Update and jumped, 3:59pm: Here's a comment from the Attorney General's office:
"We have reviewed the assertions in in Mr. Soto's letter and concluded that neither the Department of Justice nor the Ethics Commission has the legal authority to investigate an alleged violation of the Portland City Code."
Update, 12:07 The complaint is after the jump.
Original post, 9:39am:Rudy Soto, a longshot competitor for Dan Saltzman, plans to file an ethical complaint with Attorney General John Kroger at 10:30 this morning, asking Kroger to look into Saltzman's allocation of $600,000 to his girlfriend's charity without disclosing a conflict.
- SOTO (RIGHT)—FORMER INTERN FOR CITY COMMISSIONER NICK FISH
"Basically I'm putting forward a formal complaint to the Attorney General's office requesting that he take a look at the recent scandal involving commissioner Saltzman's vote and allocation of funds to Cares Northwest," says Soto.
Why's he doing it?
"I'm the least likely candidate to win because I'm younger, and a lot of people have been talking about this scandal, but the other news media outlets seem to be downplaying it with the exception of a few including the Mercury," he says. "Now I won't put it in the same terms as Senator Biden, but this is a big deal. And I'm going to sacrifice myself and call this into question."
"One of the questions a lot of people have been asking me is, you know, how many others has he dated that have reaped similar benefits," Soto continues. "And his excuse for being shy for not disclosing it, there's nothing shy about being a politician, and I know that from just running as a long shot in a political race."
Has anybody put him up to this?
"I've spoken with the other candidates, but really, at the end of the day, the way it's been framed to others is, that because there's a fear of retribution out there that anybody doing this is putting their career in public service on the line," he says. "It wasn't an easy decision."
Soto plans to send the Mercury a copy of his complaint in the next 30 minutes or so. We'll print it here on Blogtown when we have it.
