Gonzalez Pushes Back Against Campaign Finance Violation Decision

The City Auditor’s Office says he violated campaign finance law and tried to interfere with an investigation.

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City Commissioner Rene Gonzalez
City Commissioner Rene Gonzalez

In an interview with Rose City Reform, City Commissioner Rene Gonzalez sharply criticized a decision by the City Auditor’s Office that fined his campaign $2,400 for violating Portland’s campaign finance law.

The decision followed the Auditor’s conclusion that Gonzalez had accepted an illegal campaign contribution by spending $6,400 in city resources to edit his Wikipedia page, with the edits allegedly highlighting his Democratic Party affiliation during an election cycle.

While the unlawful contribution was valued at $800, the Auditor’s Office levied a civil penalty of $2,400 against the Gonzalez campaign—three times the value of the contribution—stating that Gonzalez had attempted to interfere with the investigation by seeking the removal of Deputy City Auditor Reed Brodersen from the case, claiming he was politically biased.

“I strongly disagree with the characterization of interference,” Gonzalez said, reiterating concerns about a conflict of interest involving Brodersen’s past romantic relationship with Andrés Oswill, the board chair of Portland For All, the group that brought the complaint against Gonzalez. The group supports Gonzalez’s opponent, Carmen Rubio. “This absolutely should have been disclosed to us, to the public, to any other public entity that was involved,” Gonzalez said.

In a statement explaining the reasons for the finding, the Auditor’s Office called Gonzalez’s claims about political bias “baseless” and “irrelevant,” and stated that he was treated fairly at all times during the investigation.

Objections Raised to Protect Right to Appeal, Gonzalez says

Gonzalez noted that he raised the issue of a conflict of interest to protect his right to appeal. “If I don’t raise it now, then I might be deemed to be waiving that argument on appeal. So I had no choice but to raise it,” he said. “To go down that path by the Deputy Auditor in their statement seems to be trying to intimidate future people who might ever raise the possibility of conflicts in the Auditor’s Office.”

Gonzalez explained that city staff worked with a consultant to request eight edits to the Wikipedia page and that the edit regarding his party affiliation was suggested by the consultant, not made in consultation with his campaign. “I’m ultimately responsible for what happens on both sides, so I don’t want to wash my hands of that. But when this is just one of eight requests and not even one that we originated, I just don’t see how that can be a contribution,” he added.

Notably, the requests were submitted to Wikipedia by Gonzalez’s policy advisor, Harrison Kass, who is running for a seat in District 3.

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