The state government ethics commission found Friday that Salem Mayor Julie Hoy and five city councilors broke state law by discussing the employment of the former city manager in private leading up to his abrupt resignation in February.

The seven-member Oregon Government Ethics Commission voted 6-0 with one commissioner abstaining based on an ethics investigation that found Salem Mayor Julie Hoy, Council President Linda Nishioka, and Councilors Deanna Gwyn, Vanessa Nordyke, Paul Tigan and Micki Varney “deliberately coordinated and orchestrated” an illegal serial meeting to avoid making a public decision on firing Keith Stahley, the former city manager, earlier this year.

The commission also dismissed cases against Councilors Irvin Brown and Shane Matthews based on an investigator’s findi

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