Oregon Secretary of State Bev Clarno last week released an audit report critical of salaries paid and contracts entered into by - along with the transparency and accountability of - state tourism promotion board Travel Oregon.

Specific criticisms included:

• Travel Oregon managers are among the highest paid in state government: CEO Todd Davidson who has a budget of $76M is being paid $381,624 in salary, car and cellphone allowance this year, while the Director of the Department of Human Services - Oregon's largest state agency, with a budget of $11.6B - is paid $200,000.
• Travel Oregon's largest advertising contract hasn't been put out for bid for 10 years.

Unlike other state agencies, Travel Oregon is a semi-independent organization which gets much of its funding from a 1.8% tax on hotel rooms.

Davidson has said he agrees with the audit's recommendations and will implement them - but also that his agency is "simply doing its job" and money spent on it is an investment for Oregon as a whole.