Former Clean Water Services Employee Alleges Mismanagement and Cronyism at the Top
Embroiled and disgraced Clean Water Services CE Diane Taniguchi-Wallace will leave her loft perch at the massive agency in two days. She will ride off into the sunset with a nearly $200,000 a year PERS retirement, a Golden Parachute, and the ability to consult or utilize her connections around the world to continue her career. In her wake is an embroiled agency that was just awarded a 4% rate increase for 25-26, but one that is nowhere near clear of the ethical and institutional issues she created, The healthy body she came to work for many years ago is now do sick that it is killing some of the best staff ever to have worked there- you know the actual people that work and believe in transparency and ethics. That is this woman’s legacy from our view.
Tonight, I will write another article about the Crisis at Clean Water Services in Washington County, Oregon. I am being informed by a large number of whistleblowers who are providing the Herald with detailed information. Some of them allege they are ex-employees, and some state that they are employed there. The Herald takes the information we are being provided very seriously. We have made every effort to confirm the sources while also protecting them. All those contacting us are afraid of losing their jobs and facing other reprisals from current management.
Here is our commitment to them, and you, the readers:
- We protect our sources and will never reveal their identities until they are ready. We are doing so because they are scared for their careers, for their safety, and for other reprisals that may befall them and their associates. They all have said they have nowhere else to go, no other avenue or venue to have their voices heard.
- We want to be transparent with you, the readers, about what we are being told. At the same time, the claims and statements are alleged and unconfirmed. The number of reports the Herald has received with the same themes and the same executive staff named provides corroboration of the stories and claims we have and are receiving.
- The central theme of these matters is waste and financial abuse of ratepayers’ funds and agency budgets. The First Amendment provides broad protection when public concern is the primary reason for reporting.
- These claims will maintain a neutral tone, and we have done our best to verify that the informant has no basis for anything other than truthful reporting.
- The Hillsboro Herald has filed an ethics complaint based on some of these concerns and has notified the Clean Water Services Board (The County Commisioners) that we believe they must all provide a complete financial accounting of their involvements with travel, meals, gift, and other benefits they have received from Clean Water Services over the years. In addition, we have notified the Attorney General of Oregon and the Governor’s Office, and a special investigator or other audit group must be brought in to assess these claims and the financial misdealing.
With all that said, here are the alleged, unconfirmed claims of one whistleblower.
A person identifying themselves as a whistleblower and former employee has sent communications to the Hillsboro Herald that shed an even more troubling light on the growing crisis at Clean Water Services. The informant alleges they are a former Clean Water Services (CWS) employee and have come forward with serious allegations of mismanagement, cronyism, and unethical practices under the leadership of former Executive Director Diane Taniguchi-Dennis, who has now resigned. According to the whistleblower, who requested anonymity for fear of reprisal, the CEO’s tenure was marked by a systematic effort to replace experienced professionals with loyalists, prioritizing personal interests over the agency’s core mission and responsibilities to ratepayers in Washington County.
The former employee specifically pointed to the creation of a “SAGE team,” described as a redundant and overpaid layer of management that seemed designed to protect the former Executive Director and enhance her image, rather than support the operational needs of CWS. The appointment of Jack Liang as her apparent successor also raised concerns, with the whistleblower alleging a lack of relevant experience and a hiring process that circumvented standard procedures. The whistleblower further claimed that the CEO, Diane Taniguchi-Dennie, openly discussed securing Liang’s appointment with the consent of a Washington County Commissioner, who was acting as a representative of the CWS Board.
The former employee also alleged that Diane was often disengaged from the daily operations of CWS, focusing instead on self-promotion and cultivating favor with the Board. This included instances of alleged extravagance and potential manipulation, such as annual trips to industry conferences with her assistant attending to board members.
The whistleblower further implicated HR Director Holly Dober, alleging she played a key role in targeting staff for removal and installing loyalists, often disregarding established hiring standards. The source believes Dober’s continued presence hinders any possibility of genuine recovery for the organization.
The source also alleges they felt compelled to speak out due to the broader pattern of alleged misconduct. They allege that accountability for the former CEO, the Commissioner/CWS Board Member at the center of this controversy, and Holly Dober is crucial for the future integrity of CWS.
Although alleged and unconfirmed, this account from a former insider paints a troubling picture of Clean Water Services’ leadership culture and raises serious questions about the agency’s stewardship of public funds and commitment to its ratepayers.
We believe that no one in the chain of power of CWS, its Board of Directors, or at the local level is left to handle this matter properly. Therefore, we will turn our concerns to the State level and contact the Secretary of State’s Audit Division, the Department of Justice, the Oregon Public Utilities Commission, and the Oregon Government Ethics Commission, with which we have already filed a complaint. This will take some time, but we will publish these complaints once they have been filed to the best of our ability.
For all of you have reached out and are currently working at CWS, or have been terminated, forced out, or let go- or maybe you just left, take heart. You are all protected under State Law and you may have significant claim against CWS, Those laws and statutes include:
Oregon has several laws in place to protect employees who report waste, fraud, abuse, or violations of law within public agencies:
- ORS 659A.199: This statute protects employees from retaliation by their employers for reporting in good faith any information that the employee believes is evidence of a violation of any federal or state law, rule, or regulation. This protection extends to reporting to any person, orally or in writing.
- ORS 659A.203: Specifically addresses public sector whistleblowers. It prohibits public employers from retaliating against employees for reporting waste, inefficiency, mismanagement, abuse of authority, or conduct that violates state or federal law. Protected activities include reporting to the employer, public officials, or the public.
- ORS 659A.230: Offers protection for employees who, in good faith, testify at a criminal or civil trial, sue an employer in civil court, cause a complaint or information to be filed against someone, or cooperate with police conducting a criminal investigation.
- ORS 654.062(5): Protects employees from discrimination or retaliation for opposing unsafe or unhealthy working condition or for making complaints related to occupational safety and health.
To all of you at CWS or who have left, please continue to reach out to the Herald at hillsboroherald@gmail.com or call me at 503-799-8383. Anonymity is promised and maintained at all times.
And now, the whistleblower asked us to publish this letter:
An Open Letter to Diane
Dear Diane,
When I read your resignation letter, I was struck by your closing words: “Be kind and be well.” I wanted to believe them—but they rang hollow. They felt performative, even hypocritical, in light of the pain you caused to so many.
For those of us who gave years—some, decades—to building something meaningful at Clean Water Services, the shift in culture under your leadership was devastating. What was once an organization rooted in collaboration, trust, and public service became one dominated by fear, favoritism, and silence.
Too many of us were pushed out or pressured to leave—not because of poor performance, but because we no longer fit the organization you were shaping. An organization that valued loyalty to you over qualifications or results. That legacy still haunts those you harmed.
I write this letter for those who no longer have a voice, and for those still within CWS, quietly enduring the consequences. You owe them an apology—not just for poor management, but for putting your personal ambition above the well-being of the people you were entrusted to lead.
Leadership is not about image. It is about the impact you have on people. And in that, you failed us.
Sincerely,
Distraught and Devastated
Clean Water Services Scandal – the Dirty Truth About a Not So Clean Agency
Read our 12 in-depth stories on the growing Scandal at Clean Water Services
https://hillsboroherald.com/page/2/?s=clean+water+services
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