Former Oregon Lawmaker Becomes Target of Ethics Investigation

Commission investigators might have to issue a subpoena to compel Wirth to answer questions about the case

Scene in front of capitol the night Kelly Wirth was run down Photo By: Tim King

(Salem AP) - The state's ethics commission launched a formal investigation Friday into whether former state Rep. Kelley Wirth violated state law by spending her last weeks in office giving pay raises to her mother.

Wirth so far has not cooperated with state investigators who are trying to determine whether the Corvallis Democrat used her public office for private gain by giving her mother unwarranted pay raises, officials said.

Patrick Hearn, executive director of the Oregon Government Standards and Practices Commission, said Wirth has not responded to attempts to reach her by telephone or mail in recent weeks.

Records showed that Wirth had listed her mother, Kathleen Panknin, as an aide for more than two years. Wirth paid her mother $3,000 a month in September, $3,500 in mid-October and $6,500 in November. She reversed the raises after questions were raised about them.

Wirth announced she would resign from the Legislature in October after being cited for possession of what Salem police said was a small amount of methamphetamine found in her car. She has pleaded not guilty to the drug charge.

She is recovering from injuries suffered when she was struck by a car driven by a woman who says Wirth was having an affair with her boyfriend, who was a janitor at the state Capitol. Wirth denies she had an affair with him.