Tribune on a roll

The Portland Tribune is on a roll with regards to Multnomah County and Chair Diane Linn. Today's edition features three stories about the county.

Car Wars

In a story beginning on the front page above the fold (but not the top story), the Trib details the case of Cecilia Johnson, a department director for Multnomah County who had been taking a county car home with her for more than a year, not paying gas for gas, maintenance, or insurance on the vehicle, nor did she pay the taxes that using an employer-owned vehicle incurs.

The county's position is that the investigation into Ms. Johnson's use of the car is "ongoing." However, retiring CFO Dave Boyer had headed up the investigation... and concluded in February that her use was improper. Apparently, the fact that the Board has not disciplined Ms. Johnson and is stalling is one of the straws that caused Mr. Boyer to resign in disgust.

Ms. Johnson, like her boss Diane Linn, claims that it wasn't her fault, that she never used the car for personal business, and that she's an unfortunate political victim of the feud between Chair Linn and CFO Boyer.

The best quote from the story (in my opinion) is from Ms. Johnson's lawyer, Nick Fish:

He also said he believes Johnson’s role in hiring a diversity consultant two years ago to assess county employees’ attitude about diversity and racial issues in their employment could also be influencing the investigation. The consultant’s report detailed more than 100 allegations from county employees of discriminatory behavior. Johnson is black.

“That investigation and the fallout caused a lot of heartburn at the county,” Fish said. “And frankly, the way Cecilia has been treated not only confirms the finding of the investigation, but also retaliation. Because they’re not treating her fairly.”

See, because she stirred up a bunch of trouble over race, then obviously she's in trouble not because she mis-used a county car, but because she's black. It's not her fault!

The Commissioners are the ones directly responsible for department directors. Why have they failed to act in this matter? Why would the chief of staff for Chair Linn want to "keep this to ourselves", as he apparently advised Dave Boyer?

Hmmm... I'm speculating here, mind you, but... could it be... that Chair Linn, who is facing re-election... might be suppressing this to get sympathy from black voters?

The Opposite of the Midas Touch

The second story is part of the Sources Say column, written by Nick Budnick. In the first section, Mr. Budnick brings up the Great Linn Calendar Cook-Off and Chair Linn's assertion that this is just dirty politics, that her opponents have cooked up a minor scandal and sully her reputation.

Mr. Budnick has this to report:

Following last week’s allegation that County Chairwoman Diane Linn directed staff to falsify her calendar before making it public, her denials could make things worse for her. Why? Because her accusers, former Linn aides Laura Bridges and Kathy Turner — whom Linn has portrayed as liars seeking to elect her opponent, Ted Wheeler — are well-known in Portland political circles.

Bridges, who once led the nonprofit X-PAC, is widely known and respected among local progressives — which explains why, on the Democratic blog Blueoregon.com, people have been trashing Linn and attesting to Bridges’ “unimpeachable” credibility.

Turner, meanwhile, worked for then-Commissioner Jim Francesconi before joining Linn and was viewed in City Hall as an ethical player who avoided controversy.

So Linn's line isn't going over too well with those in the know. And Mr. Budnick is making sure that those who might be outside the political community know about the reputations of Linn's accusers as well.

Good job, Nick!

Recap

And finally, columnist Phil Stanford gives a tidy recap of the Linn Calendar Cook-Off pros and cons before summing up his position - firmly in the Schadenfreude camp:

None of which, of course, addresses the question of whether the time schedules should have been altered in the first place — but hey, the silly season is upon us. Whatever would we do without election campaigns to entertain us?

Fine Linn Line

Well, where to turn for more information on all this? How about Chair Linn's newsletter, where she talks about all the great things she's done for the county, also known as The Linn Line?

...hmm, no, nothing there about her calendar nor her political enemies. Damn shame. It'd be a much more interesting read if she'd just rant a little about how everyone is against her.

Maybe next time.