FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 16, 2024
CONTACT: Deborah Scroggin, Elections Division Manager
Today, the City of Portland Auditor’s Office issued a determination following an investigation into a complaint that Rene Gonzalez allegedly violated the City’s campaign finance law.
On August 16, 2024, the Elections Office, a Division within the Auditor’s Office, received a complaint alleging that Rene Gonzalez had violated Portland’s campaign finance law — which is enforced by the Auditor’s Office — by receiving an unlawful contribution. Gonzalez is both a current City commissioner and a candidate for mayor in the November 2024 election. 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 a thorough investigation. The Auditor’s Office determined that the evidence obtained to date is insufficient to find that a violation of the City’s campaign finance law occurred, and therefore issued a finding of no violation. However, as detailed in the determination letter, the Auditor’s Office finds this an exceedingly close call.
To find a violation of the City’s campaign finance law, the Auditor’s Office must determine that it is more likely than not that the City provided funds or services to or on behalf of Gonzalez in his capacity as a candidate. It is undisputed 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, that were submitted to Wikipedia in June 2024. It appears that Gonzalez’s primary interest in doing so was that he wanted to remove an entry on the Gonzalez Wikipedia page stating that he had been criticized for tagging on Twitter a member of the far-right group, Patriot Prayer. In addition, there is evidence Gonzalez knew of and approved of all the Wikipedia edits, and multiple of the edits could be interpreted to relate to Gonzalez’s campaign for mayor. However, the record also contains mixed evidence on the motives behind the Wikipedia edit project. Based on the current record, the Auditor’s Office does not believe the evidence that City resources were provided to Gonzalez in his capacity as a candidate is strong enough to definitively outweigh contrary evidence that suggests that City resources were provided to Gonzalez in his capacity as a commissioner.
The Auditor’s Office’s administrative rules allow it to withdraw a determination for reconsideration within 30 days of issuance and to consider additional evidence if it does so. The Auditor’s Office currently has a pending public records request to the City for additional materials related to this investigation. If the Auditor’s Office receives additional records within the next 30 days that alter its conclusions in this determination, it may elect to withdraw and reissue this determination.
In addition, the Auditor’s Office is referring the matter to the Secretary of State’s Office for an investigation to determine whether any City employees engaged in prohibited political activities pursuant to ORS 260.432 and whether Commissioner Gonzalez violated ORS 260.432 by requesting employees engage in political advocacy during working hours.