Oregon Treasurer Ted Wheeler calls for travel audit, agency reform

by Les Zaitz and Ted Sickinger
April 14, 2010

State Treasurer Ted Wheeler stepped up his efforts Wednesday to reform his agency in the wake of disclosures that employees have been traveling in luxury at the expense of the investment firms they oversee.

Wheeler has asked Secretary of State Kate Brown to evaluate travel undertaken last year by state investment officers.

He also said he will appoint a citizens panel to review the agency's travel policies and recommend changes. He said he would then ask the Oregon Government Ethics Commission to endorse a new travel policy.

Despite state ethics rules, Treasury officials golf regularly on duty

by Les Zaitz and Ted Sickinger
April 11, 2010

For years, the Oregon State Treasurer's office has had a laissez faire policy on staff participation in golf outings while on duty and traveling on state business.

Ron Schmitz, Treasury's chief investment officer, said such outings had been approved by the agency's senior executives and vetted by agency attorneys, despite state law that in some circumstances prohibits taking free outings.

Oregon Treasury employees wined and dined by investment firms they oversee
The Oregonian
April 11, 2010
by Les Zaitz and Ted Sickinger
The Pebble Beach Golf Links, with Carmel beach in the background, is one of many luxury locations private investment companies use when they host investment officers from the Oregon Treasury.A limousine was waiting for John Hershey, an Oregon state investment officer, when he flew into New York for a meeting just before Thanksgiving.

So was a $495-a-night room at The Pierre Hotel, which purrs online that "even in a city where exclusive luxuries are the norm, there is one hotel that is far more rare and special."

Following an afternoon meeting, Hershey was offered cocktails and dinner at Guastavino's, which boasts "the highest staff-to-guest ratio in the city."

Hershey was in town to monitor an investment firm, and it picked up his tab for the flight, the limo, two nights at The Pierre and dinner.

That wasn't a rare occurrence among the 13 employees at the Oregon State Treasurer's office responsible for watching over $67 billion in state investments.

Oregon Treasurer curbs investment travel, calls for review
The Oregonian
April 07, 2010
by Ted Sickinger and Les Zaitz

In response to an ongoing investigation by The Oregonian, Oregon Treasurer Ted Wheeler on Wednesday announced measures to clamp down on travel by the agency's investment officers, ending free golf and first-class airfare they enjoyed while monitoring $67 billion in state money.