By Keizertimes staff
The Oregon Government Ethics Commission has dismissed an allegation that Keizer City Councilor Kyle Juran used his position to win a city contract for his business.
A commission investigation concluded there was “insufficient” information that Juran got a city contract because he is a councilor and “there is no evidence to suggest that Councilor Juran used confidential information.”
The commission voted Aug. 2 to dismiss a complaint filed against the councilor in November 2023.
Juran said he is “just happy that it’s finally done and they realized that there was nothing to it.”
The state’s investigation focused on a $247,000 contract awarded by the Keizer City Council in June 2023 to Juran’s company, Remodeling by Classic Homes Inc., for repairs at the Keizer Civic Center. Juran announced ahead of the vote that he had a conflict and didn’t vote, according to ethics commission records.
Oregon ethics laws prohibit public officials from using their position for their own financial gain.
“The trellis project consisted of replacing the supporting framing portions of the covers over the employee break areas at City Hall and the Police Department,” Public Works Director Bill Lawyer explained in an email Monday, Aug. 26. “The original structures were built with wood for the support columns and the framing supporting the roof and the support columns were rotting to a point they needed to be replaced.”
The ethics investigation found that city officials determined by at least 2018 that trellises at the civic center needed repair. No contractor responded when the city put out the work for bid in 2022.
Lawyer then reached out directly to companies about taking on the work, but none wanted to, the ethics commission report said. Lawyer then sought the advice of then-City Attorney Shannon Johnson about contacting Juran about the work.
Johnson told investigators that he “advised Mr. Lawyer that he could reach out to Councilor Juran but that he would need to be careful,” the report said.
Lawyer said that he then contacted Juran.
“He had to strongly encourage Councilor Juran to provide a quote,” the ethics report said, noting Johnson’s remark that the public works director “practically had to beg Councilor Juran to submit a bid.”
Juran, who has been a councilor since 2021, said he has been in the construction business for 21 years and had done work for the city before taking public office.
“Juran was clear that he had not been particularly interested in taking on the City Hall trellis repair project,” the report said. “Some of the concern was due to his busy schedule and some were due to the optics that it would create if he accepted the work.”
He submitted his repair proposal to the city on March 13, 2023, leading to the council vote three months later.
Lawyer said the project was “substantially complete” by last year at the bid price.
