I was surprised to read this morning that Governor Kulongoski had asked Diana Goldschmidt to resign from the Oregon Investment Council, the state agency that supervises most of the state’s investments, and when she refused, removed her from the board.
I was even more surprised to see no comment from Jack Bog yet, but I’m guessing that he’ll weigh in by nightfall.
I don’t know whether Ms. Goldschmidt did anything improper. So far the only evidence is the series of amazing coincidences (and “amazing” is an understatement) surrounding OIC’s investment in Texas Pacific’s bid for Portland General Electric the week that Neil Goldschmidt was asked to serve on the new PGE board. But she and the governor are learning a lesson that eluded Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, and Richard Nixon: to retain the respect of the governed, a government has to avoid the appearance of impropriety, and those who work for it have to not just follow the rules, but be perceived to be following the rules.
UPDATE: Here’s Jack’s comment, from the early afternoon.
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Exactly. “The appearance of impropriety” is enough of a justification, even though it seems there was actual funny-business going on.
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