Complaint Against Lobbyist Dismissed by Oregon Ethics Officials

The Oregon Government Ethics Commission on Friday unanimously dismissed a complaint against a union lobbyist who organized an unsuccessful attempt to recall Democratic state Rep. Paul Holvey. 

Holvey, a longtime Democratic fixture in the Legislature, filed the complaint in June with the ethics commission and alleged that lobbyist Michael Selvaggio violated state law by attempting to influence his vote through the recall petition, which voters rejected widely on Tuesday.  

Selvaggio works for United Food and Commercial Workers 555, which represents Oregon grocery workers and is the state’s largest private sector union. The union collected signatures to force the first recall election against an Oregon lawmaker in nearly four decades and spent more than $330,000 to get the recall on the ballot and campaign against the Eugene Democrat 

Holvey, in his complaint, argued Selvaggio broke state law because the recall was an attempt to pressure him to support a bill that would allow cannabis industry workers to unionize. Holvey, chair of the House Committee on Business and Labor, had tabled the bill before the recall petition was filed. 

But Selvaggio told the state’s ethics investigator that he never tried to influence Holvey’s vote by threatening to finance a recall election and never offered to stop the recall in exchange for Holvey supporting the bill. 

“It is the height of entitlement for Rep. Holvey to believe that Oregon’s laws protect him against any criticism of his record as a legislator, and it is fundamentally this sense of entitlement that underscored the need for a recall,” Selvaggio said in his written response to the ethics commission. 

Ethics investigator Hillary Murrieta told commissioners there is no “specific allegation or evidence” to suggest he offered to stop the recall in exchange for Holvey’s support on the bill. 

Before the vote, Steve Elzinga, Selvaggio’s attorney, told commissioners Selvaggio was simply exercising his First Amendment rights to participate in democracy and didn’t try to influence Holvey’s vote. Holvey had an opportunity to show evidence of his allegation and failed to do so, Elzinga said. 

“He was unable to do so,” Elzinga said. “That silence speaks volumes.” 

By Ben Botkin of Oregon Capital Chronicle