Ethics questions arise after Portland mayor gets free game tickets

PORTLAND — Portland Mayor Tom Potter's gift of two prime Trail Blazers tickets from the team has raised a question of whether he violated ethical restrictions on gifts to public officials.

Rose Garden operators say the public would have paid $1,000 or more for the two courtside seats.

Potter spokesman John Doussard said Potter had tried to pay for the tickets but was told they had no value — that the former press-row seats used by Potter haven't been sold publicly because of a dispute between the Blazers and the Rose Garden operators.

The director of Oregon's ethics commission, Ron Bersin, says an ethics violation may be involved, since public officials cannot accept entertainment gifts worth more than $100 per event.

Potter initially failed to publicly report the gift, as required, then filed a report showing the tickets worth $34, the price of seats in the "nosebleed" section high above the court.

The team said it has been giving the courtside seats out for free in the meantime, to Potter, Miss Oregon and others.

"In the mind of the Blazers, they have no value," Doussard said. "We mistakenly assumed that was the end of it. We just did not understand the rules well enough."

But Bersin doesn't see the tickets as worthless.

"If you're looking at a courtside seat to a sporting event, there is value there," Bersin said.

Potter could be fined if it is determined he violated the standards.

"I don't think we've tried to hide anything," Potter said. "If anything was done, it was certainly not done with any intent to deceive or to violate any law."

Potter attended the team's home opener Nov. 4 at a time when the future of the team in Portland was uncertain.

Team owner Paul Allen had given up ownership of the Rose Garden through bankruptcy, and his team was losing millions of dollars.

Representatives of the Blazers and Allen had met with Potter to try to set up a public-private partnership to stem the team's financial losses.

"They have never asked us for anything specific except to be supportive," Doussard said.

Team officials said they asked Potter to make an appearance at the opener.

"The test is not what the provider paid for the ticket," Bersin said, but rather what it would cost if the official paid for it.

"That's where it fails to meet the test, I believe," Bersin said.

Asked whether other politicians sat in press row for free, Blazers spokesman Art Sasse said, "I'm sure we've had them." But he said he could not recall names.