Hoy not offered chance to sign immigration letter, Kotek records confirm
Gov. Tina Kotek’s office didn’t reach out to Salem Mayor Julie Hoy before publishing a February letter signed by the mayors of other major Oregon cities urging a pause on federal immigration enforcement, newly released records confirm.
The records obtained by Salem Reporter show Hoy was not consulted by a Kotek staffer until three days after Kotek’s release of the letter on Feb. 5. The letter included signatures of 31 Oregon mayors, including Portland, Eugene, Bend, Woodburn and Detroit.
“We demand an immediate halt to federal immigration enforcement actions in Oregon until thorough investigations of use of force incidents in Minneapolis, in Portland, and all other use of force incidents by federal agents are thoroughly investigated and those involved are held accountable to the fullest extent of the law,” said the letter, addressed to then-Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem and White House border czar Thomas Homan.
Hoy later said she was unfairly criticized for not signing the letter when she hadn’t been asked to do so. The records confirm a statement Hoy released Feb. 9 following questions from constituents about why Oregon’s second-largest city was absent from the discussion.
Spokesmen for Kotek didn’t respond to initial requests for an explanation and Salem Reporter submitted a public records request to Kotek’s office on Feb. 11 for communications with Hoy over the letter. The governor’s office released a string of text messages and an email on Wednesday, March 11.
The records show Beth Wytoski, Kotek’s regional solutions coordinator for the mid-Willamette Valley, texted Hoy around 8 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 8, asking her to connect about the letter.
Hoy responded asking Wytoski if the letter had been shared with her, and then if it was sent to all mayors or cities in Oregon.
“No,” Wytoski texted.
Hoy noted she was facing backlash for not signing on.
“I think the governor’s office has a responsibility to publicly explain ASAP,” the mayor texted.
“Yes, I completely understand,” Wytoski responded.
Later in the exchange, Wytoski said, “There’s a lot of frustrating context but I owe you an apology in any case. And I’m sincerely sorry for the backlash.”
She followed up with an email later that evening, again apologizing.
“Please accept my sincere apologies for not finding a path to you before this letter was published. I look forward to speaking with you tomorrow. Here is the text of the letter in the meantime,” Wytoski wrote.
Kotek’s office never gave Hoy the public explanation she sought and the public records don’t explain why Salem wasn’t contacted initially. Wytoski didn’t respond to an email from Salem Reporter asking for an explanation, and a spokesman for the governor’s office didn’t elaborate either.
“The governor’s office worked swiftly to gather as many signatures as possible to respond to the moment,” spokesman Lucas Bezerra wrote in an email on Thursday, March 12.
Hoy told Salem Reporter she hasn’t received clarity.
“Both the governor and her staff were very apologetic. However, beyond referencing the need to move quickly, they did not explain why Salem was not initially invited to sign on, nor have they articulated how situations like this will be handled moving forward,” Hoy said in an email.
Bezerra said Wytoski and Hoy have been in regular contact since.
Hoy still has not publicly indicated her position on the point of the letter or whether she supported a pause of federal immigration enforcement actions in Salem.
“I want the residents of Salem to know that, as their mayor, I am committed to doing everything I can to keep them safe,” she said in her email. “In moments that are already fraught, it is especially important for leaders, including myself, my fellow councilors, and the governor, to act thoughtfully and avoid adding unnecessary stress or uncertainty to already tense situations.”
She said previously that if she’d been asked to sign, she would have brought the letter to the Salem City Council for a vote.
Contact Managing Editor Rachel Alexander: [email protected] or 503-575-1241.
LOCAL NEWS DELIVERED TO YOU: Subscribe to Salem Reporter and get all the fact-based Salem news that matters to you. Fair, accurate, trusted – SUBSCRIBE
Rachel Alexander is Salem Reporter’s managing editor. She joined Salem Reporter when it was founded in 2018 and covers education, economic development and a little bit of everything else. She’s been a journalist in Oregon and Washington for over a decade and is a past president of Oregon's Society of Professional Journalists chapter. Outside of work, you can often find her gardening or with her nose buried in a book.
One comment
Comments are closed.
This simply shows the character of Kotek and her administration. Their failure to accept responsibility and correct the record is unacceptable. She is quite loud when it comes to our president. When she does omissions, finds out about them, says the record will be straightened, and then does nothing to correct it is a violation of trust between the governor and the people she allegedly serves. She is in the office for herself and her liberal policies and nothing else matters.