In the wake of recent audit findings, Multnomah County's Chief Operating Officer Christopher Neal has taken action, announcing an independent review led by Beery, Elsner & Hammond, LLP, of the County's approach to managing conflicts of interest and upholding ethical standards among employees. This move comes after media reports shed light on potential ethical lapses within state-funded preschool programs, as reported on Multnomah County's official news release.
Neal, who began his term in March 2025, is confronting questions that have surfaced about whether county employees have benefited from positions of influence and whether existing policies adequately prevent such conflicts. The July 2025 audit by the Oregon Secretary of State’s Office that instigated these questions examined grant spending from 2020 to 2023 and uncovered that a preschool highlighted in the audit was owned by a then-director of the county's Preschool and Early Learning Division; nevertheless, the director's school did not receive funds from the Preschool for All program, as Neal confirmed.
With assistance from outside counsel, the County aims to reassess and refine its ethical and conflict of interest codes, aspiring to meet state legal standards, best practices, and internal moral benchmarks. Concerns over these issues are not falling on deaf ears, with Commissioners Singleton and Brim-Edwards already having made the call for such an in-depth evaluation, which Neal's office articulated "will provide actionable recommendations to strengthen policies, procedures, and the overall culture of integrity, accountability, and ethical conduct," as reported by Multnomah County.
"The community needs to know they can trust public employees and that the decisions we’re making are for the public good," Neal stressed in a statement made by Multnomah County News, elucidating the purpose behind this proactive measure. The review will not look into the individual case of the former director, who resigned on July 31, but will instead focus on the systemic practices established under past administrations and how employees are trained and how information is collected and, ultimately, ensure there's an alignment with ethical frameworks.
Currently, employees must declare potential conflicts of interest each year, and managers collect and review these declarations under County's human resources regulations. This self-regulatory system relies on individual compliance, which the County is now reviewing to build a stronger, more accountable culture.
