Oregon state auditors flag ‘minor’ spending issues by Gov. Kotek’s office

State auditors have flagged several “minor” and “unintentional” apparent violations of state ethics laws after reviewing spending from Gov. Tina Kotek’s office.

The potential issues, first reported by Willamette Week , involved spending on parking, concert tickets and a catered meal for employees from a Salem brewery. Employees of the Secretary of State’s Audits Division began reviewing expenses following anonymous reports to the state’s government accountability hotline last March about misuse of state resources related to Kotek’s since-scuttled plans to create an office of the first spouse.

In a Friday letter to Kotek, then-deputy Secretary of State Cheryl Myers wrote that auditors found allegations in the original reports to be unfounded, but that auditors found several expenses that appeared to violate state policy and potentially state ethics laws and issued warnings to the governor’s office about the use of funds.

She said that auditors didn’t review all transactions from the governor’s office but looked at categories including prizes and awards, catering services, tickets and parking. Auditors shared the letter with the Oregon Government Ethics Commission. Commission executive director Susan Myers — no relation — confirmed via email that the commission received a report and is reviewing it to decide whether to open its own investigation.

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