Governor John Kitzhaber will soon announce his resignation

[brooklynite]

Source: The Oregonian

Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber is expected to announce shortly that he will resign, according to multiple sources.

The date his resignation will take effect is uncertain.

Kitzhaber was meeting with his staff late morning to tell them his plans.

Read more: http://www.oregonlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2015/02/governor_john_kitzhaber_will_s.html

[MissB]

1. Sad day for him.

I am hopeful that the future governor Brown will be quite a bit more liberal.

[C Moon]

2. The article didn't say (and I don't recall): why is he resigning?

[brooklynite]

3. Summary here...

"Ms. Hayes is alleged to have used her position close to the governor to land clients for her environmental consulting business. Recently-released e-mails show Hayes directed state employees how to implement a new policy while she was being paid $25,000 by an advocacy group to promote it.

It's also been reported that Hayes earned $118,000 over two years for a fellowship with the Clean Economy Development Center, and that the money didn't match the earnings reported on her tax returns."

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2015/0212/Oregon-Gov.-John-Kitzhaber-pressured-to-resign-over-first-lady-scandal-video

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

5. Glad the link mentioned she was first lady.

From that excerpt, I was just thinking 'And who the heck is 'Ms Hayes?'

[former9thward]

7. They are not married.

But Hayes likes to refer to herself as 'first lady'.

[C Moon]

11. Thank you!

[Chakaconcarne]

4. I don't get why he doesn't just ride it out....

Like everyone of his Republican counterparts that find themselves in worse hot water.... Is he just a better person?

[former9thward]

8. He is trying to avoid criminal charges for himself and his girlfriend.

Prosecutors will often not pursue charges when a government leader has resigned. They figure the resignation is punishment enough.

[Dawson Leery]

6. Any Oregonians have opinions on Secretary Kate Brown.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kate_Brown_%28politician%29

[davepdx]

9. I think she'll make a fine governor.

As SOS she's worked for things like developing our online voter registration system. Prior to the last election she sent out voting registration mailers to something like 50,000 Oregonians who had drivers licenses but who had not registered to vote. Amongst her activities as a state legislator she was quite involved in passing ethics reforms and she advocated for a searchable online database for campaign contributions so we Oregonians could see the money trails. I think she'll be quite up to the task.

[WheelWalker]

13. This is actually an excellent result, and the preferred embodiment

from my point of view. I think he had become a tool, whether wittingly or unwittingly time will tell. Kate Brown will rock.

[brooklynite]

10. and........he's out

Damn! I had Saturday in the pool...

[McKim]

12. The Witchhunt Ends

This is the end of a witchhunt by the Oregonian, which used to be a respected newspaper but has deteriorated into a super market tabloid.
These "journalists" relentlessly and tastelessly attacked the governor and did not wait for an investigation of the facts by the federal government or by the state ethics commission. This was a lynching. This is a sad day for our state when a tabloid is in charge of our politics and not the voters. This has been a media frenzy nightmare and sets a horrible precedent.

Gov. Kate Brown is the soul of integrity and competence. She has a reputation as someone who works hard on the people's business
and is widely respected.