By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews
The Oregon Government Ethics Commission has voted unanimously to proceed with a full investigation of Lincoln County School District superintendent Majalise Tolan over a complaint that she has used district travel to help promote a book she co-authored last year.
The commission voted 8-0 on Oct. 6 to proceed to a formal investigation after receiving a citizen’s complaint in July and a response from Tolan in August.
But one commissioner made it clear that proceeding does not mean it has found a violation of Oregon’s ethics laws – only that a preliminary investigation brought out issues that need to be looked at more closely.
“We are not establishing a finding that there has been a violation, but are conducting a more in-depth investigation with the participation of the person against whom the complaint has been filed,” said longtime commission member David Fiskum before the vote.
The agency now has 180 days to complete the investigation.
Tolan became superintendent in July, replacing Karen Gray, who retired. Tolan, 43, has been with the district for 16 years as an assistant principal, principal, senior administrator, and director of high school education and athletics. Tolan, whose salary is $178,500 a year, is also president-elect of the Confederation of Oregon School Administrators.
In 2022 she co-authored a book called “She Leads: The Women’s Guide to a Career in Educational Leadership” with Rachael George, an administrator in a Sandy-area school district.
The Oregon Government Ethics Commission was established in 1974 and charged with enforcing government ethic laws, which prohibit public officials from using office for financial gain and require public disclosure of economic conflict of interest.
The commission investigates hundreds of complaints a year involving public officials but rarely fines or disciplines them, instead often issuing “letters of education” that explain where violations occurred, how to correct them and avoid them in the future. It also holds training session for public officials on ethics issues and public meetings laws.
Since Tolan’s book was published in January 2022 she has taken a copy to conferences around Oregon and the country, asking educators to sign her copy and then pose for a picture with her and the book. She has also handed out stickers promoting the book. Tolan then posts the pictures on her Twitter account.
In response to the agency’s questions, Tolan provided dates and information about her travel paid by the district and the Oregon school administrator’s organization in 2022 and 2023.
Between April 2022 and July 2023, district or COSA-paid travel where she took along her book included educator conferences in Alexandria, Va., Seaside, Louisville, Phoenix and Denver, according to the nine-page report by agency investigator Monica Walker.
“Ms. Tolan’s response also identifies 10 additional conferences that she attended in her official capacity, but it does not include whether her attendance at these additional 10 events included matters relating to her book,” Walker wrote.
The investigator said two Oregon laws come into play:
- A law that says it is a conflict of interest involving any action, decision or recommendation that has a financial impact on a public official, a relative or related business;
- A law prohibiting an official from using their position to obtain a financial benefit that “would not otherwise be available but for the public official’s holding the official position.”
In her report to the commission, Walker said Tolan “may have promoted her book while on district paid work-related travel” and failed to declare a conflict of interest by signing up for conferences where she could promote her book.
Walker said a further investigation would involve seeking additional records, including the 10 other events Tolan mentioned but did not provide specifics about.
“Based on the information available in this preliminary review, there appears to be a substantial objective basis to believe that Majalise Tolan may have violated the prohibited use of office and conflict of interest provisions of Oregon Government Ethics law,” Walker said in her report.
Believes no conflict of interest
In testimony to the commission Oct. 6 and in an interview with YachatsNews, Tolan said it was never her intent to make money off the book, but to help women educators advance in their careers.
“… I was not asking people to buy the book,” Tolan told the commission, when she posted photos on her Twitter account. “I feel I’m incredibly transparent. I do not believe I have a conflict of interest.”
Tolan said when she was director of secondary education, then-superintendent Gray knew of her taking the book to conferences and raised no issues.
Tolan told YachatsNews that she informed the school board of the complaint and commission’s investigation during an executive (closed) session at its August meeting. She updated the board during another executive session in October.
Tolan said she has stopped posting about the book on her Twitter account and, since August, is sending any royalty checks from book sales to the district to be used as the board decides. She declined to say how much that was.
“My intention is to be the best superintendent for the Lincoln County School District that I can be,” she told YachatsNews. “I really don’t want to be a case study (for the Ethics Commission) … but I really want this to be a learning opportunity for everyone.”
Tolan said she has hired an attorney to help her through the commission’s investigation but intends to cooperate fully.
Board chair Peter Vince of Toledo said Tolan “has been open and transparent” with the school board on the complaint and commission’s investigation “and we appreciate that.”
“Majalise is really focused on areas where the district needs to improve,” Vince said. “I have a lot of confidence in her ability to lead the district and the board.”
- Quinton Smith is the editor of YachatsNews.com and can be reached at YachatsNews@gmail.com