An Oregon state representative has offered to temporarily step down from his role leading a legislative committee, following a formal complaint filed by another lawmaker this week.
While the allegations against state Rep. Brad Witt, D-Clatskanie, are not clear, they were spurred by an incident that occurred on April 12. A complaint was filed the next day by a representative who sits on the Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee that Witt chairs.
Because the allegations could fall under the Legislature’s rule prohibiting harassment, retaliation and creating a hostile work environment, they are now the subject of an independent investigation. They also spurred a hearing on Friday of the House Conduct Committee, which handles such complaints, to determine whether interim safety measures needed to be put in place.
At that hearing, independent investigator Sarah Ryan emphasized that she had no reason to believe the complainant’s physical safety was an issue in the matter.
“No reason to believe that at all,” said Ryan, an attorney with the firm Jackson Lewis. “The complainant expressed a high level of discomfort in interacting at all with [Witt].”
Ryan said she inspects the investigation to last roughly two weeks, an extremely fast timeline in the context of such complaints, and recommended two main courses of action: that Witt be directed not to have any conduct with the complainant, and that he be temporarily removed as chair of his committee.
That latter step is a fairly major adjustment in the world of the Oregon Legislature and would have to be carried out by House Speaker Tina Kotek. But Witt, appearing before the committee, said he’d be willing to do it voluntarily.
Witt did not offer details on what occurred, but said he believes “101% that it will be found that there was no ill intent on my part whatsoever, but rather an attempt to further the committee interests.”
“While I do not agree with the charges, nor would I prefer to be temporarily removed as chair, I think in the most neutral manner that.. the only way to avoid any level of discomfort on the part of the complainant would be for me to temporarily step down as chair until the investigation is completed,” Witt said.
At least one member on the Conduct Committee was uncomfortable with the prospect of snatching Witt’s committee gavel over the complaint. State Rep. Julie Fahey, D-Eugene, noted that safety measures in complaint cases were not supposed to be a punishment.
“The committee recommending that the Speaker remove someone’s chairship does potentially verge on the punitive,” Fahey said. “If he wants to voluntarily step down temporarily, I would support that.”
The committee, made up of two Republican lawmakers and two Democrats, voted unanimously to direct Witt not to have contact with the complainant but did not go further. Witt did not immediately respond to an inquiry Saturday about whether he had formally stepped down from his chairship, and who might replace him. The House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee is next scheduled to meet on Tuesday.
Word of the complaint against Witt immediately led to political jockeying Friday. House Republican Leader Christine Drazan, of Canby, issued a statement sharply critical of Fahey for saying Witt should not be forced out of his chairmanship.
“Co-chair Fahey’s rejection of the independent investigator’s recommendation to temporarily remove Chair Witt from his committee shows a shameful disregard for the pressing need for interim safety measures to protect the victim,” the statement said.
What Drazan left out: Republican representatives, who hold equal say on the committee, voted in agreement with Fahey’s approach.
Complaints under Rule 27, the Legislature’s “safe, respectful and inclusive workplace” policy, can encompass a wide variety of circumstances. Earlier this year, state Rep. Diego Hernandez, D-Portland, resigned his seat following harassment allegations by several women that led to a Rule 27 investigation.
State Rep. Mike Nearman, a Polk County Republican, is the current subject of a Rule 27 investigation, after he was captured on tape allowing right-wing demonstrators into the locked Capitol building in December.
And Witt himself has been the subject of a complaint, when a group of women accused him of behaving rudely in 2019. He was cleared in that matter.