A Travel Oregon Board Member’s Company Bought a Six-Determine, No-Bid Contract From the Company

This story was produced by the Oregon Journalism Project, a nonprofit newsroom masking the state.

David Penilton, a co-owner of America’s Hub World Tours, a small tour operator that gives tour guides and buses in Oregon, has been awarded a two-year contract value as much as $200,000 from Travel Oregon to assist with promotional teams the company brings to the state, OJP has realized.

Penilton, from Oregon City, can also be one among 9 members of the Oregon Tourism Commission, who’re appointed by the governor and permitted by the state Senate to manipulate Travel Oregon, the state’s tourism company. Among their duties are voting on Travel Oregon’s $95 million biennial funds, overseeing its chief govt, and setting his wage and advantages.

In different phrases, a public official answerable for holding Travel Oregon accountable obtained a no-bid contract from the company. (As a semi-independent company, Travel Oregon is exempt from state buying and procurement legal guidelines, funds legal guidelines, and personnel, wage and expense legal guidelines.)

Travel Oregon additionally paid Penilton’s firm not less than $91,850 between March 2022 and June 2025 for excursions and different providers, public information present.

Speaking normally, and regardless of Penilton, govt director Susan Myers of the Oregon Government Ethics Commission says Oregon legislation doesn’t forbid public officers from having conflicts of curiosity as long as they publicly disclose them and don’t vote on issues that straight have an effect on their pursuits.

Penilton acknowledged in an e-mail to OJP that he didn’t publicly disclose his firm’s contract and that Travel Oregon CEO Todd Davidson and the commissioners by no means mentioned with him whether or not his firm’s enterprise with the journey company posed a battle of curiosity. Penilton added that he by no means meant to place his firm’s pursuits earlier than the general public’s.

America’s Hub World Tours, primarily based in Oregon City, describes itself as “the most successful tour operator in the region.” In his protection, Penilton identified, his tour firm was a vendor for Travel Oregon for a number of years earlier than he was appointed to the tourism fee 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,” mentioned Penilton, who additionally serves on the Travel Lane County board.

The chair of the tourism fee, Greg Willits of Sisters, mentioned in a press release he didn’t know of the America’s Hub contract or “the details of each commissioner’s professional businesses.” He and the opposite commissioners are dedicated, he mentioned, to strengthening oversight of Travel Oregon.

In his preliminary remark to OJP, CEO Davidson praised Penilton, saying, “We stand by the service America’s Hub World Tours has provided our visitors,” however he didn’t handle the battle of curiosity.

Davidson mentioned via a spokeswoman in a follow-up remark days later that Travel Oregon had checked with an Oregon Department of Justice lawyer in July. The lawyer, Davidson mentioned, OK’ed the two-year contract.

The DOJ, nonetheless, disputed Davidson and the company’s account. The division “does not make decisions for Travel Oregon or board members of Travel Oregon. 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,” DOJ spokeswoman Jenny Hansson mentioned. “Also, DOJ does not determine whether an individual has violated state government ethics laws. The Oregon Government Ethics Commission administers and enforces government ethics laws.”

A current Oregon Journalism Project investigation of Travel Oregon detailed operational dysfunction on the company and the outsized pay of CEO Davidson, whose complete compensation in 2024 was $477,264. In advance of the May story, Davidson introduced his retirement after 29 years atop the 75-employee company. (He has a one-year, $341,818 contract to run Travel Oregon in retirement whereas it searches for a brand new govt director. He additionally will get an annual retirement good thing about $219,851.)

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

“The Travel Oregon board is highly vulnerable to self-dealing. 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 tourism industry with revenue generated by a statewide lodging tax, now set at 1.5% of charges for overnight stays in hotels, campgrounds, and vacation rentals.

In the 2025 session, the 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.

Leaders on both sides of the aisle—state 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.”

Do you have tips about Travel Oregon, government functions, or other topics of public concern? Contact James Neff at jneff@oregonjournalismproject.org. Learn more about the nonprofit Oregon Journalism Project.