05-24-2010, 04:49 PM
Galle admits to lying
Quote:Judge sentences ex-mayor to probation, community service and orders her to pay fine
By Stephen Alexander
The West Linn Tidings, May 13, 2010, Updated May 13, 2010
The old saying is that “politicians lie.”
Former West Linn Mayor Patti Galle admitted Tuesday afternoon at the Multnomah County Courthouse that she lied. Galle pleaded guilty to making a false statement under state elections law after a hearing that took little over 10 minutes.
Knowingly making false statements on an official election documents is a Class C felony. It carries a punishment of as much as five years in prison and a $125,000 fine.
Galle and her attorney, Sam C. Kauffman, reached a plea deal with Senior Assistant Attorney General Eugene F. Ebersole that spared Galle prison time.
The terms of the deal require Galle to serve 120 hours of community service. She will also pay a $5,000 fine to cover the costs of the Oregon Department of Justice’s investigation as well as $107 for “the privilege of being convicted,” as Judge Edward J. Jones put it. She will remain on supervised probation for three years.
At Galle’s request, the hearing was moved from Clackamas County to Multnomah County Circuit Court.
After the hearing, the judge said that was because of “competing interests.”
“On one hand it’s a little hard to describe (Galle) as the typical person,” Jones said. “On the other hand you really do want to make it clear to everybody that making misrepresentations to the voters leads to significant consequences. So the deal did a pretty good job of addressing (that).”
Galle resigned as mayor of West Linn April 16, after investigations into her education.
Galle had told public officials she had a “College Degree in English” in the run-up to the 2008 general election.
After she was elected — and after a citizen raised questions about her background — Galle purchased an associate degree from Redding University in California. Redding has been criticized by some websites as the accrediting equivalent of a “diploma mill.” It does not offer classes but awards degrees based on courses taken elsewhere and for life and work experience. An associate degree from the institution costs $375 and requires 60 of those credits.
Even more troubling was that according to a state search warrant affidavit, Redding was established in 2003. Galle claimed to have earned her degree in 1973.
Investigators confiscated a computer receipt showing Galle had bought the degree Feb. 12 of this year.
“She got in over her head, I suppose,” Jones said. “I mean, clearly, I look at it, and she felt so insecure about wanting to have this degree. As if a degree of any kind really improves your chances of being a good mayor.”
After the secretary of state’s office referred Galle’s case to the attorney general’s criminal justice division this year, Galle maintained no wrongdoing. She sent an e-mail to “West Linn Residents” calling the investigation “pure insanity” and described it as the latest in a series of attacks she had endured “on my character, my past, my family or my actions.”
On Tuesday afternoon, Galle sang a different song.
“As for this charge,” Jones said. “Is your plea guilty, not guilty, no contest, where are you?”
“Guilty,” Galle said quietly.
“And what is it you’re guilty of?” Jones asked.
Galle looked down, then back up at the judge. “Making a false statement on the voter’s pamphlet,” she said.
Forty-five minutes before the trial Galle stood around the corner from the courtroom while Kauffman sat on a bench.
She said she felt like a “deer in the headlights” at that point, before turning to her attorney for guidance.
Kauffman is no stranger to defending Oregon mayors. He represented Portland Mayor Sam Adams when the Department of Justice investigated Adams’ relationship with Beau Breedlove, a teenage legislative intern.
Kauffman spoke for Galle: “We don’t have any comment right now.”
After the trial, Galle looked at the TV cameras set up in the jurors’ box. She smiled and let out a long sigh.