Deetour Conflict of Interest

On February 12, 2020 the Hood River County Planning Commission held a hearing to consider Thrive Hood River’s appeal of a fourth permit extension for Apollo Land Holding LLC’s Deetour concert venue development. All the Planning Commissioners affirmatively declared that they were qualified to sit in judgment, that they had no biases and no conflicts of interest. The Planning Commission decided against us 4-2.

One of the Commissioners denying our appeal was AJ Kitt. A few days after making that decision, we noticed a sign listing

Mr. Kitt as the leasing agent for an industrial property owned by Bob Benton in Odell. Mr. Benton is one of the partners of Apollo Land Holdings. Then we learned about another property located at 3061 Odell Highway where Mr. Kitt represents Mr. Benton as the selling agent and finally, we found that Mr. Kitt actually represents Apollo Land Holdings – the applicant in our appeal hearing – on a property adjacent to the Deetour site.

It seemed to us that Mr. Kitt’s financial relationship with Apollo and Mr. Benton could bias his decision in our appeal. In Oregon, if a decision maker has a financial conflict of interest they have to declare it and possibly recuse themselves from the decision. A conflict of interest is “any action or decision or recommendation by a person acting in a capacity as a public official, the effect of which would be to the private pecuniary benefit or detriment of the person or the person’s relative, or a business with which the person or the person’s relative is associated.”

While we had our suspicions, we felt that the most impartial approach would be to file a complaint with the Oregon Ethics Commission and allow them to do an investigation. Ethics Commission investigations have two phases, a preliminary review and a full investigation. On May 15, the Commission voted that there was substantial, objective basis to move to a full investigation. They also released their preliminary review.

Mr. Kitt is not an inexperienced public official.  He served as a Hood River City Councilor from 2002-2005.  In 2016 he filed an Ethics Commission complaint against a Hood River City Councilor for not disclosing a potential conflict of interest. As Mr. Kitt had enough understanding of the system to file a complaint against someone else, one presumes that he should have known the same rules apply to him.

Along with the misconduct of Mr. Kitt, this incident involves the Hood River Board of Commissioners and County government more directly. For Mr.Benton is no ordinary land use applicant, he is a member of the Hood River County Commission. He knows the ethics laws that come with being a public official. At any time during the appeal, Mr. Benton could have announced that he had a business relationship with Mr. Kitt. We understand that in this case Mr. Benton was acting as a private citizen and Mr. Kitt as a public official. But as a County Commissioner with a decade of experience and the need for every member of the Board of Commissioners to demonstrate ethical standards that promote the public trust, Mr. Benton could have, and should have, made that affirmative declaration.

Further, we have concerns about how Mr. Kitt came to occupy one of the Planning Commission seats in the first place. Mr. Kitt was appointed to the Planning Commission on February 19, 2019. His appointment to the board was unusual. Mr. Benton nominated him and he was chosen over a sitting commissioner, Ann Dow. Replacing a sitting commissioner without cause is certainly within the Commission’s purview but it’s vanishingly rare. In fact, we can’t remember a single occasion in the last 40 years where a thoughtful, prepared Planning Commissioner was replaced without cause.

We went back to look at Ms. Dow’s voting record. On applications, appeals and legislative amendments where Thrive took a position, sometimes she voted with us, sometimes she voted on the opposite side. The biggest thing that stood out was that she was one of the Planning Commissioners who voted to deny the Deetour hotel. By nominating Mr. Kitt to replace Ms. Dow, was this a case where Mr. Benton was attempting to pick the judge who would decide matters on his own properties?

We have shared these concerns with the Board of Commissioners. We are waiting to hear from them about they will demonstrate to the public that decisions and actions taken by Hood River County and its Commissions are not influenced by self-serving friendships and business interests, but instead are guided by impartiality, based on fair and just adherence to law and in the public interest.