Statement from Neil Goldschmidt (fmr Portland Mayor, Oregon Gov admits affair with minor)

The Oregonian ^ | May 6, 2004 | Neil Goldschmidt

[Clinging Bitterly]

Statement from Neil Goldschmidt Thursday, May 6, 2004 Text of the statement Neil Goldschmidt made to The Oregonian on Thursday: Beginning in 1975, while I was mayor, I had an affair with a high school student for nearly a year. In 1994, I funded a conservatorship in her behalf, believing I was partly responsible for her difficulties coping with her life. For almost thirty years, I have lived with enormous guilt and shame about this relationship. I have also been afraid that it would be exposed to my family, friends and the public whose respect I have sought to earn. How can such behavior be erased when the damage to others and to myself lives on? I have sat in my place of worship each year at Yom Kippur, the day of atonement in my religious tradition, reading in silence, searching for personal peace. And I have found that the answer to that question is that it cannot be erased. The pain and damage that I have caused have been with me constantly. I have known all along that my private apologies and actions, deep and true though they were, would never be enough. I apologize now, publicly and completely. I am truly sorry for allowing the relationship to happen at all, with someone too young to be responsible or accountable for her actions; for failing my first wife; and for betraying the trust of family, friends and all those who put their trust in me. This moment has arrived at a time when I am struggling with my health. Finding some measure of personal peace, in addition to stepping aside from my public service and business activities, is part of that struggle, part of what I must do in order to heal. In my life I have been blessed with a loving and supportive family, wonderful children and grandchildren, and a wife who helped me confront this issue. With all sincerity, I pray that Gold will accept my contrition and protect my family from the pain that a life led poorly in part may bring to their homes. May a forgiving God mend my broken heart and those I have broken. And may Oregonians accept this apology, even if they cannot forgive my actions. Copyright 2004 Oregon Live. All Rights Reserved.

[Clinging Bitterly]

Of course there is no mention of party affiliation. We Oregoneans know he is a Democrat through and through.

Goldschmidt was also Transportation Secretery under Carter, and lately had been involved in Oregon politics in the backrooms as owner of a lobbying firm. He was also involved in a venture that was seeking to buy the former Enron subsidiary Portland General Electric, and was recently tapped by the democrat Governor (who would want me to mention his name) to head the state board of higher education.

Earlier today it was announced he was resigning from all of those endeavors under advice from his doctor due to "heart problems". Talk radio broke the sex scandal story early this afternoon.

Whatever the reason, it is very good for Oregon that this still powerful Oregon political figure is ruined and out of public life.

Though the statute of limitations has long passed, this was a crime and I hope the girl involved (who would probably be about my age) sues his britches off. His pockets are probably fairly deep.

[bayourod]

The girl might have been 17. At one time it was normal for girls to marry at 14. Both my grandmothers were married at 14.

[jocon307]

"Beginning in 1975, while I was mayor, I had an affair with a high school student for nearly a year. In 1994, I funded a conservatorship in her behalf, believing I was partly responsible for her difficulties coping with her life."

Ok, here are my questions:

1. How old was he in 1975 and

2. Why is this woman so messed up that after nearly 20 years she can't go on with her life (after a one year affair!?!?) and needs a "conservatorship" set up for her and

3. I mean, what did this man do to the poor girl?

4. How young was she?

Those are my questions, but it all sounds pretty fishy (as in extortion) to me.

[Wally_Kalbacken]

He anticipates exposure of an affair - and it induces heart problems. Shazzam!

[DoughtyOne]

Dave, this happened thirty years ago. During that time this man may have pulled many a democrat hustle, but his statement here is about as much as you could ask for. He has evidently lead a fairly decent life, discounting him being a democrat. While I disagree with just about everything he stands for as a democrat, I will not seek to destroy, or support anyone who does seek to destroy him based on this.

This was a consentual relationship that may have occurred just months before this girl became of age. To completely destroy a man's ability to be productive for some acts that may have been committed six months too early over thirty years ago, isn't very reasoned in my opinion.

[Texas Eagle]

How is sex with a minor different from statutory rape?

[Drango]

Depends on the meaning of "sex" and "is".

[Texas Eagle]

How is a conservatorship different from hush money?

[DoughtyOne]

I believe a conservatorship may involve money, but the emphasis is as much on placing someone with a level head in a position to help the woman make personal decisions, like handling finances, keeping out of trouble and leading a more productive life.

[Clinging Bitterly]

She was 14, plus he was already married.
Here is more:
http://www.portlandtribune.com/archview.cgi?id=C050604


Goldschmidt walks away

BY Kris Brenneman Issue date: 05/06/04
The Tribune

---

Former 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 after he declined to run for a second term as governor. 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 scene 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.

[Texas Eagle]

Ah, thank you. You can learn just about anything on FR.

[Diddle E. Squat]

Indeed it was a crime. But the real question now is, in the 28 years since the incident, did he learn from this mistake, or continue to have affairs? Did he change his behavior, or continue to be a slimeball who is only repentent when outed?

I am somewhat familiar with how he changed the course of Portland's history(as are perhaps many who routinely are stuck in traffic on the city's inadequate roadways or priced out of single-family homes) but not his actual character.

[DoughtyOne]

I'm not an attorney, but I did sleep at a Holiday Inn last night. LOL, someone else will come buy and embelish, but I think this is about right from what I've picked up over the years.

[Wally_Kalbacken]

Well - he was ~35 in 1975. 

And sex with a minor is statutory rape - which in theory is a strict liability crime. It requires 1) a showing that intercourse occurred and 2) one of the participants was underage at the time. That's it - there are no mitigating defenses ("she looked 19 your honor!"), not even consent.

While that is true - you always have the factor of prosecutory discretion not to charge even when the elements are there. Fulton Co. (basically  Atlanta) had a long serving DA by the name of Lewis R. Slaton who was DA during 60's through the mid 90's and was in office when the news broke of Rob Lowe's intercourse in a hotel room while he attended the 1988 Democratic Convention in Atlanta. The girl he had sex with was 16 at the time - but Slaton allowed him to do community service as part of a diversion program - despite the existence of videotape showing the couple in flagrante delicto.

[Diddle E. Squat]

Though seeing as she was just 14, a truly honest and repentent man might (though past the statute of limitations) voluntarily register himself as a sex offender.

[doug from upland]

I await this:

The doctor has told me I have an incurable veneral disease that will soon drive me totally insane before it falls off and I bleed to death. I must finally come clean. There is no vast right wing conspiracy. My wife and I had sex one time. She is the world's biggest b*tch. She should have been indicted for Castle Grande. Yes, I dropped trow on Paula Jones and warned her not to talk. I raped Juanita Broaddrick. I assaulted Kathleen Willey. Vince's body was dragged to the park by Terry Lenzner. Ron Brown had to be snuffed because he was about to blow the whistle. The ChiComs funneled millions of dollars to me. I used an Arturo Fuente and gave it to Arafat as a laugh. Danny Williams is my son. It is badly bent and sometimes aches, especially when it is oozing. The best round I ever had without cheating was 95.

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

If he is truly asking for forgiveness, only the woman involved and his familily are in a position to forgive him if he has in fact requested it of them. The fact that he ran a newspaper ad after it was (apparently to him) inevitable that the news of his wrongdoing would leak out leaves me suspicious. IMO, bad character is a lifetime affliction.

That the media would ignore his party affiliation is no surprise. Only republicans are held to any social standards whatsoever.

[Diddle E. Squat]

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 scene to prevent the Oregon Legislature from privatizing SAIF.

Whaddayawannabet the person who tipped off the media to this story was another rat. They do play hardball...

[Clinging Bitterly]

...the emphasis is as much on placing someone with a level head in a position to help the woman make personal decisions, like handling finances, keeping out of trouble and leading a more productive life.

And keeping quiet too.

Underage is underage when you are in a position of authority (even the lowly mayor of Portland) and already married, to boot.

He has tried to keep this hidden because it would have ruined him, just as it would have ruined you or me.

Stick a fork in him, he's done - and I'm not the least bit ashamed at not feeling sorry for him.

[onehipdad]

This was a consentual relationship that may have occurred just months before this girl became of age. To completely destroy a man's ability to be productive for some acts that may have been committed six months too early over thirty years ago, isn't very reasoned in my opinion.

Cheese and crackers, a female teacher out here was sentenced to prison a few years ago for having a "consentual" relationship with a 14-year-old boy that produced a child! Furthermore, a legally elected Republican senator from Oregon was forced to resign because he smooched and fanny-patted some adult women he worked with 25 years ago ostensibly because he used his position of power to get away with it.

I don't give a sh*t what good Goldschmidt did for anybody, he doesn't hold a candle to what a good many dead priests did for people, for whom the Catholic church is now shelling out millions to opportunistic mental cases who may or may not have been victimized by them at times of carnal weakness.

I think this woman should sue the state of Oregon for say, $40 million for what Goldschmidt did nearly thirty years ago. Why not? He's even admitted to it - dead priests can't do that. If the Catholic church must bear responsibility for them, why shouldn't the state be liable for his "indiscretions"??