It seems Gov. Tina Kotek learned nothing from the political downfall of former Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber by providing political power to his fiancée, thereby improving her financial income.

If some of the staff of Kotek had not resigned in protest of her efforts to provide direct political power to her wife, the public would never have been made aware there was a problem of delegating political power to an unelected relative of hers.

Kotek has been a power player in Oregon politics for many years, and as speaker of the House this type of action is normal for her.

I view most politicians as masters of spin, deflection, misdirection, word parsing and other less than fully ethical actions to work their personal will and advance their personal desires in most government actions they participate in.

I may be overly cynical; however, I voted in every election since 1960, and I consider myself very well informed. I dig deeply into the public documents that show what happens with public money that never gets discussed in front of the public.

I consider many political decisions at all levels of government are motivated by doing favors for friends, family or other politically influential people out of public view, and contrary to what I consider ethical, based on my values.

I object to political actions by elected representatives that favor specific people, and are not available to anyone else who is not politically connected.

Scott Widdicombe

Warrenton