Nonprofit's Taxpayer Funding Spiked the Year It Employed Oregon First Lady Cylvia Hayes

An Orgeon nonprofit saw its funding from the state of Oregon soar eightfold the year it put First Lady Cylvia Hayes on the payroll. Hayes only lasted in the job a few months, and right after she left, Gov. John Kitzhaber's administration cut state payments to the group to almost nothing. State records show that the nonprofit, Rural Development Initiatives, saw its state funding grow from $25,000 in 2010 to more than $214,000 in 2011, the year Hayes went to work there. RDI saw its state funding fall to just $2,500 the year after Hayes left.