Clackamas County Chair Jim Bernard on Tuesday reversed course and said he has repaid the county for the cost of his legal bills from a state ethics investigation that found he had violated state laws.
Bernard said he was not obligated to cover the cost but decided to do so anyway. Two of his four fellow commissioners opposed having taxpayers pick up Bernard’s legal bills and one last week said she asked Bernard to pay the bill.
Bernard earlier this month asked the Board of Commissioners to use taxpayer money to pay an estimated $20,000 in legal bills for his ethics flap while he covered $5,000. Commissioners Sonya Fischer, Ken Humberston and Martha Schrader approved his request. Commissioner Paul Savas rejected the request.
Then last week Schrader withdrew her vote, saying the county treated Bernard differently from two previous commissioners who generated legal bills from investigations into their conduct. Schrader said that lack of fairness and consistency prompted her to switch her vote.
In 2014, county commissioners approved paying a total of $10,000 toward outside legal bills for two former commissioners, Tootie Smith and John Ludlow, who were the subjects of a hostile workplace complaint by an employee. An outside investigation concluded that both made inappropriate statements, but their remarks did not rise to the level of discrimination. The county’s contribution covered only part of the outside legal bills Smith and Ludlow generated.
Schrader’s change of heart did little to affect the outcome. County administrators said Bernard’s outside lawyer -- Steven Berman, an attorney with Stoll Berne in Portland -- had already been paid. Still, Schrader said she personally asked Bernard to consider picking up the costs, a suggestion she said he told her he would consider.
In Bernard’s case, the Oregon Government Ethics Commission last year determined that he improperly used his official position to urge county leaders to hand over records to his wife for a possible lawsuit against the county. Bernard’s settlement with the state says he broke two laws -- one prohibiting public officials from using their positions for financial gain and the other dealing with declaring conflicts of interest.
By Tuesday morning, Bernard announced during a commission meeting that he written the county a check for $20,912.05.
He said he worried that paying his legal bills set a precedent and might “stymie leadership and harm those leaders in the future with the best intentions.” He said he wants the county to look into the possibility of obtaining insurance to cover such costs in the future.
Savas, who had objected to the county picking up the costs, welcomed Bernard’s announcement, calling it “the right move.”
“I appreciate you doing that,” he said.
-- Noelle Crombie; ncrombie@oregonian.com; 503-276-7184; @noellecrombie
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