Careful- Opinions and statements of research-based facts are offered from this point on.
Editor’s Correction– Retraction: When this column first ran, a table was provided of the top-earning salaries of Clean Water Services employees. In that table was Sherilyn Lombos. This was in error, and we retracted her name and removed the table the minute we were notified. Sherilyn Lombos is the City Manager at the City of Tualatin and has been for 18 years; she has never worked at Clean Water Services. We apologize to her for the error in the table that included her name.
In my 45-year career as a real estate broker, land use consultant, and oftentimes developer, I have come to know Clean Water Services, or CWS as we call them, as the most powerful public agency in Washington County. We can not and do not get to do anything without their approval on a littany of stormwater and environmental issues. Their existence benefits the Salmon habitat, the Tualatin River watershed, and critical wildlife and wetlands across the county. I appreciate and acknowledge that. Full Stop there. CWS handles all the really smelly stuff in Washington County and makes it disappear- they are very good at it. But the foulest things can not be kept down; now they are beginning to surface!
Yesterday, the Oregonian and Oregon Live released two hard-hitting investigative stories about the agency. They have uncovered some very uncomfortable facts that will leave readers red-faced and once again feeling that no one in the government is honest. One story delves into the lavish meals that top executives enjoyed annually courtesy of the taxpayers. At the same time, a more damaging piece covers the existence of a Hawaii-based insurance company called Clean Water Insurance Company.To really understand what is going on here, you must read this hard-hitting article by Jamie Goldberg of the Oregonian- it is superlative investigative reporting.
Summary of the Oregonin story: Clean Water Services, a public utility in Washington County, Oregon, has come under scrutiny for establishing a captive insurance subsidiary in Hawaii—a move that allows its executives to receive an additional $60,000 for board service and facilitates annual meetings at 5-star Hawaiian resorts.In 2023, these meetings cost the agency $42,000, including first-class flights and premium accommodations for the Executive Director.Moreover, by incorporating the subsidiary in Hawaii, Clean Water Services claims exemption from Oregon’s public records law, effectively shielding certain records from public access. Wiki
Let me say this. In my opinion this is wasteful, borders on fraud against the tax payers, it is government at its worst, and it must be stopped. I am challenging Kathryn Harrington, Chair of the Washington County Commissioners, to call for an external and internal investigation, full accounting audit, and complete financial reviews of all employees of CWS who have attended any of the Hawaii events or have served in any capacity for this Insurance company. The Oregon Attorney General’s office should get involved as well.
The people of Washington County deserve and must demand full accounting!
Clean Water Services Hillsboro, Oregon – Google Earth Photo
CWS- The BASICS
Clean Water Services (CWS) is a public utility in Washington County, Oregon that manages wastewater and stormwater. It is governed by a Board of Directors made up of the Washington County Board of Commissioners. Thus, the county commissioners act as the governing body for CWS.
The Oregon Transparency website (link here) provides public employee salary information, including for Clean Water Services.
Based on the latest available data:
Diane Taniguchi-Dennis, CEO of Clean Water Services, had a reported annual salary of approximately $536,000, but the Oregonian reported that she just got a raise to $357,000 and is being paid another $60,000 to serve on the Board of the Clean Water Services Insurance Company.
Other top executive salaries (such as Chief Operating Officer, Chief Financial Officer, etc.) typically range from $180,000 to $230,000 per year, depending on role and tenure.
From the Transparency Website, approximate salaries of other top executives. In addition to wages, there could well be tens of thousands in medical, dental, and retirement benefits.
We Pay While They Play!
While all of these shenanigans and wasteful lavish trips have been occurring, CWS leadership has been lying in the Sun poolside or on the beach drinking Mai-Tais. The rest of us here at home have been hit with three annual rate increases of 4% each year for a total of 12% over three years. No wonder the increases were needed- perhaps much of that was used by CEO Taniguchi-Dennis? Who knows- but shame on her. Talk about the abuse of a fantastic executive-level job at a massive agency.
The research I did on the Clean Water Insurance Company turned this up-
Clean Water Services’ insurance company is called Clean Water Insurance, LLC, and it operates as a captive insurance company. This means it’s a private insurance firm created and controlled by Clean Water Services (CWS) to insure its own risks.
Key points about Clean Water Insurance Company, LLC:
Registered in Hawaii: Hawaii is a popular location for captive insurance companies due to favorable regulations and tax benefits.
Exempt from Oregon’s public records law: Because it’s registered out of state and technically separate from the government agency, many of its records are shielded from public disclosure, raising concerns about transparency.
Board member perks: Clean Water Services executives may serve on the captive insurance company’s board and could be paid a salary.
Luxury retreats: The company holds annual board meetings in Hawaii, which the Oregonian reported included stays at 5-star resorts and first-class travel, which are partly funded by ratepayers.
This setup allows public officials to profit and travel lavishly under the guise of insurance governance, all while keeping much of it hidden from public oversight… EXEMPT FROM OREGON’s Public Records Law! Let that sink in a bit.
CEO Diane Taniguchi-Dennis had no comments for the Oregonian. Perhaps she will for the Governor, Chair Harrington, or the Attorney General’s office. Is this fraudulent? Is it sleazy? Bad Governance? Shemia Fagan level privelge and hubris? Hell, yes, it is. These officials need to stand and answer, and frankly, I think they all need to lose their jobs.
What do you think? Sound off below, and let’s get the debate going!
WHISTLEBLOWERS WANTED
Many of you at CWS know more than anyone and have nothing to do with this. I offer you total anonymity and protection if you would like to talk, meet up, or email me anonymously. I can be reached on Facebook and Instagram at hillsboroherald@gmail.com or at my phone number, 503-799-8383. Someone needs to say something. Clearly, this is a small power group doing these things at a very good agency. Reach out, Please!
They need to not only be investigated but fired. We ratepayers should be reimbursed, and there shouldn’t be anymore rate hikes for 5 years. How dare they pull these crooked stunts at our expense
Everyone on their Board of Directors should be ashamed and investigated. They may be part of the corruption. On the CWS website there is a picture of the Chief Executive Officer but not of the other “leadership” of the organization. I wonder if they all look as content as the Chief.
Thank you local journalists for doing this service for our community. It sure seems that the reason the world is on fire is because they’re are too few of you doing this needed work. We need you finding these predators hiding as public servants before they infiltrate their way to the highest offices of our government.
You are welcome. I would do more if we had a source of revenue. As it is I created this news source to make a difference and I always ask for story ideas and news tips!
I greatly appreciate your local articles that brings this kind of abuse to light. I’ve always said CWS is going to the Bahamas (in this case Hawaii) on my dime while I go to work! No conscience what so ever.
Bear in mind that the CWS board is comprised of the Washington County Board of Commissioners, your elected county leaders. Change the CWS board using your county commissioner votes.
any and all decent employees of that company need to come forward so that we can root out all the people that are giving clean water, a bad name and reputation. no wonder why my water bill keeps going up every year. it’s to keep people that are stealing from me and the rest of the community in power. let’s fix this people
It is a shame as to what has been happening within this agency. All the top executives should be fired and all new members should have to account for their activities on an annual basis.
As a result of this story, I started trying to study the CWS website. They “explain” how your bill is calculated but it’s really hard (at least for me) to understand. They don’t use the same terms on the website as they do on the bill, for one thing. It was only after reading your article a second time that I realized that a lot of the corruption also comes from the separate insurance company they created for themselves. They use that and also the company itself for their immoral abuse of people who have no choice but to pay them what they charge. No apparent watchdog efforts from the various layers, including the City and County. I guess you have to take their word for everything. Such-and-such was instituted in such-and-such a year. Doesn’t say by whom or why. You also have to believe that they check your winter water usage and recalculate your charges in June or July. Thanks for your reporting but where do we go from here?
I have been pondering that myself. It is very possible that top County officials are connected to this in some ways that will mean they will not act. I am considering filing a formal complaint with the attorney general and perhaps you as a rate payer could sign on to that. I will post a follow up story by Monday. We will be able to speak soon!
Hey there, I worked in their utility billing office for several years and can assure you that we obtained your winter water consumption from your water provider every year. Winter period is Oct-May. Regardless, the money wasted on food and travel as reported is nothing short of appalling and Diane needs to answer for that. The CFO and all other top level execs need to answer for that.
Thank you for your investigative journalism!! I have been a Washington County resident for 46 years. I’m totally pissed! What disgusting fraud and self indulgence at the county residents’ expense!!
🤬 This seems to explain a good part of why our water bills have risen exponentially in the last few years. These individuals need to be held accountable for stealing through fraudulent actions from the taxpayers of Washington County. Those salaries are completely out of line for jobs that are a service through the County. Even the governor gets much less in direct salary. Tualatin Valley Clean Water Services is a public utility and county service district not a piggy bank.
Just to be clear, our Water comes from TVWD or our Cities. But there have been similar issues with some of the other agencies too. This whole think is just horrible!
Thank you for doing the hard work to uncover this corruption of Clean Water Services, an ironicly named entity, after reading your findings. We have only been living in Washington County for 6 years but my eyes have been opened recently to the County Commissioners, after attending some meetings in person and watching others online. They do not want to listen to any public comments, and act as if they are just barely tolerating it. This seems to especially apply to Chairwoman Harrington. Your research and article at the very least raise big questions that need to be answered. Thank you again for your attention to detail and for bringing this dirty business to light.
I had a serious issue w/ WACO many years ago, met w/ Ben Unger, my state rep @ that time. He agreed that WACO violated my rights many times, but said there was nothing he could do. Then said , and his words have been etched in my mind for many years, “well, that’s Washington County for you”. Their lawlessness is known by everybody, but no one stops it. This is during the period that Elmer Dickenson was, and had been for many years, the county’s lead attorney. He was under investigation for selling stolen property, computers stolen from Intel, his Wife’s employer.A grand Jury was convened, and it was swept under the rug. His Wife was fired. I still have all the proof of all this. Nothing happens to the government when they are wrong, even when everyone knows it. SAD
That pay doesn’t seem very high compared to say what I was paid as a semiconductor engineer. $60,000 is a reasonable fee for serving on a board.
Trips to Hawaii? I arranged a trip to Hawaii to meet with a number of companies to harmonize proposals for an upcoming IEEE meeting. It was a great success and no one claimed it was a lavish waste. So I find it hard to be shocked that others do it too. Where else would you expect them to stay in Hawaii? Hotels are the normal place you stay when away from home.
The only shady thing seems to be the end run around public records, but I’d like to know if that’s normal for insurance for public bodies. The article doesn’t say. Who or what is being insured? It doesn’t say.
What are the beneficial laws in Hawaii that led them to place the insurance entity in Hawaii? The article doesn’t say.
So not shocked. Don’t know if I should be shocked. There’s not enough information here to know, but for the size of the organization, that pay is shockingly low.
David, You need to read closer. The $60K is a bonus to be on a Board of an insurance agency that these executives made. They ar ebeing paid between $200K and $350K a year, tends of thousands in annual benefirts and percs, and the $60 K is on top of that. So a compensation package in total could be $500K for the CEO who mostly works remotely. You need to read the linked articles. This is a Public Agency that handles our sewage and storm water. Nor Intel- although Intel generates about 30-45% of the sewage/storm water running into the CWS plant every day.
My friend tried to bring some of these things to light when she retired, but her letter was ignored by the Board and Diane told my friend she was sorry my friend was unhappy. And that’s as far as that went.
I’ve been hearing about the Hawaii trip and other waste and abuse spending for years. Interestingly there is no audit function at CWS. There is an external financial auditor but nothing onsite to review CWS for these types of activities. So it is easy for them to do what they want. Notice Roy Rogers, a recently retired Commissioner was an active attendant/participant at the Hawaii annual trip? Washington County (WC) Board of Commissioners (BCC) will not make any changes. The BCC is a shared board with the WC yet it is the County that pays all the expenses of this shared board? Did you know that WC executives in the CAO office also make similar salaries and benefits! While the County is dealing with massive cuts ($20.5 Mil for 2025/26) for the 5th year in a row the CAO is recommending the County pay the PERS portion for its employees! So I don’t see any of this changing until there is something to hold elected officials accountable.
I know some of this- but people like you are crucial to making change happen. I agree- I have not idea, nor does anyone, how much these people make and what benefits they get. I would appreciate any and all help you can give!
Dirk, this is all available through Washington County public records requests. A good example is Oregonlive.com posts the state employee wages every year. You can find it for every year with searching Oregon state wages + year. You can also find employee allowances for Washington County on the public facing website Administrative policy – Employee allowances. Clean water doesn’t really seem to have any on the public website. If there is no policy then one was likely never created. not a big surprise there. This is the reason the CEO has been getting away with this behavior for years and there is no transparency or accountability. The BCC is responsible for the policy.
The amount of conspiracy theorists in this thread is insane. Have any of y’all worked for a private company/corporation, or had an elevated position anywhere or are you all keyboard warriors for a living? Our firm is about to go to New Orleans for our annual retreat, and a group of us just came back from Las Vegas for a similar conference described in these articles. It’s the benefits of work and the benefits of the hard work you make/save for an organization. Also, these conferences are 90% work, 10% play at best. You’re exhausted after all the meetings and seminars. I’m extremely against freeloaders and frauds, but these numbers are chump change compared to the companies I’ve worked for. Just my two cents though. I’m very surprised no one in the comments has called out how low the numbers are, realistically. Look into any company or work for any established company and you’d see that really quickly. Regardless of the fact that this seems to be a government agency, that would probably explain the lower level numbers. (I saw the $225 dinner including tip that apparently everyone is outraged about and couldn’t believe how sheltered the unemployed are). I’d love to hear from someone who has managed a department, worked as an executive/director, or has simply made a real difference for a company.
I do not see your name affiliated with any Oregon companies. Now that you are in the discussion, who do you work for? This is a public agency and there is a lot more going on here than some $225 meals. So for the benefit of our readers, what is your job and your company? I think we are talking apples and oranges here.
There is a big difference between public utilities that everyone must pay into that have waste like this and large corporations where we voluntarily spend our dollars. You have the choice between buying your groceries at Safeway or WinCo. You have the choice between cooking at home or ordering Domino’s for dinner. You do not have the choice if you live in Washington county and have water and sewer service to have another entity provide sewer services. They are a public service provider that should be looking out for the best financial interest of all of the rate payers. I hope that helps you clear up the confusion between people who choose to pay for one service over another, or being forced into it.
This reporting is at the Washington Post level. Hope you get a Pulitzer Award! I think taxpayers would like to know why their water and sewage bills keep increasing. But what elected officials should they reach out to? Governor Kotek or our State Senators or State Representatives? I think the Herald figured out that you really need to contact your county commissioners. The county commissioners are responsible for providing oversight to Clean Water Services. But back to the Pulitzer. I have a subscription to the Oregonian, the Washington Post and the Atlantic. Let me know how I can help get this story out to the Clean Water Services rate payers. I think that channel 2, 4, 6, 8 and 12 should pick up on this story. Really appreciate the work that you and your staff did to bring this issue out for debate
Rich – I am not sure if you are serious or poking fun. Either way, the work is no different than what I have done here for the last 4 years. 3 Million reads and 500 stories. Unpaid. Staying up all night and working a full career outside the Herald. I know people have been encouraged to act. And on this matter, I am just getting started. More stories to come. If the news channels were smart they would take my work and amplify it. And the Oregonian deserves most of the credit. They broke this one and had the ability to get the info I could not. But we have long suspected this sort of shenanigans. Pretty damn sad really – and heads should roll at some point.
Dirk, overall, I agree with your premise. CWS appears to have some extravagance, and it’s probably jacking our water bills up so it needs to go. I have a household of three and my home’s water bill is stupidly high. That being said, I have a few comments and questions.
First, in regards to my comments, I am a federal government employee and I ask that you please lay off the government employee bashing tone. You hint that government employees shouldn’t be paid fair market rates in such comments as “In addition to wages, there could well be tens of thousands in medical, dental, and retirement benefits.” Well, yeah, most employers in competitive markets offer benefits like health care, etc. Especially when you’re talking about specialists such as hydro engineers, environmental chemists, waste plant managers, safety managers, etc. Intel and Nike do it, why bash CWS for it? That’s the cost of doing business, and hopefully you personally provide benefits to any employees you have. Most government employees do good work and should be rewarded for it.
Second, not to be the grammar police, but CWS is not a “them”, it’s an “it”. Using personal pronouns when referring to a public legal entity paints a political scenario that taints all agency employees, and we don’t need that locally right now. I personally know a CWS employee and she is an amazing person. CWS is an organization system of rules, practices and processes approved by its county commissioner Board and leadership. It’s policies apparently allow for this behavior. We need to change that, obviously, but the people – the “them” you refer to – are not the organization, they change the agency’s lifespan, from the leadership and field employees to the elected officials that control it. It’s true that its leadership should be mindful of such appearances but, even as shady as it seems at the moment, one must consider that policies are another element that is set over the lifespan of an organization; not every employees (no matter how high) knows everything about the organization that needs changing and has to prioritize their limited time and effort; and organizational change takes will power. And who would have the will power not to go to Hawaii?
But when you point your finger, you do so vaguely – you didn’t make it clear whether Ms. Taniguchi-Dennis played a role in establishing the insurance company or its own governance policies that require its leadership to travel to Hawaii to attend meetings. In my experience in meeting management, I usually aim to have the least amount of attendees travel when possible, so this may be as simple as the insurance company changing its policy and having its annual meetings in Hillsboro (which is not as attractive as Hawaii, I am sorry to say).
In addition, there’s no mention of whether the agency-owned insurance company returns any profit to the agency or county. This might put a different spin on the situation if expenses and profit are being returned to local coffers.
That being said, I am truly surprised at the salary rates. They’re well above normal Federal compensations. Normally, the lower you go in government the lower employee compensation gets. I personally would prefer to work in my county or city government, but I wouldn’t be able to pay my mortgage if I moved down silo.
I am also gravely appalled at the secondary compensation of board service, especially if it is a requirement of the employees’/county commissioners’ job. At the federal level, such service might be a conflict of interest – making decisions for what is essentially a contractor, or vendor – and being compensated for what might be a requirement of your job would be highly unethical. Personal pork, so to speak.
I am also appalled that an Oregon-based public entity would (be allowed to) dodge the Oregon insurance market. The appearance of such a move makes business sense but is not helping the state/local economy. It’s one thing to be selective and price conscious about buying off-the-shelf insurance, even a product available from an out-of-state vendor, but to go to another state to create a legacy product – with facilities, employees, service contracts, etc. of its own – because you don’t like the regulations of the state you are betrothed to is disrespectful, as well as absurd. There ought to be a law guiding local preference for such services, products, etc.
I am curious, too, about another fact not touched on in the articles (or I missed) – whether the County executives who, defacto, sit on the agency-owned insurance company’s board also attend the Hawaii meetings? If so, they also have little impetus to change the situation. I wonder how far up and down the culture goes. If the county commissioners take these trips, it’s time for the state prosecutor to step in as a neutral agent to audit the agency and review its policies, but their jurisdiction would not reach Hawaii. And maybe some water bill refunds…
You have no idea. This story has monstrous complexities. If some of the things I am hearing are true, then people are going to lose their jobs or worse. The County Commissioners, according to sources I have, have been to Hawaii and enjoyed the benefits. And some went to Laos, Singapore, and beyond based on the info. I have no less than 7 people sending us Info. There is NO transparency. NO records eaily accessible. And I believe the Hawaii move was designed to hide expenditures and unethical visits and other perks. But until someone above Washington County gets involved, the ratepayers are screwed. More to follow. I understand your points and appreciate your thoughtful analysis.
There are 6 houses on our block in SW Portland that are still on septic systems. CWS wants us to have the put in a sewer line. They have told us that the cost for us will be about $90,000.00 per household! They expect the homeowners to pay not only for the connecting lines, but the main public sewer line as well. Just thought you might want to know.
OMG..
Thanks Dirk,
They need to not only be investigated but fired. We ratepayers should be reimbursed, and there shouldn’t be anymore rate hikes for 5 years. How dare they pull these crooked stunts at our expense
They needs to be tarred and feathered and lose any PERS that they earned during this time.
Refund time, every year rubber stamped 6% raise on rates okayed by the county, DOGE them now
Everyone on their Board of Directors should be ashamed and investigated. They may be part of the corruption. On the CWS website there is a picture of the Chief Executive Officer but not of the other “leadership” of the organization. I wonder if they all look as content as the Chief.
Thank you local journalists for doing this service for our community. It sure seems that the reason the world is on fire is because they’re are too few of you doing this needed work. We need you finding these predators hiding as public servants before they infiltrate their way to the highest offices of our government.
So again, thank you again.
You are welcome. I would do more if we had a source of revenue. As it is I created this news source to make a difference and I always ask for story ideas and news tips!
I greatly appreciate your local articles that brings this kind of abuse to light. I’ve always said CWS is going to the Bahamas (in this case Hawaii) on my dime while I go to work! No conscience what so ever.
Bear in mind that the CWS board is comprised of the Washington County Board of Commissioners, your elected county leaders. Change the CWS board using your county commissioner votes.
Sic ’em Dirk!!
any and all decent employees of that company need to come forward so that we can root out all the people that are giving clean water, a bad name and reputation. no wonder why my water bill keeps going up every year. it’s to keep people that are stealing from me and the rest of the community in power. let’s fix this people
It is a shame as to what has been happening within this agency. All the top executives should be fired and all new members should have to account for their activities on an annual basis.
Agree! And reimburse the tax payers on the outrageous bills they charge for water/sewer!
As a result of this story, I started trying to study the CWS website. They “explain” how your bill is calculated but it’s really hard (at least for me) to understand. They don’t use the same terms on the website as they do on the bill, for one thing. It was only after reading your article a second time that I realized that a lot of the corruption also comes from the separate insurance company they created for themselves. They use that and also the company itself for their immoral abuse of people who have no choice but to pay them what they charge. No apparent watchdog efforts from the various layers, including the City and County. I guess you have to take their word for everything. Such-and-such was instituted in such-and-such a year. Doesn’t say by whom or why. You also have to believe that they check your winter water usage and recalculate your charges in June or July. Thanks for your reporting but where do we go from here?
I have been pondering that myself. It is very possible that top County officials are connected to this in some ways that will mean they will not act. I am considering filing a formal complaint with the attorney general and perhaps you as a rate payer could sign on to that. I will post a follow up story by Monday. We will be able to speak soon!
I would sign
Hey there, I worked in their utility billing office for several years and can assure you that we obtained your winter water consumption from your water provider every year. Winter period is Oct-May. Regardless, the money wasted on food and travel as reported is nothing short of appalling and Diane needs to answer for that. The CFO and all other top level execs need to answer for that.
Thank you for your investigative journalism!! I have been a Washington County resident for 46 years. I’m totally pissed! What disgusting fraud and self indulgence at the county residents’ expense!!
🤬 This seems to explain a good part of why our water bills have risen exponentially in the last few years. These individuals need to be held accountable for stealing through fraudulent actions from the taxpayers of Washington County. Those salaries are completely out of line for jobs that are a service through the County. Even the governor gets much less in direct salary. Tualatin Valley Clean Water Services is a public utility and county service district not a piggy bank.
Just to be clear, our Water comes from TVWD or our Cities. But there have been similar issues with some of the other agencies too. This whole think is just horrible!
Thank you for doing the hard work to uncover this corruption of Clean Water Services, an ironicly named entity, after reading your findings. We have only been living in Washington County for 6 years but my eyes have been opened recently to the County Commissioners, after attending some meetings in person and watching others online. They do not want to listen to any public comments, and act as if they are just barely tolerating it. This seems to especially apply to Chairwoman Harrington. Your research and article at the very least raise big questions that need to be answered. Thank you again for your attention to detail and for bringing this dirty business to light.
I had a serious issue w/ WACO many years ago, met w/ Ben Unger, my state rep @ that time. He agreed that WACO violated my rights many times, but said there was nothing he could do. Then said , and his words have been etched in my mind for many years, “well, that’s Washington County for you”. Their lawlessness is known by everybody, but no one stops it. This is during the period that Elmer Dickenson was, and had been for many years, the county’s lead attorney. He was under investigation for selling stolen property, computers stolen from Intel, his Wife’s employer.A grand Jury was convened, and it was swept under the rug. His Wife was fired. I still have all the proof of all this. Nothing happens to the government when they are wrong, even when everyone knows it. SAD
That pay doesn’t seem very high compared to say what I was paid as a semiconductor engineer. $60,000 is a reasonable fee for serving on a board.
Trips to Hawaii? I arranged a trip to Hawaii to meet with a number of companies to harmonize proposals for an upcoming IEEE meeting. It was a great success and no one claimed it was a lavish waste. So I find it hard to be shocked that others do it too. Where else would you expect them to stay in Hawaii? Hotels are the normal place you stay when away from home.
The only shady thing seems to be the end run around public records, but I’d like to know if that’s normal for insurance for public bodies. The article doesn’t say. Who or what is being insured? It doesn’t say.
What are the beneficial laws in Hawaii that led them to place the insurance entity in Hawaii? The article doesn’t say.
So not shocked. Don’t know if I should be shocked. There’s not enough information here to know, but for the size of the organization, that pay is shockingly low.
David,
You need to read closer. The $60K is a bonus to be on a Board of an insurance agency that these executives made. They ar ebeing paid between $200K and $350K a year, tends of thousands in annual benefirts and percs, and the $60 K is on top of that. So a compensation package in total could be $500K for the CEO who mostly works remotely. You need to read the linked articles. This is a Public Agency that handles our sewage and storm water. Nor Intel- although Intel generates about 30-45% of the sewage/storm water running into the CWS plant every day.
My friend tried to bring some of these things to light when she retired, but her letter was ignored by the Board and Diane told my friend she was sorry my friend was unhappy. And that’s as far as that went.
I’ve been hearing about the Hawaii trip and other waste and abuse spending for years. Interestingly there is no audit function at CWS. There is an external financial auditor but nothing onsite to review CWS for these types of activities. So it is easy for them to do what they want. Notice Roy Rogers, a recently retired Commissioner was an active attendant/participant at the Hawaii annual trip? Washington County (WC) Board of Commissioners (BCC) will not make any changes. The BCC is a shared board with the WC yet it is the County that pays all the expenses of this shared board? Did you know that WC executives in the CAO office also make similar salaries and benefits! While the County is dealing with massive cuts ($20.5 Mil for 2025/26) for the 5th year in a row the CAO is recommending the County pay the PERS portion for its employees! So I don’t see any of this changing until there is something to hold elected officials accountable.
Hi Sharon-
I know some of this- but people like you are crucial to making change happen. I agree- I have not idea, nor does anyone, how much these people make and what benefits they get. I would appreciate any and all help you can give!
Thank you!
Dirk
Dirk, this is all available through Washington County public records requests. A good example is Oregonlive.com posts the state employee wages every year. You can find it for every year with searching Oregon state wages + year. You can also find employee allowances for Washington County on the public facing website Administrative policy – Employee allowances. Clean water doesn’t really seem to have any on the public website. If there is no policy then one was likely never created. not a big surprise there. This is the reason the CEO has been getting away with this behavior for years and there is no transparency or accountability. The BCC is responsible for the policy.
The Democrats get away with so much waste and corruption. They need DOGE to clean them up. Vote Republican and clean house
The amount of conspiracy theorists in this thread is insane. Have any of y’all worked for a private company/corporation, or had an elevated position anywhere or are you all keyboard warriors for a living? Our firm is about to go to New Orleans for our annual retreat, and a group of us just came back from Las Vegas for a similar conference described in these articles. It’s the benefits of work and the benefits of the hard work you make/save for an organization. Also, these conferences are 90% work, 10% play at best. You’re exhausted after all the meetings and seminars. I’m extremely against freeloaders and frauds, but these numbers are chump change compared to the companies I’ve worked for. Just my two cents though. I’m very surprised no one in the comments has called out how low the numbers are, realistically. Look into any company or work for any established company and you’d see that really quickly. Regardless of the fact that this seems to be a government agency, that would probably explain the lower level numbers. (I saw the $225 dinner including tip that apparently everyone is outraged about and couldn’t believe how sheltered the unemployed are). I’d love to hear from someone who has managed a department, worked as an executive/director, or has simply made a real difference for a company.
Brian,
I do not see your name affiliated with any Oregon companies. Now that you are in the discussion, who do you work for? This is a public agency and there is a lot more going on here than some $225 meals. So for the benefit of our readers, what is your job and your company? I think we are talking apples and oranges here.
There is a big difference between public utilities that everyone must pay into that have waste like this and large corporations where we voluntarily spend our dollars. You have the choice between buying your groceries at Safeway or WinCo. You have the choice between cooking at home or ordering Domino’s for dinner. You do not have the choice if you live in Washington county and have water and sewer service to have another entity provide sewer services. They are a public service provider that should be looking out for the best financial interest of all of the rate payers. I hope that helps you clear up the confusion between people who choose to pay for one service over another, or being forced into it.
Agree!
This reporting is at the Washington Post level. Hope you get a Pulitzer Award! I think taxpayers would like to know why their water and sewage bills keep increasing. But what elected officials should they reach out to? Governor Kotek or our State Senators or State Representatives? I think the Herald figured out that you really need to contact your county commissioners. The county commissioners are responsible for providing oversight to Clean Water Services. But back to the Pulitzer. I have a subscription to the Oregonian, the Washington Post and the Atlantic. Let me know how I can help get this story out to the Clean Water Services rate payers. I think that channel 2, 4, 6, 8 and 12 should pick up on this story.
Really appreciate the work that you and your staff did to bring this issue out for debate
Rich – I am not sure if you are serious or poking fun. Either way, the work is no different than what I have done here for the last 4 years. 3 Million reads and 500 stories. Unpaid. Staying up all night and working a full career outside the Herald. I know people have been encouraged to act. And on this matter, I am just getting started. More stories to come. If the news channels were smart they would take my work and amplify it. And the Oregonian deserves most of the credit. They broke this one and had the ability to get the info I could not. But we have long suspected this sort of shenanigans. Pretty damn sad really – and heads should roll at some point.
Dirk, overall, I agree with your premise. CWS appears to have some extravagance, and it’s probably jacking our water bills up so it needs to go. I have a household of three and my home’s water bill is stupidly high. That being said, I have a few comments and questions.
First, in regards to my comments, I am a federal government employee and I ask that you please lay off the government employee bashing tone. You hint that government employees shouldn’t be paid fair market rates in such comments as “In addition to wages, there could well be tens of thousands in medical, dental, and retirement benefits.” Well, yeah, most employers in competitive markets offer benefits like health care, etc. Especially when you’re talking about specialists such as hydro engineers, environmental chemists, waste plant managers, safety managers, etc. Intel and Nike do it, why bash CWS for it? That’s the cost of doing business, and hopefully you personally provide benefits to any employees you have. Most government employees do good work and should be rewarded for it.
Second, not to be the grammar police, but CWS is not a “them”, it’s an “it”. Using personal pronouns when referring to a public legal entity paints a political scenario that taints all agency employees, and we don’t need that locally right now. I personally know a CWS employee and she is an amazing person. CWS is an organization system of rules, practices and processes approved by its county commissioner Board and leadership. It’s policies apparently allow for this behavior. We need to change that, obviously, but the people – the “them” you refer to – are not the organization, they change the agency’s lifespan, from the leadership and field employees to the elected officials that control it. It’s true that its leadership should be mindful of such appearances but, even as shady as it seems at the moment, one must consider that policies are another element that is set over the lifespan of an organization; not every employees (no matter how high) knows everything about the organization that needs changing and has to prioritize their limited time and effort; and organizational change takes will power. And who would have the will power not to go to Hawaii?
But when you point your finger, you do so vaguely – you didn’t make it clear whether Ms. Taniguchi-Dennis played a role in establishing the insurance company or its own governance policies that require its leadership to travel to Hawaii to attend meetings. In my experience in meeting management, I usually aim to have the least amount of attendees travel when possible, so this may be as simple as the insurance company changing its policy and having its annual meetings in Hillsboro (which is not as attractive as Hawaii, I am sorry to say).
In addition, there’s no mention of whether the agency-owned insurance company returns any profit to the agency or county. This might put a different spin on the situation if expenses and profit are being returned to local coffers.
That being said, I am truly surprised at the salary rates. They’re well above normal Federal compensations. Normally, the lower you go in government the lower employee compensation gets. I personally would prefer to work in my county or city government, but I wouldn’t be able to pay my mortgage if I moved down silo.
I am also gravely appalled at the secondary compensation of board service, especially if it is a requirement of the employees’/county commissioners’ job. At the federal level, such service might be a conflict of interest – making decisions for what is essentially a contractor, or vendor – and being compensated for what might be a requirement of your job would be highly unethical. Personal pork, so to speak.
I am also appalled that an Oregon-based public entity would (be allowed to) dodge the Oregon insurance market. The appearance of such a move makes business sense but is not helping the state/local economy. It’s one thing to be selective and price conscious about buying off-the-shelf insurance, even a product available from an out-of-state vendor, but to go to another state to create a legacy product – with facilities, employees, service contracts, etc. of its own – because you don’t like the regulations of the state you are betrothed to is disrespectful, as well as absurd. There ought to be a law guiding local preference for such services, products, etc.
I am curious, too, about another fact not touched on in the articles (or I missed) – whether the County executives who, defacto, sit on the agency-owned insurance company’s board also attend the Hawaii meetings? If so, they also have little impetus to change the situation. I wonder how far up and down the culture goes. If the county commissioners take these trips, it’s time for the state prosecutor to step in as a neutral agent to audit the agency and review its policies, but their jurisdiction would not reach Hawaii. And maybe some water bill refunds…
Thanks for bringing this to my attention.
You have no idea. This story has monstrous complexities. If some of the things I am hearing are true, then people are going to lose their jobs or worse. The County Commissioners, according to sources I have, have been to Hawaii and enjoyed the benefits. And some went to Laos, Singapore, and beyond based on the info. I have no less than 7 people sending us Info. There is NO transparency. NO records eaily accessible. And I believe the Hawaii move was designed to hide expenditures and unethical visits and other perks. But until someone above Washington County gets involved, the ratepayers are screwed. More to follow. I understand your points and appreciate your thoughtful analysis.
Dirk
There are 6 houses on our block in SW Portland that are still on septic systems. CWS wants us to have the put in a sewer line. They have told us that the cost for us will be about $90,000.00 per household! They expect the homeowners to pay not only for the connecting lines, but the main public sewer line as well. Just thought you might want to know.