Mayor Julie Hoy raises $12,100 even though she’s not facing reelection this year

I'm no fan of Salem's mayor, Julie Hoy.

When she orchestrated the resignation of City Manager Keith Stahley this year in an unseemly manner, I filed a complaint with the Oregon Government Ethics Commission. Now the commission is investigating Hoy and the city councilors who appear to have been involved in prohibited "serial communications" that violate our state's public meetings law.

I do give Hoy this underhanded bit of praise, though. She breaks new ground as Mayor.

To my knowledge no other mayor of Salem has ever been investigated for a significant ethics violation. And information someone sent me shows that Mayor Hoy also seems to have broken the record for the largest contributions to her campaign fund in a year when the mayor isn't running for election or reelection.

(Those are the odd-numbered years, since the mayor is elected for a two-year term in even-numbered years.)

In fact, Hoy didn't break the $525 record of recent years set by Mayor Chris Hoy in 2023 by a little, but by a huge amount, since Julie Hoy has raked in $12,100 in 2025 even though she isn't up for reelection until May 2026.
The chart below based on ORESTAR reporting data shows where Mayor Hoy's contributions are coming from, and where her expenditures are being made.

Hoy's largest contribution is $5,000 from the Mountain West Investment Corporation, a local real estate development firm. It isn't clear what is motivating Mountain West and other donors to give Hoy so much money in a year when she isn't seeking reelection.

My understanding is that up until now, Salem mayors didn't solicit contributions in off-years such as 2025 because giving this money could look like an attempt to curry influence with the mayor, who is a voting member of the city council. But like I said, Julie Hoy is breaking new ground in this instance — $12,100 worth. 

Interestingly, the $5,000 Mountain West Investment Corporation contribution was reported to ORESTAR on the day before Mayor Hoy reported a $1,500 payment to Gibson, P.C. I'm assuming this is the attorney, Julie Gibson, who represented Hoy in dealings with the Oregon Government Ethics Commission.

At any rate, for a mayor who isn't running for reelection until next year, Julie Hoy sure is actively raising considerable money for Friends of Julie Hoy and spending it almost as rapidly as it comes in. Her expenditures in 2025 total $11,598.