An Oregon Government Ethics Commission complaint was filed today against Yamhill County Commissioner Casey Kulla alleging that he used county resources for personal, financial gain in his new role as lobbyist for the activist group Oregon Wild.

The complaint shows how Kulla registered on November 29, 2022 as a lobbyist using his county email, office and phone number. The use of resources that are paid for by the public is prohibited for personal, financial gain by a public official. The complaint also alleges that Commissioner Kulla received the paid gig because he’s a commissioner.

Oregon Wild’s website features Casey Kulla under the Staff directory and lists him as the “State Forest Policy Coordinator”. It also refers to his position as a county commissioner as being in the past, despite the fact that Kulla is still an active, paid commissioner until December 31, 2022.

Kulla is no stranger to controversy, unseating an incumbent commissioner in 2018 by convincing the majority of voters that he represented the Yamhill County farming community and shared their values. Once in office, he defied the farming community and orchestrated the reckless push for the Yamhelas Westsider Trail. The YWT was a controversial and illegal bicycle/pedestrian path that cut through active farmland and violated the property rights of numerous farmers. After a lengthy legal battle, the farmers prevailed against the county and Commissioners Mary Starrett and Lindsay Berschauer voted to withdraw the trail’s land use application in 2021.

Commissioner Kulla earned a reputation as the lone Progressive on the Board of Commissioners, regularly voting against Starrett and Berschauer on big issues like protecting the Second Amendment with a county SASO (Second Amendment Sanctuary Ordinance) and pushing back against the Governor’s restrictive and punitive COVID emergency orders. He also openly supported the progressive recall attempt of Commissioner Lindsay Berschauer, his colleague, for her vote to end the Yamhelas Trail project. Not only did Commissioner Berschauer prevail in the recall election, she received more votes of support than in the May 2020 Primary election when she won outright.

Yamhill County voters replaced Kulla with Kit Johnston in the November 2022 election. Kit is a businessman and farmer who opposed the Yamhelas Westsider Trail and shares the traditional agricultural values that have historically defined Yamhill County.


--Staff Reports

Post Date: 2022-11-30 17:13:54