The Oregon Government Ethics Commission has voted to send Clackamas County Board of Commission Chairman Jim Bernard “letters of education” instead of a fine for two ethics violations in 2017.

The ethics commission found that Bernard broke state ethics laws when he used his official position to urge county leaders to hand over records to his wife for a possible lawsuit against the county.

Bernard is married to Danielle Cowan, who until recently was executive director of Clackamas County Tourism and Cultural Affairs. She has retired.

The ethics agency opened an investigation into Bernard last year after receiving a complaint from the now-retired county Treasurer Shari Anderson.

According to its settlement agreement with Bernard approved Friday, the ethics commission could have imposed civil penalties of up to $10,000 on Bernard but opted instead to send him two “letters of education” explaining the law.

The settlement says Bernard broke two state laws -- one prohibiting public officials from using their positions for financial gain and the other dealing with declaring conflicts of interest.

Bernard on Monday called the ethics investigation a “fishing expedition."

“My mistake was getting involved, but who wouldn’t if the one you loved was being attacked,” he said in an email to The Oregonian/OregonLive. “My wife is a professional and has done outstanding work for the county, but strong woman are not always appreciated.”

Still to be resolved: who pays the cost of representing Bernard.

Bernard was represented by Steven Berman, an attorney with Stoll Berne. Bernard's legal fees cost an estimated $15,000, said Stephen Madkour, legal counsel for Clackamas County.

“There has not yet been a determination of who ultimately will be responsible for those costs,” Madkour said in an email.

Bernard said that he thinks the county should foot the bill.

“Since there were numerous claims of violation and I was found and issued a letter of education in lieu of a civil penalty,” he wrote in his email, “I think that I have an augment for the county to pay.”

Bernard, whose salary is $102,960, was first elected to the commission in 2009.

The violations center on an executive session of the county board in November 2017 and emails Bernard sent encouraging county leaders to turn over the recording to his wife.

The commission also found that Bernard failed to disclose his conflict of interest when he sent the emails.

Bernard sent the emails as his wife threatened to sue the county “alleging that false and defamatory statements” had been made about her during the executive session in June 2017. Cowan had sought a recording of the meeting. In limited circumstances, Oregon law allows public bodies to meet and deliberate in executive sessions that are closed to the public.

The ethics agency’s investigator found that Bernard emailed the county’s lawyer and a top administrator, as well as a fellow county commissioner, Sonya Fischer, about his wife’s request.

In one of the settlement letters, the ethics commission chairman, Richard Burke, told Bernard that the email to Fischer was “improper because you were attempting to persuade, as the chair of the county commissioners, a fellow county commissioner to grant a public records request that concerned your spouse’s personal financial benefit or detriment.”

“Your attempt at persuasion of a colleague would not have been available ‘but for’ holding your official position which provided you with the requisite knowledge of the circumstance and the authority and influence you may have had over colleagues, as the commission chair,” Burke wrote.

That Bernard sent the email from a personal email address didn’t matter, Burke wrote.

“The effect of an email from you to a fellow commissioner carried the same weight and authority whether from your official county email or personal email,” he wrote.

-- Noelle Crombie

503-276-7184

ncrombie@oregonian.com

@noellecrombie

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