PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The attorney general’s office says it doesn’t have a case after an investigation of what were billed as potential contract irregularities in the Oregon Energy Department.
Gov. Ted Kulongoski announced the decision Wednesday, but said Mark Long, a former department leader now with another agency, will join three state employees on leave during a personnel review.
Campaign-season stories in The Oregonian newspaper and Willamette Week said the investigation dealt with a state contract and a consulting company owned by Cylvia Hayes, girlfriend of John Kitzhaber, the incoming governor. Hayes says she was told she wasn’t a target.
The attorney general’s office told Kulongoski it couldn’t prove misconduct charges against any state employee.
