A powerful state commissioner acts as if rules are only for other people.
In Oregon, Brad Avakian is the regulator-in-chief. As the commissioner of the powerful Bureau of Labor and Industry (BOLI), Avakian educates companies on the state’s complex set of employment laws and assesses fines for non-compliance. He also advocates tax hikes and aggressive audits of Oregon’s private sector entrepreneurs, employers, and corporations.
So, how does Brad Avakian fair on an audit of his own governance and public records?
Public records show that Avakian has a ‘compliance for thee, but not for me’ attitude. Avakian enjoys cracking down on the private sector but is flagrantly mixing public and campaign funds and functions as he tries to move-up to Secretary of State in this election cycle. Consider the following:

• Avakian’s official state calendar displays his 2016 campaign website and email address.
• Responding to an open records request for his official state calendar, Avakian redacted 672 events during the last 20 months, here and here. State law only allows redactions for personal appointments (i.e. doctors’ appointments).
• 988 events were also redacted from the official state calendars of three key BOLI administrators who work for Avakian.
• These three BOLI administrators (state employees) got $3,500 in total bonuses from their boss’ campaign fund, the Committee to Elect Brad Avakian. Two of the three executives also gave Avakian campaign donations.
• Avakian’s Executive Assistant and his 2011 campaign manager posted 18 political endorsements of his boss on social media during official BOLI business hours.
• According to salary records at OpenTheBooks.com, those same state employees also received BOLI increases in compensation.

In July, Oregon’s Capitol Watch organization asked Avakian to produce official calendars, credit card statements and travel/reimbursement records. Avakian’s agency stalled for three months, then not only redacted much of the responsive records, but also charged the non-profit group $1,300 for the documents.
This week, our organization at OpenTheBooks.com gave oversight to Commissioner Avakian’s state bureau. Here are some highlights:
Charlie Burr, the BOLI Communications Director redacted 241 events from his own official state calendar during an eight-month period in 2015 when he claimed zero personal days on official time sheets. In total, over a 20-month period, Burr redacted 639 events. In 2014, Charlie Burrreceived $3,000 in bonus payments from the Avakian campaign fund, despite the campaign admitting to a lack of details: ‘general operation expenses – need description.’

Between 2014 and 2015, Burr’s state salary at BOLI increased from $69,245 to $74,509 – far outpacing inflation and other BOLI employee salary increases. Violating basic ethics, Avakianaccepted $400 in campaign donations from his employee Burr just ten days before his May 17, 2016 primary.

Charlie Burr (right) in a May 14, 2016 social media profile picture campaigning with his state agency boss, Brad Avakian for Secretary of State just days ahead of his boss’ primary election.