Oregon Government Ethics Commission

The Oregon Government Ethics Commission has voted to move forward with a formal investigation into Alfalfa Fire District Chief Chad LaVallee, adding another layer to what has become a growing list of legal controversies and governance concerns surrounding the rural fire district and its leadership.

For months, the Prineville Review has been engaged in ongoing investigative reporting into the Alfalfa Fire District—most recently revealing a state investigation into alleged election law violations tied to the District, as well as documenting repeated and ongoing failures to comply with Oregon’s public meetings laws.

Oregon Governor Tina Kotek on Friday issued a formal notice that she is considering vetoing a controversial public meetings bill, citing concerns that portions of the legislation could weaken government transparency.

The Ochoco West Water & Sanitary Authority (OWWSA) board is expected to consider a matter involving the Ochoco West Horse Coop at its meeting tonight, a development that again places attention on unresolved legal and governance questions surrounding the public body.

A local contractor with longstanding government ties and a history of ethics concerns involving federal contracts, used taxpayer funds to attend conferences at luxury resorts and to pay for meals for its governing board members.

A Crook County Circuit Court judge has entered a default judgment and injunction against the Ochoco West Water and Sanitary Authority (OWWSA), ordering the district to release public records after it failed to respond to a lawsuit filed last fall by the Prineville Review.

Newly-released state ethics documents show that a longtime former manager — and now board secretary and treasurer — of the Three Sisters Irrigation District engaged in a series of undisclosed conflicts of interest and prohibited uses of office

On December 12th, the Oregon Government Ethics Commission (OGEC) voted unanimously to open formal investigations into current and former members of the Ochoco West Water and Sanitary Authority (OWWSA) board, finding a substantial objective basis to believe numerous violations of Oregon’s public meetings laws may have occurred.

The Prineville Review has prevailed for the second time in recent months in a public records appeal petition to the Crook County District Attorney, securing an order requiring the Ochoco West Water & Sanitary Authority (OWWSA) to release a few months of recordings of its board meetings.

The Oregon Government Ethics Commission voted Friday following a preliminary review to open a formal investigation into allegations that Three Sisters Irrigation District board vice president Carl Nulton used his position to receive irrigation water he was not entitled to during restricted water deliveries last summer.