John Kitzhaber’s blindness includes Cylvia Hayes’ access game

For many of us around Oregon, Gov. John Kitzhaber’s insistence that his girlfriend Cylvia Hayes be called Oregon’s “first lady” has long been curious. During Michael Bloomberg’s terms as New York City’s mayor, he escorted Diana Taylor to official functions. Taylor was his companion, and that’s how she was titled. Moreover, Taylor — a business and political figure in her own right — was careful not to intrude on official city business.

When Gov. Kitzhaber came to Astoria’s bicentennial celebration, Ms. Hayes insisted upon joining elected officials such as Mayor Willis Van Dusen, in making a speech.

Now we have learned that Hayes has been doing a lot more than building her own public persona. She maintained an office in the governor’s suite. A state employee handled her private schedule. Reporting by Willamette Week has revealed that Hayes was trading on her access to the governor. She made money for her own business by virtue of her proximity to Kitzhaber.

When Gov. Kitzhaber felt the heat of the Hayes issue during his recent joint appearance with his challenger Dennis Richardson at the City Club of Portland, he deflected the matter by saying that some people had a hard time with an assertive woman who wanted to get ahead.

Kitzhaber’s dodge is galling and an insult to our intelligence. If it were a man who had used extraordinary access to the governor to feather his own nest, Oregonians would correctly smell corruption.

In one sense, Hayes resembles the kinds of hungry social climbers and promoters who are commonly in the orbit of people in power. Most governors see that kind of parasite 50 yards away. Making money off a domestic partnership with a governor is a new one for Oregon.

The last segments of the PBS special The Roosevelts focused on Eleanor Roosevelt, President Franklin Roosevelt’s wife and widow. As FDR’s eyes and ears, Mrs. Roosevelt traveled the country and the world, even into war zones of the Pacific. Late in life, she led the U.S. delegation to the United Nations. Historians and eyewitnesses spoke of Eleanor’s keen political acumen and phenomenal energy. Her example of public service has been imitated by subsequent first ladies.

Hayes’ business inside the governor’s office is a warped version of the first lady concept. It is a cheap adventure and an embarrassment to Oregonians who have supported Kitzhaber.

The polite word for John Kitzhaber’s blind eye is that he was remiss in allowing Hayes to set up shop outside his office door. Or course, it mirrors the blind eye he turned to Cover Oregon.