West Linn Mayor's Redding U Diploma

[Dickie Billericay]

The City of West Linn has a Mayor who posted in the elections pamphlet Degreed in English.

Official calls West Linn mayor's college degree 'fake'

By Dana Tims, The Oregonian
March 17, 2010, 8:15AM


West Linn Mayor Patti Galle

A month after West Linn city councilors censured her for unprofessional conduct, a state official contends West Linn Mayor Patti Galle may have broken Oregon law by presenting a nonaccredited "degree mill" certificate as a legitimate college degree.

The Oregon attorney general's office is investigating, but Alan Contreras, administrator of the Oregon Office of Degree Authorization, which is charged with monitoring candidates' postsecondary accreditations, said there is no wiggle room in assessing Galle's purported English degree from Redding University.

"It is a total fake," Contreras said "It's a civil violation for which she can be fined."

Galle did not return phone calls seeking comment. Her attorney, Jeffrey Seymour, said Tuesday he was not familiar with the law cited by Contreras and that he and Galle believe she will be found innocent of any wrongdoing.

The controversy, the latest for West Linn's first-term mayor, involves Voters' Pamphlet material Galle submitted before the 2008 general election. Among other accomplishments, Galle listed "degreed in English with emphasis on teaching."

Under Oregon law, it's a class B misdemeanor for someone to assert in an official document such as the Voters' Pamphlet that they have received a postsecondary degree unless it comes from an accredited institution.

$395 degree

Redding University appears to exist primarily as a Web site, advertising diplomas in 48 fields awarded for four years of work/life experience related to a major.

"Please do not get the impression that by simply applying, you will qualify for a Ph.D. in a field that you have no knowledge of or experience in," according to the Web site. "On the other hand, if you have a substantial amount of life or work experience, you might qualify for every degree available."

A bachelor's degree costs $395, with master's and doctorates going for $425 and $475, respectively. Frames and shipping are extra.

This isn't the first time an Oregon elected official has run into trouble over Voters' Pamphlet statements, which by law must be truthful and accurate.

Former Oregon Rep. Wes Cooley was convicted in 1997 of claiming that he had served in Korea. In fact, he never left the United States. He was sentenced to two years' probation, ordered to pay a $5,000 fine and perform 100 hours of community service. And in 1984, voters swiftly recalled then-Rep. Pat Gillis after he stated, incorrectly, that he had earned a master's degree.

In Galle's case, her attorney maintains that the mayor's Voters' Pamphlet statements were truthful.

Redding University may not be accredited in the same way that Oregon State University and the University of Oregon are," Seymour said, "but she has a college degree in English. That's what she said in the Voters' Pamphlet and it's true."

He added that Galle is not required to have a degree of any kind to hold the office of West Linn mayor.

"She could have an eighth-grade education and it wouldn't make any difference at all," Seymour said. "We believe that, in the end, this will work out in her favor."

The secretary of state's office first began reviewing the matter after receiving an inquiry. The office's elections division, after meeting with Galle and Seymour, referred the matter to the state Department of Justice.

Tony Green, an attorney general's spokesman, declined to elaborate on the investigation or say when it might be concluded.

String of accusations

The incident is just the latest roiling of West Linn City Hall, where the embattled mayor has rarely been seen in months.

The Feb. 8 censure resolution, passed by a 3-0 vote, claimed, among other things, that Galle has violated the confidentiality of executive sessions, exhibited unprofessional behavior, created a hostile work environment and filed false allegations about city officials to the Oregon attorney general's office.

Galle, in turn, ended up asking the state attorney general to look into allegations of what she called corruption in West Linn. After reviewing Galle's allegations, the attorney general's office rejected her claims.

It seems pretty clear that your mayor is a complete idiot.  Is that a disqualification from holding public office?  Apparently not.

Redding University is a pay to play life experience deal, which is easily ascertainable by anyone taking ten seconds to google it.   It has no credibility as an educational institution, but educational institutions have no special right to use the term "degree."  So lawyer Seymour is right, it's not a lie, or at least not a complete lie.  You can call your dog license a "degree" too and if people are too stupid to check your story you get the same mileage.

How did she get elected?  She apparently guessed (correctly) that people in West Linn are too stupid or lazy to check up on her, and that by the time they did she would already be elected.  

Doesn't anyone bother to check out candidates claimed qualifications (e.g., degrees, birth certificates) before the election?  Oh yeah, I forgot, that's how Obummer got elected too.  If it's important enough to check after the election why isn't it important enough to check before the election?

Does Contreras enforce the "law" of Oregon in an arbitrary and capricious manner?  Definitely.  The mayor should change her fake major from English to Gay Studies, then she'll be a "victim of bias" and can keep her job and sue for damages.  

Is the Oregon "law" unconstitutional on its face?  Most likely.  Is the mayor going to spend the next three or four years screwing around in court and paying lawyers for the privilege of flying a Redding University "degree"?  Probably not.

Do you folks in West Linn, Oregon really need a fat pervert like Gay Al supervising your lives?  Nanny-state socialists think you are too stupid to take care of yourselves and need help from Big Brother to manage your affairs.  You all need to make a little better effort at proving them wrong.