A Public "Mea Culpa" To Mark Capell

I recently filed a complaint with the Oregon State Ethics Commission regarding City Councilor Mark Capell and his votes on issues regarding Knife River Corp. and President, Todd Taylor, Mark's cousin. Mark's mother and Todd's mother are sisters, as Mark informed me Wednesday.

This was in error, as it is completely legal to vote this way. Oregon state law does not consider a cousin to be a relative in this regard. To quote the Oregon Revised Statutes on the definition of a "relative":

ORS 244.020 (14)(d) Siblings, spouses of siblings or parents of the public official or of the public official's spouse

So cousin's are fine, while in-law's are not.

Sorry, Mark.