07:56 PM PDT on Sunday, June 13, 2004

By BRAD CAIN, Associated Press Writer

For years, Oregon has basked in an image of being a state relatively free of corruption.

Former Ore. governor Neil Goldschmidt. (KGW Photo)

The last big scandal erupted nine years ago, when Republican Bob Packwood resigned from the U.S. Senate over allegations that he made unwanted sexual advances toward women.

But the state has been going through a rough patch over the past couple of months.

In April, a state ethics panel began investigating a state-owned insurance company for allegedly underreporting its lobbyist expenses. Also, a former employee of the company has claimed he was ordered by his bosses to destroy records to keep them away from investigators.

Then came a bombshell -- former Gov. Neil Goldschmidt's admission in May that he sexually abused a 14-year-old girl when he was Democratic mayor of Portland in the 1970s.

It's the longest run of scandals to have bubbled up in Oregon in years.

Oregonians have always considered themselves immune from scandals such as the one in which Connecticut Gov. John G. Rowland is facing impeachment for accepting gifts from friends, employees and state contractors.

There's nothing in Oregon's recent history to compare with the case of Vincent "Buddy" Cianci Jr., the former mayor of Providence, R.I. Cianci was convicted in 2002 for masterminding a criminal enterprise that took bribes in exchange for tax breaks, favors and jobs with the city.

So people in this state were shocked when Goldschmidt -- once one of Oregon's most powerful and respected public figures -- confessed to having illicit sex with an under-age girl.

"It's disgraceful, and it reflects on all of us," said former Gov. Vic Atiyeh, a Republican who served as governor for eight years before Goldschmidt was elected in 1986.

News reports have said Goldschmidt had sex with the girl for nearly three years while he was Portland mayor, and that the relationship ruined her life. He can't be charged with statutory rape because the statute of limitations has long since expired.

Goldschmidt also has figured into the investigations involving Saif Corp., the state-owned workers' compensation insurance company.

The state's ethics commission is looking into allegations that the company paid Goldschmidt nearly $1 million to lobby for the company, but reported only $223,000 in lobbying fees to the state.

Despite the serious nature of Goldschmidt's sexual misconduct, most of what passes for scandal in Oregon in recent years might seem minor to people in other parts of the country where influence peddling is all too common, political scientist Bill Lunch says.

He cites the case of former School Superintendent Stan Bunn, who agreed last year to pay $25,000 to settle state ethics charges against him. The offense -- Bunn used state-owned cell phones and cars for personal business.

"If we were in New Jersey or Maryland, those types of charges would be by and large laughed off," said Lunch, who's a professor at Oregon State University.

Lunch also thinks it's telling that Oregon is the only state that has done away with polling place elections in favor of all mail ballot elections. Most other states would be nervous about moving to a vote-by-mail system, he said.

"The assumption would be that, if something like this were tried, that corruption would be rampant," he said.

Lunch said Oregon's affinity for progressive -- and clean -- politics dates back to the 1850s when pioneers followed the Oregon Trail to a place where they could start a new way of life.

"They brought with them not just covered wagons, but a strong view that politics should be moralistic," he said.

The head of the Oregon chapter of Common Cause said while Oregon's reputation for clean politics is deserved, she's worried that the state could be in danger of losing that distinction.

Andi Miller said Oregon legislators have chipped away at the state's open records law by exempting more and more records from public scrutiny. And lawmakers have squeezed the state's ethics commission budget to the point where it no longer has the manpower to adequately investigate alleged ethics violations, she said.

"For a long time, we have stood on our reputation for clean government," she said. "But it's been gradually eroded."

Further, she worries that there are more revelations to come involving Goldschmidt.

"It's like a cancer. I hope that this is the end of it, but we don't know," Miller said.