PORTLAND, Ore. – The administrator of the Oregon Liquor Control Commission resigned Thursday, five days after being arrested and charged with drunken and reckless driving.
Teresa Kaiser, 56, e-mailed her resignation to members of the agency’s board of directors, said Lonn Hoklin, spokesman for Democratic Gov. Ted Kulongoski.
A police report said officers responded to a two-car accident on the west end of the Sellwood Bridge on Saturday night and smelled “a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage” from inside the vehicle. The report said the driver, Kaiser, had “bloodshot, watery eyes” and slurred speech but was cooperative.
The report said she admitted having two glasses of wine over five hours at the home of friends. A breath test placed her blood alcohol level at 0.16, twice the legal limit for driving in Oregon.
She said she did not believe she should have been driving, according to the report.
The police report said Kaiser agreed to field sobriety tests but left her shoes in the car when she got out.
There were no reported injuries from the accident. The report indicated her car, headed downtown, crossed a lane on a curve.
“Due to circumstances that I deeply regret, I am resigning as executive director of the commission,” Kaiser’s e-mail to the board read. “I will return on May 15th to tie up loose ends and will say my goodbyes at that time. Although my departure is abrupt, I am confident the commission will move forward.”
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