By JAMES NEFF/Oregon Journalism Project

An Oregon Tourism Commission member has received a two-year no-bid contract worth up to $200,000 from the quasi-state agency he helps oversee.

David Penilton of Oregon City is the co-owner of America’s Hub World Tours, a small tour operator that offers tour guides and buses in Oregon. The contract is to help with promotional groups that Travel Oregon brings to the state

He is also one of nine members of the Oregon Tourism Commission who are appointed by the governor and approved by the state Senate to govern Travel Oregon, the state’s tourism agency. Among their duties are voting on Travel Oregon’s $95 million biennial budget, overseeing its chief executive, and setting his salary and benefits.

As a semi-independent agency, Travel Oregon is exempt from state purchasing and procurement laws, budget laws, and personnel, salary and expense laws.

In addition to the latest contract, Travel Oregon paid Penilton’s company at least $91,850 between March 2022 and June 2025 for tours and other services, public records show.

Speaking in general, and without reference to Penilton, Susan Myers, executive director of the Oregon Government Ethics Commission says Oregon law does not forbid public officials from having conflicts of interest so long as they publicly disclose them and do not vote on matters that directly affect their interests.

Penilton acknowledged in an email to OJP that he did not publicly disclose his company’s contract and that Travel Oregon chief executive officer Todd Davidson and the commissioners never discussed with him whether his company’s business with the agency posed a conflict of interest. Penilton added that he never meant to put his company’s interests before the public’s.

America’s Hub World Tours, based in Oregon City, describes itself as “the most successful tour operator in the region.” In his defense, Penilton pointed out, his tour company was a vendor for Travel Oregon for several years before he was appointed to the commission in 2021.

“The time, hours and years of work I have personally invested in supporting this industry far exceed any compensation my company has received over that decade of contracts,” said Penilton, who also serves on the Travel Lane County board.

The tourism commission chair Greg Willits of Sisters said in a statement he did not know of the America’s Hub contract or “the details of each commissioner’s professional businesses.” He and the other commissioners are committed, Willits said, to strengthening oversight of Travel Oregon.

DOJ disputes statement

In his initial comment to the Oregon Journalism Project, Davidson praised Penilton, saying, “We stand by the service America’s Hub World Tours has provided our visitors,” but he didn’t address the conflict of interest.

Davidson said through a spokeswoman in a follow-up comment days later that Travel Oregon had checked with an Oregon Department of Justice lawyer in July. The lawyer, Davidson said, approved the two-year contract.

The Department of Justice, however, disputed Davidson and the agency’s account.

The department “does not make decisions for Travel Oregon or board members of Travel Oregon,” said Jenny Hansson, an agency spokeswoman. “DOJ’s role is limited to providing legal advice to state agencies and officials — not to make or approve agency decisions. This was an agency decision.”

A recent Oregon Journalism Project investigation of Travel Oregon detailed operational dysfunction at the agency and Davidson’s outsized pay. His total compensation in 2024 was $477,264.

Davidson has announced his retirement after 29 years atop the 75-employee agency. But he has a one-year, $341,818 contract to run Travel Oregon in retirement while it searches for a new executive director. He also gets an annual retirement benefit of $219,851.

Dan Meek, a Portland lawyer specializing in campaign finance reform and government ethics, says Travel Oregon’s governance structure is poorly designed.

“The Travel Oregon board is highly vulnerable to self-dealing,” Meeks said. “The legislators decreed that eight of the nine members have to be in the travel industry. By definition, they are self-interested people — that’s what you get. It’s not the board members’ fault, it’s the Legislature’s fault.”

Lawmakers established Travel Oregon in 2003 as a semi-independent agency to support the state’s tourism industry with revenue generated by a statewide lodging tax, now set at 1.5 percent of charges for overnight stays in hotels, campgrounds, and vacation rentals.

The 2025 Legislature devoted substantial attention to a program that could be key to an economic rebound, especially in rural Oregon, where timber and other natural resource jobs have declined.

Legislators on both sides of the aisle — Reps. Christine Drazan, R-Canby and David Gomberg, D-Otis among them — say Oregonians deserve greater oversight of Travel Oregon, which would require changes in state law in the next session and possibly changing the makeup of the commission.

Penilton said in an email that he wants to do the right thing.

“My contributions to Oregon through this commission are important to me, and if the contract raises questions about my intentions, I will terminate the contract up to and including resigning my position as an Oregon Tourism commissioner.”