or otherwise. He was being scrutinized before his disclosre.
Goldschmidt walks away
Master deal-maker retires suddenly from public life: health woes or scandal?
KRISTINA BRENNEMAN
Issue date: Fri, May 7, 2004
Portland TribuneFormer Gov. Neil Goldschmidt has resigned from two high-profile positions and is taking a leave of absence from his consulting firm in advance of an article alleging past sexual misconduct to be published by Willamette Week.
Goldschmidt attorney Craig Bachman, a partner at Lane Powell Spears Lubersky, confirmed that the prominent Oregon power broker was aware of the upcoming article, but would not comment on whether it influenced his client’s decisions.
Goldschmidt, 63, is resigning his role as chairman and investor in the Texas Pacific Group’s purchase of PGE for what was announced as heart problems. He also is resigning as chairman of the state Board of Higher Education.
His consulting firm, Goldschmidt Imeson Carter, has worked for PacifiCorp and the TriMet light-rail system and in Weyerhaeuser Corp.’s 2001 takeover of Willamette Industries.
Owen Blicksilver, a spokesman for the Texas Pacific Group, which hired Goldschmidt to head up its purchase of PGE, said it was unaware of the misconduct allegations. The firm’s executives were told last week that Goldschmidt suffers from atrial fibrillation as well as coronary disease that was severe enough to require a radical life change.
“It’s up to him to discuss,” Blicksilver said. “It’s a sensitive issue. We are going ahead with the deal. It should not delay the purchase. There’s still a long timetable here.”
Texas Pacific partner Kelvin Davis said the firm “clearly recognizes we will need to identify a new chairperson for PGE.”
Meanwhile, Willamette Week Editor Mark Zusman said his newspaper plans to run a story that will appear in either Wednesday’s edition or earlier on the paper’s Web site, detailing what Zusman described as “allegations of sexual misconduct” involving Goldschmidt more than two decades ago.
The decision marks the third time that Goldschmidt has withdrawn from public life. His political career started when he was in his 30s, first as city commissioner and then mayor. It resumed after a break in his 40s with his election as governor, and then again in his 60s when he accepted higher-profile roles with the sale of PGE to Texas Pacific and the state higher education board.
State regulators have only begun to review the PGE sale, which hinges on the formation of a local holding company called Oregon Electric Utility Co. led by Goldschmidt and two other prominent board members, former TriMet Director Tom Walsh and Delta Airlines Chief Executive Officer Gerald Grinstein.
Blicksilver said Texas Pacific has not found anyone to replace Goldschmidt as chairman of Oregon Electric’s board of directors. Texas Pacific representatives have told the Oregon Public Utility Commission that they have “stepped up the search to find board members.”
“Oregon is full of tremendously talented people, and we are confident we can find a talented leader at the level it needs,” said Texas Pacific’s Davis.
In a statement released Thursday afternoon through the public relations firm of Gard & Gerber, Goldschmidt was quoted as saying, “I am determined to get my life in order so that I can continue to be involved in the issues that matter to this state that I love and have served.”
The release also quoted him as saying, “I continue to believe that Oregon Electric’s acquisition of Portland General Electric is in the best interests of PGE’s customers and the broader community, and I have every confidence that it will move forward without me.”
Goldschmidt’s withdrawal from board leadership must be filed with the PUC and federal energy agencies, but Davis said it’s not certain when Texas Pacific will file an update this week or next week.
“They felt they could take care of it without changing the timetable,” said Bryan Conway, who is heading up the PGE sale review process at the commission.
Dan Meek, who represents the Utility Reform Project, says Goldschmidt’s departure will not “reduce the prospects for the Texas Pacific deal for PGE.”
Quick exit
It was an unexpectedly quick end to the latest chapter in Goldschmidt’s public life. In November, he was poised to become chairman of one of the state’s largest utilities and to lead a major reform of the state’s higher education system. Gov. Ted Kulongoski relied on Goldschmidt as part of his kitchen cabinet for advice in traversing Salem politics and to head an overhaul of the board of higher education.
Richard Jarvis, chancellor of the seven-campus system, resigned within days of Goldschmidt’s appointment.
Until then, Goldschmidt mostly had been working behind the scenes, starting a volunteer reading program called Start Making a Reader Today, and orchestrating the acquisition of property to link the North and South park blocks with the private Park Blocks Foundation. He scaled his workweek to four days and spent time at his Yamhill winery.
Goldschmidt also disappeared from public life in 1991 when he declined to run for a second term as governer. He formed a consulting firm that eventually included former PacifiCorp executive Tom Imeson and former Bechtel Corp. executive John Carter. Among other projects, Goldschmidt helped put together the partnership between TriMet and the Bechtel engineering corporation that resulted in the airport MAX light-rail line.
The Goldschmidt fallout will have a major effect on the firm, which is facing not only the departure of its most visible and lucrative partner, but also the loss of the Texas Pacific deal. Nor will Imeson remain as spokesman for Oregon Electric.
“They’ve been long-standing partners, and this will have impact on their business,” said Texas Pacific’s Davis.
Goldschmidt and his second wife, Diana, a former PacifiCorp executive, are among Oregon’s best-connected political couples, and sources said they expect she will retreat from public life at least temporarily.
Diana Goldschmidt is the head of her own consulting firm, Urban Design Works. She also is vice chairwoman of the Oregon Investment Council, the six-member citizen board that oversees the investment of all state funds.
SAIF investigation
Goldschmidt also is at the center of an ethics investigation into SAIF, the state-sanctioned workers’ compensation insurance agency. The state Government Standards and Practices Commission voted in April to investigate a complaint that SAIF violated state ethics laws by failing to report that it paid Goldschmidt approximately $1 million for lobbying expenses between 1998 and 2003. Commission records reveal that SAIF only reported $223,000 in lobbying expenses for that period.
The complaint was filed by state Sen. Vicki Walker, D-Eugene, who says that Goldschmidt has worked behind the scenes to prevent the Oregon Legislature from privatizing SAIF.
The agency denies any wrongdoing, saying that Goldschmidt’s payments were for consulting and business planning, not lobbying. The agency has been unable to produce any written records of Goldschmidt’s work, however.
Goldschmidt severed his relationship with SAIF last September, saying it had become a liability for the agency. After hearing from both sides, the commission voted to open a formal investigation into Walker’s complaint on April 23.
Tribune reporters Don Hamilton, Jim Redden and Phil Stanford contributed to this report.
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