<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=1Yxhyd_0nAAMOLW00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1Yxhyd_0nAAMOLW00" width="1280" height="1040" ></figure>Former Portland Auditor LaVonne Griffin-Valade has been named Oregon’s <a href="https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2023/04/secretary-of-state-shemia-fagan-pledged-to-build-trust-in-oregon-government-now-she-wont-talk-about-paid-pot-side-job.html">new secretary of state</a>, Gov. Tina Kotek announced Wednesday.The announcement comes nearly two months after Shemia Fagan <a href="https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2023/05/oregon-secretary-of-state-shemia-fagan-resigns.html">resigned the post</a> following news that she had taken a $10,000 a month consulting gig with an affiliate of embattled marijuana company La Mota at a time when her office was auditing the cannabis industry. Cheryl Myers, who had been Fagan’s deputy, has served as acting secretary of state since Fagan’s resignation.Griffin-Valade, who will be sworn in Friday, will serve out the remainder of Fagan’s term, which runs until January 2025. The secretary of state oversees elections, serves as the state’s chief auditor and heads the Oregon Corporation Division.Unlike an elected secretary of state, Griffin-Valade, as an appointee, would not become governor if that office were to become vacant. Instead, the state treasurer, currently Tobias Read, would assume the position.Kotek said she is counting on the new appointee to “regain Oregonians’ faith in their government.”“I told Oregonians back in May that the primary objective of the next secretary of state would be to restore confidence in the office of the secretary of state,” Kotek said at a press conference Wednesday. “After taking the time to evaluate this very critical position, I feel strongly that LaVonne Griffin-Valade is the right person to meet this moment.”Griffin-Valade became an auditor in the Multnomah County Auditor’s Office in 1998 before being elected to serve as the county’s auditor in 2006. She was then elected as the Portland auditor in 2009 and served in that role until she retired in 2014. During her time as an auditor, she was a member of an international committee focused on local government auditing in the U.S. and in several Canadian jurisdictions, according to Kotek’s office. The Oregonian Editorial Board credited her audits during her time as the Portland auditor with exposing “mysteries about spending or management that would have otherwise gone unchecked and unknown – even by those in charge of the spending and management.”After leaving office, Griffin-Valade earned a master of fine arts degree in writing from Portland State University and has since published a four-part mystery series as well as personal essays.“I have the experience to bring back credibility, accountability, transparency and trust to the secretary of state’s office,” Griffin-Valade said in a statement. “It’s never been more important to have a leader who will focus on rebuilding the public’s trust in the secretary of state’s office, and that is exactly what I will aim to do every day.”<a href="https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2023/05/oregon-secretary-of-state-shemia-fagan-resigns.html">Fagan resigned</a> a day after she made public the details of her contract with Veriede Holdings, the La Mota affiliate, apologizing to Oregonians for undermining their trust. Fagan, a former state lawmaker and lawyer, said she took the outside job because her $77,000 annual salary as secretary of state wasn’t enough “to make ends meet.” Willamette Week first was the first to report that Fagan had taken the consulting gig.In the wake of the scandal, multiple agencies have opened investigations into Fagan and her office.Kotek asked the Oregon Government Ethics Commission to investigate the situation and requested that the Oregon Department of Justice examine the audit from Fagan’s office of the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission’s pot regulation system. Both investigations are ongoing and Kotek said it would be “a couple months” before they conclude.“I want the truth to come out and I want people to understand the whole story and understand what we learn from this going forward,” Kotek said. “When a scandal happens, hopefully we learn from it and keep it from happening in the future.”Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Justice also ordered <a href="https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2023/06/5-oregon-agencies-hit-with-federal-subpoenas-in-shemia-fagan-investigation.html">five state agencies</a> to turn over records related to Fagan and La Mota as part of a <a href="https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2023/06/feds-open-apparent-investigation-of-former-secretary-of-state-shemia-fagans-ties-to-pot-company-source-says.html">grand jury investigation now underway</a>.Separately, former state representative Julie Parrish filed <a href="https://www.oregonlive.com/news/2023/06/complaint-asks-state-to-investigate-if-shemia-fagan-illegally-used-campaign-money-for-family-vacations.html">two complaints</a> about Fagan this month. The first asks Oregon officials to investigate whether Fagan violated state law by allegedly spending campaign donations on family vacations, including on airfare, meals and lodging for her kids or romantic partner. The second asks the Oregon Government Ethics Commission to delve into whether Fagan violated state statute by using her official position for personal financial gain or the benefit of members of her household through their travels.Those complaints came on the heels of <a href="https://www.oregonlive.com/news/2023/06/shemia-fagan-spent-taxpayer-or-donor-money-on-hotel-pet-fees-airfare-for-her-kids-she-says-shes-done-nothing-wrong.html">an investigation published by The Oregonian/OregonLive</a> that found tens of thousands of dollars in questionable or unexplained spending of taxpayer dollars and campaign funds by Fagan. That included money spent on overnight trips she took to Chicago, New Orleans, Washington, D.C. and throughout Oregon with her children, her romantic partner, her aunt or her sister.While Oregon ethics laws allow public officials to have private jobs, it’s extremely rare for full-time statewide elected officials to take outside work and is illegal for public employees to use their public positions for personal gain.Fagan was the second top state official to resign in the last decade after former Gov. John Kitzhaber stepped down in 2015 amid a growing influence-peddling scandal involving him and his fiancée, Cylvia Hayes.Given the circumstances that led to Fagan’s resignation, Kotek said there needs to be extra scrutiny on the secretary of state’s office moving forward. She said she has tasked Griffin-Valade with evaluating how the office is functioning and would leave it up to her to determine whether there needs to be additional changes within the office.“I know LaVonne Griffin-Valade first and foremost from her experience holding government leaders accountable, her ethical judgment and her reputation as a leader with a steady hand who rises above politics,” Kotek said.Hillary Borrud, Aimee Green and Noelle Crombie of The Oregonian/OregonLive contributed to this report.— <a href="https://www.oregonlive.com/staff/goldbergjamie/posts.html">Jamie Goldberg</a>; <a href="mailto:jgoldberg@oregonian.com">jgoldberg@oregonian.com</a>; 503-221-8228; <a href="https://twitter.com/Jamiebgoldberg">@jamiebgoldberg</a>Our journalism needs your support. 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Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek announces new secretary of state

Former Portland Auditor LaVonne Griffin-Valade has been named Oregon’s new secretary of state, Gov. Tina Kotek announced Wednesday. The announcement comes nearly two months after Shemia Fagan resigned the post following news that she had taken a $10,000 a month consulting gig with an affiliate of embattled marijuana company La Mota at a time when her office was auditing the cannabis industry. Cheryl Myers, who had been Fagan’s deputy, has served as acting secretary of state since Fagan’s resignation.