A leading Republican state legislator in Oregon illegally manipulated his job at a small public entity to arrange a significant pay raise and then improperly kept excess pay, a state agency has concluded. The Oregon Government Ethics Commission voted 7-0 Friday that there was “sufficient eviden ce” to establish that Greg Smith broke state law against using his public office for personal gain and failed to disclose he had a conflict as he directed his tiny agency to advance his salary request. Smith did not appear at Friday’s meeting. He now faces a final order or an opportunity to challenge the commission’s findings. The public corruption case related to Smith’s role as executive director of the Columbia Development Authority of Boardman. The public agency is overseeing the conversion of a former military depot into industrial lands in Morrow and Umatilla counties at a site near Boardman. Ethics investigators concluded Smith illegally used his job to orchestrate his own significant pay raise, took the raise retroactively with no authority and hasn’t repaid an estimated $33,130 in excess pay despite a CDA board order he do so. “He attempted to use his position to obtain an unauthorized salary increase,” an ethics report concluded. READ: Greg Smith report This is the second time in a year Smith has been found in violation of state ethics laws. He conceded earlier this year that he violated the law by not fully disclosing one client for his private consulting company, Gregory Smith Company LLC. Smith remains under state investigation in two other ethics proceedings. Investigators are examining whether Smith broke the law when he claimed pay for CDA work hours at the same time he was performing private consulting work or executing his role as a state legislator. READ: Greg Smith pay report He also is being investigated again for allegations he hadn’t fully disclosed major clients of his consulting firm. Meanwhile, he faces civil allegations from the Oregon Department of Justice that he helped manipulate the sale to business associates of a nonprofit subsidiary at a price below its true value. Attorney General Dan Rayfield wants to ban Smith from ever being involved in an Oregon charity and is demanding he join other defendants in paying reparations of at least $6.9 million. Smith didn’t respond to messages with questions and seeking his comment. Kim Puzey, chair of the CDA Board, didn’t respond to messages about Smith’s future with the agency. House Speaker Julie Fahey said through a spokesperson she needed to review the commission’s action. House Republican Leader Lucetta Elmer didn’t respond to questions Friday about the impact of the ethics findings on Smith’s leadership roles in the House. The Republican from Heppner, elected in 2000, remains in powerful posts in the Oregon House, where he is the longest-serving member. He is part of the House Republican leadership team and holds key posts on the legislature’s budget-writing committee. He has used that position over the years to steer state money to his private consulting clients. The latest action focused on Smith’s effort to increase his public salary even as his household already had income of nearly $1 million from public and private sources. In early 2024, Smith initially tried to get his $126,079 salary at the CDA increased to $238,000 and eventually settled for $195,000. The 43-page ethics report traces how he did so. It notes how in late 2023, he sought a salary increase but Smith said two board members instead told him to prepare a salary study. In early 2024, he presented a plan to boost his pay, providing a draft motion for his board to consider. It never did so. At the same time, the CDA was working to renew federal funding on which it was dependent for most of its operations. Smith, who has marketed himself as a business expert, had operated the CDA since 2015 with no formal budget. The ethics report said Smith considered the annual funding application to the U.S. Defense Department to be serving that purpose. In the 2024 funding request, the CDA told the federal agency that significant pay increases had been approved by its board. The request portrayed the board as having examined salaries from comparable agencies. As a result, the request said, “compensation for the top two employees through research of other like positions in the Pacific Northwest is approved and will bring those salaries to correct levels.” But in early 2024, there had been no such board action or even discussion, according to the ethics report. The federal agency later cited that misleading claim when it canceled the CDA’s funding. The 43-page ethics report flagged contradictions by Smith about the funding request and his raise. Beginning in early 2024, CDA’s then-economic development director, Debbie Pedro, worked on the federal grant and said that Smith “was involved in the grant writing process,” the report said. In a statement last February, Smith told his board that “I reviewed the document prior to submitting it.” Pedro echoed that, telling the ethics commission that Smith “reviewed the grant application prior to it being submitted” to the federal government. This week, Smith told an investigator that “he never reviewed it and doesn’t recall reviewing it,” according to the ethics report. He said any numbers in the application – which would have included new salary figures for him – didn’t come from the CDA. Pedro contradicted that, telling the ethics commission that salary figures “were provided to her by Executive Director Smith,” according to the report. In his February statement, he recounted how “I proceeded to negotiate pay increases” with a federal agency. Three months later, Smith told the ethics commission that “I discussed pay increases” with the federal agency. He said in his statement that he was “frequently” in touch with the CDA board chair about his pay raise, saying that Puzey “responded approvingly” when told the salary would be set at $195,000. Puzey told ethics investigators otherwise. Kim Puzey, chair of the Columbia Development Authority board. (Malheur Enterprise file) He said he recalled Smith talking about the pay for an executive at a similar agency in Colorado. Other than that, “he could not recall discussing the amount of Executive Director Smith’s compensation,” according to an ethics commission report. This week, Smith said he “never spoke” to anyone at the federal agency about his salary increase, according to the ethics report. He also told the ethics commission he was not “aware” of his pay raise until the CDA board voted on approving the grant, in June 2024. “He skimmed through there to see what his pay was going to be,” the report said. One board member told the ethics commission that he asked about changes in the budget and that Smith responded to the effect “nothing has changed in years,” the report said. Less than 24 hours after the board approved the grant, Smith notified those handling payroll of the pay increase – and directed that it be retroactive to April. As justification, he provided minutes showing the board voting on the federal grants – minutes not yet official. UPDATE: This story was updated to provide a revised figure for the total amount of extra pay paid to Greg Smith, as provided by officials at the Port of Morrow, which handles payroll for the CDA. PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Greg Smith sued over role in nonprofit scheme, faces third ethics investigation Greg Smith faces ethics investigation over big pay raise Veteran Republican legislator Greg Smith concedes ethics violation Smith pay issues lead Defense Department to terminate agency funding Republican legislator says reputation ‘destroyed’ over his controversial pay raise The post Ethics commission finds Greg Smith repeatedly violated state law in boosting his pay appeared first on Salem Reporter. ...read more read less