Neil Goldschmidt

Neil Goldschmidt
33rd Governor of Oregon
In office January 12, 1987 – January 14, 1991
Preceded by	Victor G. Atiyeh
Succeeded by	Barbara Roberts
Personal details
Born	June 16, 1940 Oregon
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Diana Goldschmidt
Profession	Politician
Served as Mayor of Portland from 1973-1979

Neil Edward Goldschmidt (born June 16, 1940) is a former politician, child molester, and businessman living in the State of Oregon and a member of the United States Democratic Party. He served as mayor of Portland (1973 - 1979), and as governor of Oregon (1987 - 1991), as well as Secretary of Transportation.

Considered at one time to be the most powerful private citizen in Oregon, Goldschmidt's political influence was sharply reduced in 2004, after he admitted to a lengthy sexual relationship he held with a girl in the mid-1970s starting when she was 14 years old.

Political history

Goldschmidt was born in Eugene, Oregon, where he attended the University of Oregon. He studied law at the University of California, Berkeley's Boalt Hall until 1967.

As city commissioner (1967 - 1973) and later as mayor of Portland, Goldschmidt led in the revitalization of the downtown section of that city, as well as in the creation of TriMet, and earning much good will from both the electorate and the business community by the time he left to become Secretary of Transportation under President Jimmy Carter in 1979.

In between positions in public office, Goldschmidt was a Nike executive during the 1980s.

Goldschmidt became the first Democratic Governor of Oregon in nearly a decade in 1987. His policy for economic development gained him support in all parts of the state. However, citing marital problems, he declined to run for re-election in 1990, despite the widely-held perception that he could have been easily re-elected. His Children's Agenda was very important in Oregon with its community initiatives. In 1991, he helped create the Oregon Children's Foundation, as well as SMART (Start Making a Reader Today), which puts 10,000 volunteers into Oregon schools to read to children.

In 1991 he founded a law and consulting firm, Neil Goldschmidt, Inc., in Portland. His clients include Schnitzer Investment, Nike, PacifiCorp, Paul Allen, and Bechtel Enterprises (a subsidiary of Bechtel Corporation). He has worked for the State Accident Insurance Fund.

Goldschmidt has drawn criticism in recent years for some of his business activities. In 2002, he lobbied business and political leaders to support Weyerhaeuser in its hostile takeover of Willamette Industries. In early 2004, he headed a purchase of Portland General Electric (PGE) funded by Texas Pacific Group, which put on hold city and county studies to acquire PGE by condemnation.

2004 sex scandal

On May 6, 2004, shortly before a planned article in the local Willamette Week newspaper, Goldschmidt publicly announced that in the mid 1970s during his first term as mayor of Portland he had engaged in a lengthy sexual relationship with a girl who was 14 years old. Their relations constituted statutory rape under Oregon law. He sent a confessional letter to The Oregonian, which the newspaper published on its front page. The letter contradicted many elements of the Willamette Week story and attempted to portray Goldschmidt in a more favorable light.

He subsequently resigned from his positions with the Texas Pacific Group and the Oregon State Board of Higher Education. Political observers believe this relationship was the true reason why he had not run for re-election as governor, nor for a United States Senate seat.

The Willamette Week article, written by Nigel Jaquiss, was awarded the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting.

Further developments revealed that Goldschmidt was assisted by businessman Robert K. Burtchaell in keeping his molestation of the girl a secret. In return, while governor, Goldschmidt gave his support to Burtchaell's unsuccessful bid to extend a lease for a houseboat moorage on the Willamette River.[1]

Debby Kennedy, who worked for Goldschmidt while he was governor, recalled, I just can't tell you how many rumors there were about him then [2].

After the story of his statutory rape and the venal efforts to cover it up, Goldschmidt's rabbi, whose wife is financially connected to Goldschmidt, made an appeal in The Oregonian for forgiveness.

Although the statute of limitations has expired for his act of having sex with a minor, the Oregon State Bar began an investigation that could have led to his disbarment. However, on May 14, he announced he was resigning from the state bar, and would not be eligible for readmission. Because of complaints from local media over access to his public papers stored at the Oregon Historical Society, the State Archivist announced May 29 that Goldschmidt would seize the 256 boxes of documents to guarantee public access as defined in a state law passed in 1973. He was the first governor to keep his papers under his control since the state passed that law.

External links

• The Willamette Week Expose, the original article which ended his political career and won Jaquiss the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting
• Willamette Week cover story, 12/15/2004, additional WW article.
• Confession and further scandal coverage from The Oregonian