Oregon Secretary of State Dennis Richardson says he doesn’t need security after all.
Despite recent hints his office wanted to spring for protection, Richardson announced Tuesday that he’d reject any attempt to provide him a trained guard and driver when he’s traveling around the state.
The reason?
Richardson says the move could lead to abuse by future secretaries of state.
“Although I might spend a few hundred dollars for situational awareness training, future holders of this office could be empowered to provide taxpayer-funded bodyguard and chauffeur services,” Richardson wrote in his office newsletter. “I am unwilling to set a precedent that could be abused by a future Secretary who does not prioritize fiscal responsibility like I do.”
While Gov. Kate Brown has a round-the-clock security detail, Oregon secretaries of state have not historically had protection. But late last month, that seemed primed to change.
As first reported by The Oregonian/OregonLive, Richardson’s deputy secretary of state, Leslie Cummings, wrote to the Oregon Ethics Commission on March 15 to inquire about springing for “a security professional” to drive Richardson on trips around Oregon — and provide protection.
Cummings wrote that adding such a boon to her boss’s benefits package was a decision she needed to make, since Richardson would face a conflict of interest adding it himself.
“Current and past secretaries have sometimes faced threats of violence,” Cummings wrote. “Due to the alarming increase in tension and polarization in our nation recently, I am concerned for the Secretary’s safety as he travels the state.”
According to The Oregonian, Richardson recused himself from the decision of whether to provide a new security staffer. Now he is denouncing the idea. The newsletter Richardson sent out Tuesday came with the headline: “Bodyguards for the Secretary of State … not on my watch!” The secretary says he learned from unspecified “public comments” that accepting a security guard could set a bad precedent.
“If taxpayer-funded security for the Secretary of State were offered, I would not accept,” he wrote.
Neither Cummings nor Richardson’s chief of staff, Debra Royal, responded to inquiries on Tuesday afternoon.
Richardson plans to travel to each of Oregon’s 36 counties during his term in office. He says he travels with a single staffer, trading off driving duties and working on his laptop when he’s not at the wheel.
“As I travel around Oregon, I will continue to take my own vehicle—currently my hybrid with 198,000 miles and counting,” Richardson wrote.
Bradley W. Parks
/Dennis Richardson poses for a portrait on Thursday, March 2, 2017.
Copyright 2018 Oregon Public Broadcasting
