State Ethics Commission Investigates Peacock Caucus Meeting
The Oregon Government Ethics Commission recently made a unanimous decision to look into a private meeting that took place in August involving the six members of the Portland City Council’s progressive caucus, Peacock. The meeting, which lasted five hours and was organized by Councilor Candace Avalos, included Councilors Jamie Dunphy, Mitch Green, Sameer Kanal, Tiffany Koyama Lane, and Angelita Morillo.
An investigator for the ethics commission suggested that the councilors may have violated Oregon public meetings law if they discussed policy matters that could potentially come before any of the four council subcommittees where a quorum was present at the meeting. This meeting coincided with the publication of a story by WW that examined text messages shared among the Peacock councilors during public hearings.
The ethics complaint was filed by former City Council candidate Ciatta Thompson, who expressed concerns about the councilors’ behavior eroding public confidence in government. However, the City Attorney’s Office previously denied the same complaint filed in August.
During the ethics commission meeting, the Peacock members insisted that their August meeting focused solely on interpersonal matters and not policy issues. Avalos explained that the meeting was held after a tense budget session to repair relationships and improve communication within the caucus. The attorney representing the councilors, Ben Haile, emphasized that any policy discussions would have been stopped by another member to maintain transparency and adherence to committee work.
One agenda item, “vision and strategy alignment,” raised eyebrows among ethics commissioners, even though the councilors claimed they never got to that point during the meeting and that the agenda had changed. Despite explanations from the councilors and their attorney, the ethics commission decided to conduct a further investigation into the Peacock meeting with a 7-0 vote.
