The Oregon Government Ethics Commission recently waived more than $5,000 in late filing fees in June for an Annex School Board member and a smaller fine for another board member because the two did not know about a state ethics requirement.
Last year was the first year school board members were required to file such statements with the Oregon Government Ethics Commission. The statements require public officials to list their major income sources, but not amounts.
Annex School Board members Joseph White and Ida Sanchez received notices, but, according to emails White and Sanchez sent to the state ethics in May, they were unaware of the requirement. White, who did not file statements in 2023 and 2024, faced $5,080 in penalties, while Sanchez, appointed to the board in July of 2023, owed $50.
In a note to the state ethics commission, White wrote that the school district set up an email address for him to use so that he could receive and send information to the state, but he did not know the email account existed.
Sanchez wrote to the state ethics committee that she did not know about the requirement until she received a phone call from the state.
“I was not aware of this verification and never received an email since I didn’t know I had an email through Annex school,” she wrote to the ethics committee.
She told officials in a May email that she returned a voicemail immediately.
“Where I work it is an remote area and I cannot receive phone calls,” Sanchez wrote.
State Ethics Committee Executive Director Susan Myers, said White and Sanchez filed their statements of economic interest once they were contacted.
Myers said each public body has a “jurisdictional contact” which she said is an administrative assistant who ensures the board members get the information. In this situation, Myers said, the person set up the emails, but did not let the board members know they had the email accounts. It’s unclear whether the other board members filed their statements.
Myers said the first 14 days that a board member does not file, they get a penalty of $10 each day. After that, she said, it is $50 per day and is capped at $5,000.
“It can add up fast,” she said.
Myers said the board typically will consider a waiver or reduction of first-time violations depending on the reasons. She said because White and Sanchez did not know about the requirement, the commission voted to send them both “letters of education” explaining the ethics requirement.
The idea behind the letters of education are for the elected officials to better understand the requirement, Myers said. The annual filing deadline is April 15, according to the State Government Ethics website.
“If it becomes habitual,” Myers said, “then they get fined.”
Sanchez and White did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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