Budget stokes discord

CARSON CITY -- The new executive director of the state Ethics Commission butted heads with her bosses Wednesday over compliance with a directive by Gov. Jim Gibbons to cut the panel's budget.

Patty Cafferata, who started the job Nov. 1, was asked by members of the panel to comment on how she complied with a directive from Gibbons' staff to meet the request for 8 percent per year budget reductions without their input.

Cafferata, who said the cuts had been submitted prior to her taking the executive director position, said she was directed by Gibbons' staff not to disclose the proposed budget cuts to panel members.

The commissioners questioned how Cafferata could act independently of the panel, a group of eight appointees who oversee the small agency budget and staff.

Commission Chairman James Kosinski said the final decision on budget cuts should be under the purview of the panel, not the executive director.

After a lengthy discussion about how to proceed, commissioners agreed to meet next week in a public meeting and submit their own list of possible cuts to the governor's office, offering their own views on where reductions should be made. The agency has a budget of about $685,000 this year.

Commissioner Timothy Cashman said his list of cuts would start with his own salary, travel expenses and lunch for serving in the part-time position.

Cafferata, a former Republican state treasurer and district attorney with Esmeralda, Lander and Lincoln counties, was appointed in to the executive director position in September.

The prior executive director, Pat Hearn, resigned effective Aug. 31. He had held the job for one year after 15 years as executive director of Oregon's Government Standards and Practices Commission.