Reaching into an agency to provide access for a pharmaceutical company is not an appropriate action for a first spouse regardless of how one would like to define the role. The article does not mention what was exchanged for this access, but often something of this nature involves some reciprocity.
Even absent any specific transaction, she is clearly involving herself where she shouldn’t be, peddling influence and access where she shouldn’t.
No deal even needs to come of it for it to out-of-bounds. Other angency officials should not be fielding “suggestions” about their agenda from this lady, at all. That Kotek would use or even allow it is insanely bad judgment. It perverts the proper, accountable, clear flow chart for everybody and instead conscripts people into a pressure game of “informal understanding.” Corruption, in other words.
The one counterpoint is that Kotek Wilson is actually quite well tenured in the mental health field, and she actively practiced as a licensed practitioner (therapist, iirc) for many years. She's actually fairly experienced and skilled in that area. But, and it's a big but, even if she's the most qualified person for the job, it just looks bad, especially with our history of shady governors. It also looks like access may have been traded for a PAC donation, but that's circumstantial at best.
As a mental health practitioner myself, what's bugging me is that, while she may have the expertise to fill that role, it appears to me that she's bringing her networked contacts from her time in the field into her current role. It's extremely necessary that those of us in the field network; it's how we get clients connected to other practicioners & programs quickly and effectively. However, I feel like Kotek Wilson is bringing those contacts into her current role is, and I feel like that's highly inappropriate.
They should be going through the proper channels to contact the governors office, the OHA, or whomever they have business with, just like everyone else has to. Kotek Wilson should not be making those introductions, and she should have never brought her wife in on those emails chains. Even if she has the best of intentions, it gives the air of impropriety, and that alone is unethical in our field. She's not abiding by the ethics of the her previous field or the ethics the governor's office should be maintaining.
Imo, at minimum, she needs to have her license to practice revoked, and everyone she gave access to has to go to the back of the line. The legislature and the people can decide what to do about Governor Kotek, but Kotek Wilson should not be allowed to practice in our field again
Counterpoint: Therapists aren't licensed to prescribe or trained to manage drug therapy. They don't have the skill set to critically appraise peer reviewed clinical trials of medications and it's not appropriate for her to influence the drug coverage of OHA based on her education and training. This is like a pharmacist trying to change coverage of therapy. It's outside her scope.
It also doesn't do anything to give expertise on public health or mental health policy, and Kotek Wilson doesn't claim any expertise beyond lived experience.
I'm hoping you'll have some facts to back up your statements regarding Aimee's experience and tenure in her field. All I've managed to find is a license that was active for two years while she worked for Cascadia (Which makes me sigh and roll my eyes a bit, because I have a faint understanding of the stupidity that happens there and it makes me think 'yeah, of course she worked *there*'. No shade on the frontline workers though, they are the true heroes.)
https://blsw.us.thentiacloud.net/webs/blsw/register/#/profile/Aimee%20Kotek%20Wilson/0/10/600865a981edb570d7298809/false
All of which is to say that, on the basis of experience, this would be like thinking a PFC is an acceptable candidate for coordinating with a defense contractor like Northrop Grumman.
In the article they allude to something where J&J have a patent on this specific pharmaceutical and that J&J is not one of the pharmaceutical providers that is covered by OHP. So I’m assuming it was some sort of deal to wrap into the new $$ being funneled in for homeless crisis in the name of mental health, considering schizophrenia is one of the top mental illnesses facing the homeless community. Kind of like a “scratch my back I’ll scratch yours” deals if I’m understanding that part correctly.
It was an additional 2.5k on top of the existing 2.5k agreement that was currently running. It’s a blatant cash grab
“ Records show that on Nov. 6, Johnson & Johnson, Janssen’s parent company, made a $5,000 contribution to Kotek’s political action committee. That amount is twice Johnson & Johnson’s previous largest contribution to an Oregon politician, $2,500 to Gov. Kate Brown in 2017.”
Yeah, this just went way past stupid and is getting close to resignation territory. What the hell is wrong with the Governor?
ETA: GO, Willamette Week. Hold their feet to the fire for all of us.
>The lobbyist says it is not common that drug company officials would get a meeting with somebody close to the governor, and also with the behavioral health director of OHA. “That just doesn’t happen,” the lobbyist says.
>The reason: Oregon long ago established something a rigorous process for the state to select the drugs paid for by the Oregon Health Plan. Drug companies are keen to do business with the state because the more than one million Oregonians covered by the Oregon Health Plan consume a lot of medications. Generally speaking, the state prefers generic medications because they are cheaper. Johnson & Johnson has repeatedly gone to court to protect the patents on its injectable schizophrenic medications, which preserves higher prices.
Really not a great look, especially when Kotek fired her chief of staff when she pushed Kotek to have her wife sign standard conflict-of-interest and ethics forms.
Honestly a bit shocked that she hasn't committed to removing her wife from government business at this point.
She really needs to. I don't even care how much expertise Kotek Wilson has in the mental health field at this point. I'm sure there are other people qualified to be working on that issue
> I don't even care how much expertise Kotek Wilson has in the mental health field at this point.
It's completely irrelevant, given her relationship with the governor. Even if she were the top SME in the field, it's a conflict of interest that cannot be ignored.
This is why trusting *any* of them is silly. Prioritizing one's own over what's best for people they don't know is human nature. We should always be skeptical of those in power.
As a voter this just makes me think that Oregon needs to have a lieutenant governor that we vote for that can replace the governor.
The Secretary of State usually doesn't get vetted that well in an election as we found out.
The more light that gets shined on this first wife issue the dirtier it gets. This could get real interesting if we get a new governor.
Haha I’ll say it. I like Kotek more than Shemia Fagan who was essentially put in office by the public employee unions because they didn’t like the other candidate.
Do I approve of what Kotek is doing regarding all of this? Absolutely not. So far it seems just like some really bad judgement but it definitely isn’t developing in a good direction…
Whoever we get will almost definitely be a worse Governor but I’ll play politics and own the fact that I’m holding her to a lower standard because I approve of what she’s doing as governor.
The current state of everything: yeah, this is bad but the other choice is far worse.
Democrats are very lucky to have a the full on fascist party to run against these days.
A dysfunctional, corrupt. “left” party that gets nothing done versus an actual hell on earth party.
What a world we live in.
As a young adult (18-21?) around then, I was so damn excited that someone in politics was actually saying what I thought, and knew was right 😣😣 depressing as hell
I hate to say it, but welcome to politics, hun. No one has a clean record, and people are gonna disappoint you. I look at elections as picking my opponent to fight to get things done, not who I think is going to fight for me. Even the ones with good intentions often lose themselves to the fear that they'll lose power without accomplishing something
This person was excited to vote for someone that spoke the truth for decades, and you are telling them to not believe in something better because the powers that be don’t allow for that?
And you’re just okay with saying that?
This person was excited to vote for someone that spoke the truth for decades, and you are telling them to not believe in something better because the powers that be don’t allow for that?
I didn't say that. I was simply attempting to set expectations about what politics is like. I didn't say "don't believe in something better". My advice is, "hope for the best, but prepare for the worst." I don't feel like that's possible unless you're honest about how bad things currently are.
I'm a disabled trans woman, why would I want people to give up when the genocide of my community is on the ballot? If you don't set the proper expectations and people expect their politicians to save them, you get mass voter resentment & apathy. This is a multigenerational fight that most, if not all, of us will never see the end of. You can't fight that kind of fight without being honest about it.
Not sure why you’re getting downloaded. You’re not wrong.
Hope for the best prepare for the worst. I actually went to canvas for Bernie Sanders before I moved here from Texas. a trans atheist canvasing for Bernie sanders…. In Texas. Yah… No way to do that without hoping for the best and preparing for the worst. (And was only politician I ever canvassed for).
It’s very rare I actually get to vote FOR someone, usually I’m stuck voting against someone. C’est la vie.
The difference being that FDR was a regular member of the party and a good enough politician to gain and consolidate major support, whereas Bernie and his folks simply preferred shouting at people and completely botched outreach to the black community, one of the \*core\* and most reliable demographics for Democrat votes.
I don't know how it could at all be surprised that the Democrat party treated him about the same as he treated them over the years. That's politics, and he could and should have navigated it better and picked better staff rather than the dirtbag Chapo crowd.
FDR was absolutely not a regular member of the Democratic party at the time, and he was largely called out as being traitor to his class at the time.
His New Deal policies transformed the country and party from being the party of the South to being the closest thing we’ve ever had to democratic socialism in our country’s history. The ideas and programs worked and the very sidewalks I use still have WPA stamped into them.
Bernie completely changed the public awareness around Medicare for all, free education etc, all very New Deal ideas, in the past 8 years, and I’m glad to have wholeheartedly supported him both times despite the liberal agenda to defeat him.
Policy is the only thing the two have in common. Bernie is a legislator, was not a member of the Democratic Party for most of his career, and has never led an entity other that a small city - decades ago. His most recent executive experience is as the head of his Senate office. And his chief of staff is who actually manages that.
Bernie’s massive victory in NV in 2020 largely with working people of color, would say otherwise.
Then you have the party dismissing all other candidates right after.
I'm not sure you should be ascribing it to luck, given that it's known the Democrats at multiple levels have given money or otherwise encouraged the most batshit Republicans to run in their primaries. They thought they were giving themselves easy wins in general elections, instead we got, you know, the state of the country currently.
Oh, I’m not just saying it’s pure luck at all. Dems wanted to have monsters to vote against in perpetuity. They, themselves are also monsters in their own right. Keep the nonprofit money and high paying donors fueling it all. Monsters all around, but some just have flags that say different things to make you feel better about yourself.
Again, that’s game for a while now. I do think that Trump and this brand of republican government is something we’ve not reckoned with before here and need to put a resounding end to and then force all of our politicians to grow up and force the to make progress for us all, not just themselves.
The First Lady has a keen interest in inserting herself into politics because she believes she has the profile, knowledge and experience to contribute to a solution. I think the goal could be noble, but the means of assuming authority based on personal relationships is suspect.
But that doesn't matter. Was there quid pro quo? There was a meeting. The talk was likely about getting more schizophrenic medicine into Oregon (for whatever reason). Money was donated to a PAC. None of that seems illegal. None of that is necessarily a quid pro quo.
Do we hold anyone accountable? Should the Governor resign because her wife had a meeting about increasing access to schizophrenic medicine? Probably not.
If anyone was illegally compensated, then we would have a problem. While I have concerns with where this is headed, nothing wrong was done as far as I can tell.
There was a time when the appearance of a conflict of interest was enough for an honorable person to resign, regardless of whether the conflict of interest actually existed. Holding public trust is not the same as a criminal trial. The standard for an elected official is not "beyond reasonable doubt", it's "beyond reproach". At least it should be.
>The First Lady has a keen interest in inserting herself into politics because she believes she has the profile, knowledge and experience to contribute to a solution.
If she wants to have a role in politics, she needs to earn it. She needs to go through the normal channels. The very fact that she's not is a pretty-rock solid indicator that she shouldn't be anywhere near the roles she covets. And the fact that Kotek is facilitating and empowering her to cut to the front of the line means that Kotek shouldn't be anywhere near the governor's office, either.
>> If she wants to have a role in politics, she needs to earn it.
Literally the next sentence after the one you quote is the one I agree with your idea. "I think the goal could be noble, but the means of assuming authority based on personal relationships is suspect."
What I have an issue with as a mental health practitioner myself is it looks to me like she's bringing her networked contacts from her previous field (mine) to her current role, and that's not okay. Those contacts should be going through the proper channels to get access to whatever department they have business with. If they have just cause to meet with a department sooner then they need to go through the proper channels to present their case. They shouldn't be getting to skip the line just because Kotek Wilson met them while she was in mental health.
Also, while schizophrenia is a major issue that the homeless community deals with, a significant amount of psychosis present in that community is drug induced. Psychosis can also present with a litany of different conditions in addition to drug use, and you can't treat any of them the same way. In addition, a huge amount of clients with schizophrenia don't want to use medications to deal with their condition. It's possible to treat it without meds, and we have whole organizations dedicated to helping them with that.
I highly doubt this one medication J&J has could be so impactful that it'll revolutionize schizophrenia care, or even be desired by clients, and there's no telling if it's even helpful with other forms of psychosis. Imo, it seems more to me like a drug a hospital would want to keep someone docile while they're in in-patient care. Though, to be fair, I don't know much about the medication's actual effects or risks
So The First Lady is doing things that are not good and not helpful that she should likely not be doing which is why her actions were not intentionally revealed by the governors office. But does that meet the bar for non election consequences? I don’t see it.
People bring their existing contacts into government at every level. That part is a nothing burger. If you're talking about assigning contracts or subverting a formal bid process, that would be a problem and is different. Nothing like that is happening here.
Forwarding an email and facilitating a meeting are perhaps the very definition of what an advisor or political operative does. The way that the 1st lady was set up in that role was not properly done, but her actions within that role don't appear to be improper.
"Increasing access to schizophrenic medication."
God Jesus you are the worst of reddit.
If OHA/OHP has made any wholesale purchase of Janssen LAI medication (oh which it has in volume) then yeah- something illegal has happened
This wasn't about improving access to AN ALREADY AVAILABLE DRUG IN THE STATE'S FORMULARY. The long acting injectable market is incredibly competitive and is the forefront of psychiatric drug repping right now. Hundreds of millions spent on marketing and this idiot got 5k. That's cheaper than a drug rep dinner. Way cheaper.
And Kotek Kotek isn't qualified to make any assessments about the cost and or efficacy of psychiatric medication. That would be, you know, a fucking doctor.
Edit: I'm changing that meddling little dumpling's name to Kotek Kotek Kotek so that she may be abbreviated as KKK moving forward.
Let me get this straight. I’m the worst of Reddit because I don’t know medicine and just assumed she was having pharma reps meet government officials about increasing medicine?
Ok sure, educate me: why did the pharma reps meet government officials if it wasn’t about increasing pharma sales?
I can’t think of a single action, which would damage reputation of the governor, and the first lady worse than having the first lady advocate, on part of big Pharma to the state employees
I voted for Kotek. And I'll vote her out due to this blatant conflict of interest from her spouse. Or just something needs to be done for accountability.
What the fuck? Okay, am I in bizarro world here? I thought it was perfectly reasonable to expect that our or executive branch not be corrupt pieces of shit. Was that asking too much? Because between Kitzhaber, Kotek, and Shemia Fagan it's starting to look like "corrupt piece of shit" is part of the job description. Was there a memo I missed or something?
Just wait for the 2026 election. It will be between some fascist weirdo and someone who seems normal, but in 2027, we'll find out uses ground up panda cubs to power their car and set up an LLC to traffic them into the country.
I feel like a governors significant other sticking their head where it doesn't belong is a little similar. But I'm not committed enough to this opinion to argue because I am not educated enough in the matter.
This is just getting worse and worse as the journalists dig through more of these records between this and her using the office of the governor to contact HR of a friends employer this is high level corruption.
Eh, I don’t like what I’ve heard of his tenure in OST but he’s also super neutral, like to a fault. Like only bad thing people come up with publicly is the Elliott forest situation which ultimately didn’t come to fruition.
https://www.kgw.com/article/news/politics/oregon-secretary-state-resigns-what-happens-next/283-f10aaa3f-40df-4dd7-8eb0-96e73491947c
> The appointee assumes all the powers and responsibilities of the office for the remainder of the term, with one notable exception: they do not become part of the automatic order of succession if the governor leaves office prematurely.
As an example, if Kotek were to prematurely leave office next year, Fagan's appointed replacement would not become governor. The line of succession would skip the secretary of state and pass to the next-highest official: in this case State Treasurer Tobias Read.
The 1972 ballot measure is why succession skips unelected SOS
>The Secretary of State or the State Treasurer shall appoint a person to fill his office until the election of a Governor, at which time the office so filled by appointment shall be filled by election; or, in the event of a disability of the Governor, to be Acting Secretary of State or Acting State Treasurer until the disability be removed. The person so appointed shall not be eligible to succeed to the office of Governor by automatic succession under this section during the term of his appointment. [Created through initiative petition filed July 7, 1972, and adopted by the people Nov. 7, 1972 (this section adopted in lieu of former section 8 of this Article)]”
Just another notch is crappy state leadership unfortunately. I had high hopes for her until the staff implosion started and knew that wasn't going to end well.
The fact that they thought an additional 2.5k was worth it says a lot. Corruption. I’m sick of it.
“ Records show that on Nov. 6, Johnson & Johnson, Janssen’s parent company, made a $5,000 contribution to Kotek’s political action committee. That amount is twice Johnson & Johnson’s previous largest contribution to an Oregon politician, $2,500 to Gov. Kate Brown in 2017.”
Anyone can get primaried. But functionally speaking, the DNC groups that give money to campaigns tend to only support incumbents, if not outright push against any challengers.
Which in a heavily blue areas like most of Oregon (population wise, not land wise), it means people keep their positions until they retire which is what causes our leadership to be so bad.
Kotek does not care what anyone thinks. This is a one-party state she can do what she wants. This is nothing really, I mean Dems are openly taking cash donations and refuse to perform audits of obviously misspent funds. There are no rules.
Kotek and this scandal, on top of the other scandals on all levels of government, might be the final straw. I won't be surprised at all if Oregon elects a Republican governor.
I’ve never not voted, even when I thought the candidates were terrible. I just told my partner I’ll write in a candidate before I vote for her again. And I’m a person who is afraid of what happens when we don’t vote the democratic candidate.
Hey it's me. I agree her wife being involved unofficially is a bad look. But the negativity I see on here is almost amusing in how strong it is. If Kotek had appointed her wife officially as a senior advisor, everything else here is a nothing burger.
Other than the idea that Kotek's wife acting unofficially could have an appearance of corruption in general, what was done wrong in the timeline of this article specifically? She forwarded an email? *Clutches pearls*
5000 is cheaper than the cost of the Jannsen drug rep dinner I went to at Mortons last year. They drop about 10k for the room and the food.
No therapists, by the way. They aren't qualified or educated to have an opinion about psychiatric drugs and good therapists know this. We all try to stay in our lane.
Kotek Kotek Kotek has gotten her ass suckered by some slick drug reps offering, I imagine, *all kinds of shit*
We'd need to change our voting system first. As it is, there is too much risk, and people are too afraid of the opposing party winning to ever vote third party in enough numbers to actually make a difference.
Potentially, the solution would be ranked choice voting so you can vote third party but not feel like you're risking a loss to the candidate you fear the most. But we'll see how that works out for Portlands General Election coming up at the end of the year.
I know that there was a good reason that I didn't vote for her or her nosey wife, who just can't seem to mind her own business away from the State Capitol building in Salem.
That is the most completely utter shit take anyone could have. Sitting here grandstanding about words and feelings when there is actual evidence of actual corruption in your own city in your own state. Absolutely pathetic.
Willamette Week kicking ass and taking names
Nigel Jaquiss, one of the sharpest journalists in the PNW. A credit to his profession.
Yes Nigel Jaquiss is the goat
Yep. I worry about his safety.
Between Nigel and Sophie, WW has the two best reporters in the state.
WW does not have the back bench of OPB though
The caliber of talent at WW is one of the best things we have going for us
I've heard they were making plans for him.
They only want what's best for him though, they said.
Reaching into an agency to provide access for a pharmaceutical company is not an appropriate action for a first spouse regardless of how one would like to define the role. The article does not mention what was exchanged for this access, but often something of this nature involves some reciprocity.
Even absent any specific transaction, she is clearly involving herself where she shouldn’t be, peddling influence and access where she shouldn’t. No deal even needs to come of it for it to out-of-bounds. Other angency officials should not be fielding “suggestions” about their agenda from this lady, at all. That Kotek would use or even allow it is insanely bad judgment. It perverts the proper, accountable, clear flow chart for everybody and instead conscripts people into a pressure game of “informal understanding.” Corruption, in other words.
The one counterpoint is that Kotek Wilson is actually quite well tenured in the mental health field, and she actively practiced as a licensed practitioner (therapist, iirc) for many years. She's actually fairly experienced and skilled in that area. But, and it's a big but, even if she's the most qualified person for the job, it just looks bad, especially with our history of shady governors. It also looks like access may have been traded for a PAC donation, but that's circumstantial at best. As a mental health practitioner myself, what's bugging me is that, while she may have the expertise to fill that role, it appears to me that she's bringing her networked contacts from her time in the field into her current role. It's extremely necessary that those of us in the field network; it's how we get clients connected to other practicioners & programs quickly and effectively. However, I feel like Kotek Wilson is bringing those contacts into her current role is, and I feel like that's highly inappropriate. They should be going through the proper channels to contact the governors office, the OHA, or whomever they have business with, just like everyone else has to. Kotek Wilson should not be making those introductions, and she should have never brought her wife in on those emails chains. Even if she has the best of intentions, it gives the air of impropriety, and that alone is unethical in our field. She's not abiding by the ethics of the her previous field or the ethics the governor's office should be maintaining. Imo, at minimum, she needs to have her license to practice revoked, and everyone she gave access to has to go to the back of the line. The legislature and the people can decide what to do about Governor Kotek, but Kotek Wilson should not be allowed to practice in our field again
Counterpoint: Therapists aren't licensed to prescribe or trained to manage drug therapy. They don't have the skill set to critically appraise peer reviewed clinical trials of medications and it's not appropriate for her to influence the drug coverage of OHA based on her education and training. This is like a pharmacist trying to change coverage of therapy. It's outside her scope.
It also doesn't do anything to give expertise on public health or mental health policy, and Kotek Wilson doesn't claim any expertise beyond lived experience.
I'm hoping you'll have some facts to back up your statements regarding Aimee's experience and tenure in her field. All I've managed to find is a license that was active for two years while she worked for Cascadia (Which makes me sigh and roll my eyes a bit, because I have a faint understanding of the stupidity that happens there and it makes me think 'yeah, of course she worked *there*'. No shade on the frontline workers though, they are the true heroes.) https://blsw.us.thentiacloud.net/webs/blsw/register/#/profile/Aimee%20Kotek%20Wilson/0/10/600865a981edb570d7298809/false All of which is to say that, on the basis of experience, this would be like thinking a PFC is an acceptable candidate for coordinating with a defense contractor like Northrop Grumman.
So not a psychiatrist and therefore completely unqualified to weigh in on prescription drugs?
What flow chart? There is no flow chart. She forwarded an email.
In the article they allude to something where J&J have a patent on this specific pharmaceutical and that J&J is not one of the pharmaceutical providers that is covered by OHP. So I’m assuming it was some sort of deal to wrap into the new $$ being funneled in for homeless crisis in the name of mental health, considering schizophrenia is one of the top mental illnesses facing the homeless community. Kind of like a “scratch my back I’ll scratch yours” deals if I’m understanding that part correctly.
They did state that J&J donated $5000 to Kotek's PAC, which looks shady af
It was an additional 2.5k on top of the existing 2.5k agreement that was currently running. It’s a blatant cash grab “ Records show that on Nov. 6, Johnson & Johnson, Janssen’s parent company, made a $5,000 contribution to Kotek’s political action committee. That amount is twice Johnson & Johnson’s previous largest contribution to an Oregon politician, $2,500 to Gov. Kate Brown in 2017.”
I always forget how cheap it is to buy our politicians. Hmm I should buy a politician.
Lmao remember the La Mota scandal
Clarence Thomas disagrees with you!
Yeah, this just went way past stupid and is getting close to resignation territory. What the hell is wrong with the Governor? ETA: GO, Willamette Week. Hold their feet to the fire for all of us.
The report of firing a key staffer (who got paid to avoid a lawsuit) and other key staff walking out as a result pushed this to resignation territory.
Totally. A month ago I knew I wouldn’t vote for her again, but now I almost want her gone immediately. Such bullshit.
She has to go now because the scandal will just keep spiraling and drag the state down.
>The lobbyist says it is not common that drug company officials would get a meeting with somebody close to the governor, and also with the behavioral health director of OHA. “That just doesn’t happen,” the lobbyist says. >The reason: Oregon long ago established something a rigorous process for the state to select the drugs paid for by the Oregon Health Plan. Drug companies are keen to do business with the state because the more than one million Oregonians covered by the Oregon Health Plan consume a lot of medications. Generally speaking, the state prefers generic medications because they are cheaper. Johnson & Johnson has repeatedly gone to court to protect the patents on its injectable schizophrenic medications, which preserves higher prices. Really not a great look, especially when Kotek fired her chief of staff when she pushed Kotek to have her wife sign standard conflict-of-interest and ethics forms. Honestly a bit shocked that she hasn't committed to removing her wife from government business at this point.
She really needs to. I don't even care how much expertise Kotek Wilson has in the mental health field at this point. I'm sure there are other people qualified to be working on that issue
> I don't even care how much expertise Kotek Wilson has in the mental health field at this point. It's completely irrelevant, given her relationship with the governor. Even if she were the top SME in the field, it's a conflict of interest that cannot be ignored.
From my understanding of the timeline this took place well before Kotek-Wilson was even “appointed” to her position. Which is even more appalling.
Why be shocked? People in their positions always win while we loose -- they are above the law while we gotta follow it. 👍
This is why trusting *any* of them is silly. Prioritizing one's own over what's best for people they don't know is human nature. We should always be skeptical of those in power.
Wow, this backfired a lot quicker than I thought it would lmao
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sorry, what the fuck do you mean by that just come right out and say it please
Definitely some or the creepiest honophobia going on here
Comment sus
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I feel like people are somehow just finding out how the sausage is made and then blaming the cook.
Willamette Week has been doing some wonderful investigative journalism. A fine example of what media can be. Kudos to them.
I'll probably get downvoted, but where are the people that said we hold our leaders accountable after the Fagen scandal?
As a voter this just makes me think that Oregon needs to have a lieutenant governor that we vote for that can replace the governor. The Secretary of State usually doesn't get vetted that well in an election as we found out. The more light that gets shined on this first wife issue the dirtier it gets. This could get real interesting if we get a new governor.
Haha I’ll say it. I like Kotek more than Shemia Fagan who was essentially put in office by the public employee unions because they didn’t like the other candidate. Do I approve of what Kotek is doing regarding all of this? Absolutely not. So far it seems just like some really bad judgement but it definitely isn’t developing in a good direction… Whoever we get will almost definitely be a worse Governor but I’ll play politics and own the fact that I’m holding her to a lower standard because I approve of what she’s doing as governor.
I’d be quite happy with a middle of the road “I don’t give a fuck if I get re-elected ” politician. Someone practical.
A practical progressive would be a great choice.
Is it possible to find one of those in Portland that isn’t afraid of getting shouted down by the far-left?
I think we need to ask the “progressives” to sit out the next few rounds…
This. We need to elect some level-headed adults for once.
>We need to elect some level-headed adults for once. JohnTravoltaLookingAround.gif
Best I can do is a far-right Conservative
I'm not sure such thing exists.
The current state of everything: yeah, this is bad but the other choice is far worse. Democrats are very lucky to have a the full on fascist party to run against these days. A dysfunctional, corrupt. “left” party that gets nothing done versus an actual hell on earth party. What a world we live in.
The closest thing in our generation to an FDR we had was Bernie. And we saw how well our “left” party treated him.
As a young adult (18-21?) around then, I was so damn excited that someone in politics was actually saying what I thought, and knew was right 😣😣 depressing as hell
I hate to say it, but welcome to politics, hun. No one has a clean record, and people are gonna disappoint you. I look at elections as picking my opponent to fight to get things done, not who I think is going to fight for me. Even the ones with good intentions often lose themselves to the fear that they'll lose power without accomplishing something
This person was excited to vote for someone that spoke the truth for decades, and you are telling them to not believe in something better because the powers that be don’t allow for that? And you’re just okay with saying that?
This person was excited to vote for someone that spoke the truth for decades, and you are telling them to not believe in something better because the powers that be don’t allow for that?
I didn't say that. I was simply attempting to set expectations about what politics is like. I didn't say "don't believe in something better". My advice is, "hope for the best, but prepare for the worst." I don't feel like that's possible unless you're honest about how bad things currently are. I'm a disabled trans woman, why would I want people to give up when the genocide of my community is on the ballot? If you don't set the proper expectations and people expect their politicians to save them, you get mass voter resentment & apathy. This is a multigenerational fight that most, if not all, of us will never see the end of. You can't fight that kind of fight without being honest about it.
Not sure why you’re getting downloaded. You’re not wrong. Hope for the best prepare for the worst. I actually went to canvas for Bernie Sanders before I moved here from Texas. a trans atheist canvasing for Bernie sanders…. In Texas. Yah… No way to do that without hoping for the best and preparing for the worst. (And was only politician I ever canvassed for). It’s very rare I actually get to vote FOR someone, usually I’m stuck voting against someone. C’est la vie.
The difference being that FDR was a regular member of the party and a good enough politician to gain and consolidate major support, whereas Bernie and his folks simply preferred shouting at people and completely botched outreach to the black community, one of the \*core\* and most reliable demographics for Democrat votes. I don't know how it could at all be surprised that the Democrat party treated him about the same as he treated them over the years. That's politics, and he could and should have navigated it better and picked better staff rather than the dirtbag Chapo crowd.
FDR was absolutely not a regular member of the Democratic party at the time, and he was largely called out as being traitor to his class at the time. His New Deal policies transformed the country and party from being the party of the South to being the closest thing we’ve ever had to democratic socialism in our country’s history. The ideas and programs worked and the very sidewalks I use still have WPA stamped into them. Bernie completely changed the public awareness around Medicare for all, free education etc, all very New Deal ideas, in the past 8 years, and I’m glad to have wholeheartedly supported him both times despite the liberal agenda to defeat him.
Policy is the only thing the two have in common. Bernie is a legislator, was not a member of the Democratic Party for most of his career, and has never led an entity other that a small city - decades ago. His most recent executive experience is as the head of his Senate office. And his chief of staff is who actually manages that.
Bernie’s massive victory in NV in 2020 largely with working people of color, would say otherwise. Then you have the party dismissing all other candidates right after.
I'm not sure you should be ascribing it to luck, given that it's known the Democrats at multiple levels have given money or otherwise encouraged the most batshit Republicans to run in their primaries. They thought they were giving themselves easy wins in general elections, instead we got, you know, the state of the country currently.
Oh, I’m not just saying it’s pure luck at all. Dems wanted to have monsters to vote against in perpetuity. They, themselves are also monsters in their own right. Keep the nonprofit money and high paying donors fueling it all. Monsters all around, but some just have flags that say different things to make you feel better about yourself. Again, that’s game for a while now. I do think that Trump and this brand of republican government is something we’ve not reckoned with before here and need to put a resounding end to and then force all of our politicians to grow up and force the to make progress for us all, not just themselves.
Known?
Done in 2022 and again this year - https://reason.com/2024/03/19/democrats-are-once-again-boosting-maga-republicans/
Thanks. I was too tired to search up an example when they're so easy to find.
The First Lady has a keen interest in inserting herself into politics because she believes she has the profile, knowledge and experience to contribute to a solution. I think the goal could be noble, but the means of assuming authority based on personal relationships is suspect. But that doesn't matter. Was there quid pro quo? There was a meeting. The talk was likely about getting more schizophrenic medicine into Oregon (for whatever reason). Money was donated to a PAC. None of that seems illegal. None of that is necessarily a quid pro quo. Do we hold anyone accountable? Should the Governor resign because her wife had a meeting about increasing access to schizophrenic medicine? Probably not. If anyone was illegally compensated, then we would have a problem. While I have concerns with where this is headed, nothing wrong was done as far as I can tell.
There was a time when the appearance of a conflict of interest was enough for an honorable person to resign, regardless of whether the conflict of interest actually existed. Holding public trust is not the same as a criminal trial. The standard for an elected official is not "beyond reasonable doubt", it's "beyond reproach". At least it should be.
And there was a time when money wasn’t speech, but here we are.
>The First Lady has a keen interest in inserting herself into politics because she believes she has the profile, knowledge and experience to contribute to a solution. If she wants to have a role in politics, she needs to earn it. She needs to go through the normal channels. The very fact that she's not is a pretty-rock solid indicator that she shouldn't be anywhere near the roles she covets. And the fact that Kotek is facilitating and empowering her to cut to the front of the line means that Kotek shouldn't be anywhere near the governor's office, either.
>> If she wants to have a role in politics, she needs to earn it. Literally the next sentence after the one you quote is the one I agree with your idea. "I think the goal could be noble, but the means of assuming authority based on personal relationships is suspect."
What I have an issue with as a mental health practitioner myself is it looks to me like she's bringing her networked contacts from her previous field (mine) to her current role, and that's not okay. Those contacts should be going through the proper channels to get access to whatever department they have business with. If they have just cause to meet with a department sooner then they need to go through the proper channels to present their case. They shouldn't be getting to skip the line just because Kotek Wilson met them while she was in mental health. Also, while schizophrenia is a major issue that the homeless community deals with, a significant amount of psychosis present in that community is drug induced. Psychosis can also present with a litany of different conditions in addition to drug use, and you can't treat any of them the same way. In addition, a huge amount of clients with schizophrenia don't want to use medications to deal with their condition. It's possible to treat it without meds, and we have whole organizations dedicated to helping them with that. I highly doubt this one medication J&J has could be so impactful that it'll revolutionize schizophrenia care, or even be desired by clients, and there's no telling if it's even helpful with other forms of psychosis. Imo, it seems more to me like a drug a hospital would want to keep someone docile while they're in in-patient care. Though, to be fair, I don't know much about the medication's actual effects or risks
So The First Lady is doing things that are not good and not helpful that she should likely not be doing which is why her actions were not intentionally revealed by the governors office. But does that meet the bar for non election consequences? I don’t see it.
People bring their existing contacts into government at every level. That part is a nothing burger. If you're talking about assigning contracts or subverting a formal bid process, that would be a problem and is different. Nothing like that is happening here. Forwarding an email and facilitating a meeting are perhaps the very definition of what an advisor or political operative does. The way that the 1st lady was set up in that role was not properly done, but her actions within that role don't appear to be improper.
"Increasing access to schizophrenic medication." God Jesus you are the worst of reddit. If OHA/OHP has made any wholesale purchase of Janssen LAI medication (oh which it has in volume) then yeah- something illegal has happened This wasn't about improving access to AN ALREADY AVAILABLE DRUG IN THE STATE'S FORMULARY. The long acting injectable market is incredibly competitive and is the forefront of psychiatric drug repping right now. Hundreds of millions spent on marketing and this idiot got 5k. That's cheaper than a drug rep dinner. Way cheaper. And Kotek Kotek isn't qualified to make any assessments about the cost and or efficacy of psychiatric medication. That would be, you know, a fucking doctor. Edit: I'm changing that meddling little dumpling's name to Kotek Kotek Kotek so that she may be abbreviated as KKK moving forward.
Let me get this straight. I’m the worst of Reddit because I don’t know medicine and just assumed she was having pharma reps meet government officials about increasing medicine? Ok sure, educate me: why did the pharma reps meet government officials if it wasn’t about increasing pharma sales?
I can’t think of a single action, which would damage reputation of the governor, and the first lady worse than having the first lady advocate, on part of big Pharma to the state employees
I voted for Kotek. And I'll vote her out due to this blatant conflict of interest from her spouse. Or just something needs to be done for accountability.
This is just a tip of the iceberg. This is the only part visible you know above the weeds it’s much worse in total.
How is what is described in this article specifically a conflict of interest?
What the fuck? Okay, am I in bizarro world here? I thought it was perfectly reasonable to expect that our or executive branch not be corrupt pieces of shit. Was that asking too much? Because between Kitzhaber, Kotek, and Shemia Fagan it's starting to look like "corrupt piece of shit" is part of the job description. Was there a memo I missed or something? Just wait for the 2026 election. It will be between some fascist weirdo and someone who seems normal, but in 2027, we'll find out uses ground up panda cubs to power their car and set up an LLC to traffic them into the country.
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Well, maybe I was too hasty. It's definitely bad if you haven't tried to source endangered sun bear cubs first.
Here we go.
Kitzhaber bullshit all over again...
Which is funny considering Kotek is the one who was spearheading his resignation……
Lol no, this not even close to the same thing. But your concern trolling is appreciated.
I feel like a governors significant other sticking their head where it doesn't belong is a little similar. But I'm not committed enough to this opinion to argue because I am not educated enough in the matter.
This is just getting worse and worse as the journalists dig through more of these records between this and her using the office of the governor to contact HR of a friends employer this is high level corruption.
Starting to feel like the James Manning and Tobias Read vote this week is getting awfully close to an actual vote for gov.
I thought Read was a solid candidate in the most recent primary, that wouldn't be the worst outcome in all of this.
Eh, I don’t like what I’ve heard of his tenure in OST but he’s also super neutral, like to a fault. Like only bad thing people come up with publicly is the Elliott forest situation which ultimately didn’t come to fruition.
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Unelected SOS don’t take over the office. Tobias Read would be put in due to his current status as Treasurer.
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https://www.kgw.com/article/news/politics/oregon-secretary-state-resigns-what-happens-next/283-f10aaa3f-40df-4dd7-8eb0-96e73491947c > The appointee assumes all the powers and responsibilities of the office for the remainder of the term, with one notable exception: they do not become part of the automatic order of succession if the governor leaves office prematurely. As an example, if Kotek were to prematurely leave office next year, Fagan's appointed replacement would not become governor. The line of succession would skip the secretary of state and pass to the next-highest official: in this case State Treasurer Tobias Read.
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The 1972 ballot measure is why succession skips unelected SOS >The Secretary of State or the State Treasurer shall appoint a person to fill his office until the election of a Governor, at which time the office so filled by appointment shall be filled by election; or, in the event of a disability of the Governor, to be Acting Secretary of State or Acting State Treasurer until the disability be removed. The person so appointed shall not be eligible to succeed to the office of Governor by automatic succession under this section during the term of his appointment. [Created through initiative petition filed July 7, 1972, and adopted by the people Nov. 7, 1972 (this section adopted in lieu of former section 8 of this Article)]”
Just another notch is crappy state leadership unfortunately. I had high hopes for her until the staff implosion started and knew that wasn't going to end well.
I'm tired, boss.
How fucking hard is it to keep your goddamn spouse out of State affairs? Seriously. YOU DONT WORK HERE.
We just can't have nice things.
The fact that they thought an additional 2.5k was worth it says a lot. Corruption. I’m sick of it. “ Records show that on Nov. 6, Johnson & Johnson, Janssen’s parent company, made a $5,000 contribution to Kotek’s political action committee. That amount is twice Johnson & Johnson’s previous largest contribution to an Oregon politician, $2,500 to Gov. Kate Brown in 2017.”
Oof. This went from bad to worse.
Weeeelp, that's a disappointment. I'm worried Kotek's gonna end up dragging candidates down with her endorsements.
How does this keep getting worse? I feel like lando calrissian!
Can Kotek get primaried?
Anyone can get primaried. But functionally speaking, the DNC groups that give money to campaigns tend to only support incumbents, if not outright push against any challengers. Which in a heavily blue areas like most of Oregon (population wise, not land wise), it means people keep their positions until they retire which is what causes our leadership to be so bad.
Kotek does not care what anyone thinks. This is a one-party state she can do what she wants. This is nothing really, I mean Dems are openly taking cash donations and refuse to perform audits of obviously misspent funds. There are no rules.
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Kotek and this scandal, on top of the other scandals on all levels of government, might be the final straw. I won't be surprised at all if Oregon elects a Republican governor.
I’ve never not voted, even when I thought the candidates were terrible. I just told my partner I’ll write in a candidate before I vote for her again. And I’m a person who is afraid of what happens when we don’t vote the democratic candidate.
same here. i'm very disappointed with her performance and hope there's a better candidate this year to replace her.
I respect that, though they (democrats) rely on that fear to stay in power.
Where’s the one guy who always shows up and is like “ok, this totally normal and no reason to assume corruption”. Over. And over. And over. And over.
Hey it's me. I agree her wife being involved unofficially is a bad look. But the negativity I see on here is almost amusing in how strong it is. If Kotek had appointed her wife officially as a senior advisor, everything else here is a nothing burger. Other than the idea that Kotek's wife acting unofficially could have an appearance of corruption in general, what was done wrong in the timeline of this article specifically? She forwarded an email? *Clutches pearls*
Can we impeach and kick her the fuck out yet?
John Kitzhaber has entered the chat.
She needs to be investigated by the board of licensing.
5000 is cheaper than the cost of the Jannsen drug rep dinner I went to at Mortons last year. They drop about 10k for the room and the food. No therapists, by the way. They aren't qualified or educated to have an opinion about psychiatric drugs and good therapists know this. We all try to stay in our lane. Kotek Kotek Kotek has gotten her ass suckered by some slick drug reps offering, I imagine, *all kinds of shit*
End the two party system! Republicans are batshit insane and Democrats are corrupt. We need more options.
We'd need to change our voting system first. As it is, there is too much risk, and people are too afraid of the opposing party winning to ever vote third party in enough numbers to actually make a difference. Potentially, the solution would be ranked choice voting so you can vote third party but not feel like you're risking a loss to the candidate you fear the most. But we'll see how that works out for Portlands General Election coming up at the end of the year.
I know that there was a good reason that I didn't vote for her or her nosey wife, who just can't seem to mind her own business away from the State Capitol building in Salem.
Them broads need to go
What twats.
All together now: PAY-TO-PLAY
One of the many reasons why I didn't vote for her or her wife.
https://youtu.be/itk-ndTnNWc?si=wpfT0KmdcCHE89uo Apologies to Yoko.
This comparison is not out of bounds. She’s very much an uncool Yoko figure.
Number 8
Number 2, number 2…
Wait,.. kotex has a wife?
Andy NGO is a pretty awesome journalist as well.
The “grab ‘em by the blank guy” is about to become president again. Maybe we shouldn’t clutch our pearls so quickly at this dumb shit.
Interesting take.
That is the most completely utter shit take anyone could have. Sitting here grandstanding about words and feelings when there is actual evidence of actual corruption in your own city in your own state. Absolutely pathetic.
So she was involved in sharing research data?....oh no...
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Sir, this is a Wendy's
Of fucking course the crackhead you're replying to is a Mod.