A conservative Republican leader from eastern Oregon is calling for the resignation of state Rep. Greg Smith over mixing his conduct as a public official with his private business.
“It’s time for our House minority leadership to step up and talk to him and urge a resignation,” said Kerry McQuisten, Republican candidate for governor in 2022 and former Baker City mayor.
McQuisten publicly called for Smith to resign in a social media post on Feb. 23. Smith is a Republican from Heppner who has served in the House since 2001.
McQuisten said in an interview she acted after the federal government announced it was pulling funding for a Boardman public agency over issues related to Smith.
Smith didn’t respond to written questions about McQuisten’s action that were sent to his personal and legislative email accounts on Wednesday, Feb. 27.
McQuisten said the only response she has encountered from Smith is a social media post admonishing her for questioning another Republican.
“That didn’t sit well with me,” McQuisten said in an interview. “Party affiliation has nothing to do with corruption.”
Smith has been under fire from across the state for his role in the Columbia Development Authority, a public agency set up to convert a former military base into an industrial complex. He has been executive director since 2015.
The U.S. Defense Department recently declared it was severing funding for the development authority. It found that the federal government was misled about circumstances that resulted last year in a major pay increase for Smith. Smith’s board subsequently revoked the increase.
The federal agency also found that Smith had not separately accounted for his hours working for the development authority and his time in Salem as a legislator.
The review was triggered by investigative reports by the Enterprise last fall that found Smith was claiming eight-hour work days for the CDA while at the Legislature.
McQuisten cited four reasons she thought justified Smith’s removal from office.
She said that Smith recently asserted that he had suffered such mental and medical harm from public criticism that he needed to be compensated by public agencies and officials. In December, Smith submitted demands for unspecified compensation against the development authority, the Port of Morrow, which handles finances for the CDA, and Umatilla County, a partner in the development authority.
The tort claim said Smith faced “ongoing psychological and medical counseling to help recover from the trauma” and public agency actions “irrevocably damaged Mr. Smith’s reputation.”
McQuisten said Smith’s health apparently has been so impaired he is filing the claims.
“I have to question how he’s capable of representing his district,” she said.
Smith serves in House District 57, covering several Columbia River counties from The Dalles to Hermiston.
McQuisten also noted Smith’s multiple roles in both public and private office. Besides serving as full-time executive at the CDA, Smith is the economic development director for Harney County and manages economic development for Wheeler County. Through a private company he set up as he went into the Legislature in 2021, he also is under contract with Umatilla Electric Coop for business services. Until October, he also managed a business counseling center in La Grande for Eastern Oregon University.
“He has been juggling multiple full-time jobs for years,” McQuisten said. “Common sense will tell you that it is physically impossible to be in all of those areas at the same time.”
She also cited the federal review of the CDA’s finances and Smith’s pay.
“There are various federal agencies involved,” she said. “I would be absolutely stunned if there weren’t criminal charges brought.”
She also called out Smith’s sponsorship of legislation that would add two members to the Port of Morrow Commission. Those new members would be appointed by the governor.
“That gives me the impression he’s trying to control the vote of the board,” McQuisten said.
Smith apparently advanced the plan without consulting with the port commission. He recently disavowed the legislation after commissioners unanimously spoke against it.
Since going public with her call, McQuisten has been getting “calls from around the state,” she said.
They are elected officials, former elected officials, business owners and ranchers, she said.
They don’t appear to be acquainted but shared with her common accounts of dealings with Smith.
“These are people who had incredibly negative experiences with him,” she said. “I have been told point blank they are afraid of retaliation. Greg Smith is viewed as a powerful political figure with a lot of money.”
Contact Editor Les Zaitz: [email protected].
News tip? Send your information to [email protected].
WE CAN’T DO THIS FOR FREE – The Malheur Enterprise delivers quality local journalism – fair and accurate. We depend on support through subscriptions to deliver our reports. You can read it any hour, any day with a digital subscription. Read it on your phone, your Tablet, your home computer. Click subscribe – $7.50 a month.
