Rene Gonzalez violated City’s campaign finance law by using City funds for Wikipedia edits, City Auditor’s Office determines after evaluating new evidence

Published

October 21, 2024 8:00 am

Today, the City of Portland Auditor's Office issued a redeterminationin a campaign finance investigation involving Rene Gonzalez and finds a violation from an unlawful campaign contribution. The reissued determination follows an investigation into a complaint that Rene Gonzalez allegedly violated the City's campaign finance law. The Auditor's office assesses a civil penalty to the Rene for Portland campaign in the amount of $2,400, which will be deposited into the City's general fund.

Initial determination found an exceedingly close call

On August 16, 2024, the Elections Division, within the Auditor's Office, received a complaint alleging that Rene Gonzalez, who is both a candidate for mayor and a City Commissioner, had violated Portland's campaign finance law by accepting an unlawful contribution. The complaint contended that Gonzalez had spent $6,400 in City of Portland funds to edit the "Rene Gonzalez (politician)" Wikipedia page in connection with Gonzalez's run for mayor.

After receiving the complaint, the Auditor's Office conducted an initial investigation. The Auditor's Office then issued an Initial Determination on September 16, 2024 (the deadline required by City law), which concluded that Gonzalez's office spent $6,400 of City funds to retain an independent contractor (WhiteHatWiki) to assist it in creating eight edits for the "Rene Gonzalez (politician)" Wikipedia page and that these were submitted to Wikipedia in June 2024. However, the Auditor's Office also concluded at the time that there was insufficient evidence to find a violation of the City's campaign finance law. The Initial Determination also noted that this was an exceedingly close call, and that the Auditor's Office had not received all of the documents it had requested in the course of its investigation.

New evidence reveals violation, as found in redetermination

The Auditor's Office subsequently received additional evidence that altered its conclusions. Accordingly, the Auditor's Office has re-issued its determination and finds that Gonzalez violated the City's campaign finance law by accepting an unlawful contribution. The contribution was City staff time, money, and services spent in researching, developing, drafting, reviewing, and posting an edit to Gonzalez's Wikipedia page to support that Gonzalez is a "Democrat." The Auditor's Office concludes that the City provided these funds and services to and on behalf of Gonzalez in his capacity as a candidate, not a current City Commissioner.

The Auditor's Office concludes that the Wikipedia edit regarding Gonzalez's political party affiliation was requested by Gonzalez's staff, at his direction, and for the purpose of bolstering the public record stating that Gonzalez is a Democrat. The role of Commissioner in Portland is nonpartisan; therefore, the funds and time spent on this Wikipedia edit is unrelated to Gonzalez's City duties or accomplishments as a City Commissioner. Notably, when asked, Gonzalez could not identify any reason why a Wikipedia edit pertaining to his status as a Democrat related to City business. The Auditor's Office also found extensive evidence that emphasizing his status as a "Democrat" is a key campaign strategy for Gonzalez. Gonzalez initially raised his party status to Wikipedia administrators back in 2022, in his capacity as a candidate. He continues to emphasize it in the current race for mayor, including on social media and in his campaign's yard signs. The Auditor's Office therefore concludes the edit about Gonzalez's status as a Democrat is related directly to Gonzalez's campaign and has no bearing on City policy or official City business.

Deborah Scroggin, the City's Elections Manager, cautions candidates: "A public official's use of public resources to communicate about City business generally does not implicate the City's campaign finance law. However, communications that relate to the official's campaign or that are about the official's candidacy can cross the line and become a contribution to a candidate that is governed by the City's campaign finance law." Scroggin further informs candidates: "The Elections Division is available to help connect candidates to resources and guidance in advance of such communications."

Gonzalez demonstrated a pattern of obstruction and interference in the investigation

Beyond the campaign finance violation, the redetermination letter documents Gonzalez's interference in this investigation, in particular since the Auditor's Office's initial findings. These actions include asking the independent City Auditor to remove the Chief Deputy Auditor from the investigation, asking the Auditor to "void" the Office's September 16, 2024, referral of Gonzalez to the Secretary of State for further investigation, and making baseless claims that the investigation was tainted by political bias, all after his representatives misled the Auditor's Office about key evidence. This is the first time in almost two decades of enforcement that the Auditor's Office has seen an attempt to apply this magnitude of pressure on its staff by a person under investigation. We find this, and the misleading of the Auditor's Office about a key document in the investigation, relevant in the context of determining penalties in this matter.

The redetermination letter also reaffirms the impartiality of the investigation. Gonzalez has incorrectly alleged that the Chief Deputy Auditor, who issued the initial decision and redetermination on behalf of the Auditor's Office, is biased due to his tenuous and second-hand connection to the complainant. The Auditor's Office has robust conflict of interest policies, and thereis no conflict in this case. The only connection the Chief Deputy Auditor has to the complainant in this matter is that the complainant is on the board of an organization that the Chief Deputy's former partner is on, and the organization has been vocal in its opposition to Gonzalez. Moreover, the Auditor is required, by law, to take complaints from "any person" and must issue decisions on any complaint submitted to the Auditor's Office. The complainant's motivations are thus irrelevant to the Office's investigation of Gonzalez, who was treated fairly at all times in this investigation.

"Across the nation, elections officials find themselves under attack and painted as politically motivated when they are simply performing their jobs as local bodiesor the public have asked them to. The Auditor's Office is committed to non-partisan, independent oversight, and conducts thorough, timely investigations as required by city law" said Elections Manager Deborah Scroggin.