The Hillsboro Herald brings you this weekend update in our continuing series on Clean Water Services and the crisis inside the Public Agency. The Oregonian broke this story after months of great investigative journalism by reporter Jamie Goldberg. Follow this link to read her in-depth reporting, which exposes lavish spending and abuse of ratepayer money by the CWS CEO and top executives. This is a monstrous story; there will be so much more to follow if transparency and justice are served. It has gone beyond the typical government mismanagement. It could easily become a story of fraud and financial manipulations at a level we have not seen in many years. However, because the CEO of Clean Water Services is not forthcoming with information and appears to be blocking the Oregonian from gaining crucial information on CWS spending and other records, there is no way to be clear. CEO Diane Taniguchi-Dennis declined interviews and seems to be trying to weather this storm behind layers of secrecy. At the center of this tempest is the discovery of a Hawaii-based Insurance company owned and funded by Clean Water Services. The insurance company, Clean Water Insurance Company, has been used to pay for trips, meals, and luxury accommodations for CWS Executives and guests, which could include some current/former Washington County Officials. To many residents and ratepayers who struggle under the financial weight of CWS, this is too much to accept.
Here are the stories the Herald has written so far on CWS: https://hillsboroherald.com/?s=clean+water+services’
This Weeks News
The Washington County Commissioners are the Board of Directors for Clean Water Services. They called what equated to an emergency meeting to pass a Resolution, CWS RO 25- 5 , which is designed to create more accountability, curb spending by the CWS Executives, and audit the agency’s expenses. Tuesday’s resolution requires Clean Water Services to hire an independent auditor for a three-year review of travel and food spending. The agency must also update its travel rules, examine its food policies, and, among other changes, stop allowing executives to use ratepayer funds for local meals.
Here is Goldberg’s last story on this entire debacle:…