PORTLAND, Ore. — Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber said Friday that legitimate questions have been raised about his fiancee’s taxes after newspaper reports that income from a renewable energy group didn’t appear on her tax returns.
The Democratic governor said he and Cylvia Hayes file taxes separately, and he would not discuss hers.
“Clearly those are very serious allegations and apply specifically to her tax returns,” a visibly nervous Kitzhaber told reporters during a news conference in Portland.
The governor said Hayes will have no future role in his administration. She’ll continue consulting for outside clients, but he said she won’t work on issues that “have anything to do with the state of Oregon.”
He deflected questions about whether her work constituted a conflict of interest, saying a state ethics commission will decide.
Kitzhaber said he will not resign.
Hayes has been under intense scrutiny over embarrassing revelations of her past personal life and because of a consulting business she ran while at the same time serving as an adviser to Kitzhaber.
Hayes’ troubles started last fall when she was forced to admit as true a newspaper report that in the 1990s she illegally married an Ethiopian immigrant so he could seek residency in the United States, and that she had never told Kitzhaber about the sham marriage that ended with the filing of divorce papers in 2001.
Ethics questions about her consulting business dominated Kitzhaber’s re-election campaign last year. Hayes was paid by organizations involved in shaping public policy, and public records show a public employee helped book travel for Hayes’ private consulting business.
Kitzhaber has defended her work, saying she was careful to avoid conflicts. The Oregon Government Ethics Commission is investigating whether she broke state ethics laws.
The controversy erupted again this week, when the newspaper chains EO Media Group and Pamplin Media Group reported that Hayes said she was paid $118,000 over two years for a fellowship at the Clean Economy Development Center. The Washington-based organization says it helps government create jobs through renewable energy projects.
The Oregonian reported that her earnings from the organization did not match the income reported on her tax returns for those two years, which she had previously given to the newspaper.
The controversy comes as Kitzhaber gears up for the five-month legislative session, during which he’s pushing an ambitious agenda on education and climate change, a priority for Hayes.
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