By ANDREW SELSKY of the Associated Press

SALEM — Ted Ferrioli, the Senate Republican leader in Oregon until he stepped down in January, was presented with a Pendleton wool blanket by leaders of Indian tribes as a parting gift. That threw him into an ethical quandary.

The issue confronting Ferrioli, who represented a huge swath of eastern Oregon covering canyonlands, mountains and high desert with cowboys, loggers and Native Americans among his constituents, was detailed in an Oregon Government Ethics Commission report.

It was mixed in with a 129-page investigation of a case against former Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber after his girlfriend was paid tens of thousands of dollars for work she leveraged when she was Oregon's first lady.

Struggling over what to do with a blanket with a price tag of $249 is small beans. But it shows how, as political scandals emerge with dismaying regularity in Washington and around the country, many public servants try to walk a fine line. And it illustrates the scope of issues Oregon's seven-member ethics commission, established in 1974 by a statewide referendum, and its staff are tasked with addressing.

"We don't just do state employees, we do all levels of government in Oregon, so that's every city council, every special district out there, fire board, whatever," commission Executive Director Ron Bersin told The Associated Press during a break in a recent commission meeting.

Ferrioli left the state Senate at the turn of the year after being appointed by Gov. Kate Brown to a regional organization that develops and maintains a regional conservation and electric power plan and a program to protect fish and wildlife.

In recognition of bills he had sponsored on behalf of Indians, the board of directors of Confederated Tribes of Umatilla Reservation sent Ferrioli a plush wool Pendleton blanket with a Native-American-inspired design. Among the bills: One which prohibits individuals from possessing Native American artifacts looted from burials or archaeological sites, Ferrioli said. Another bill he sponsored recognized tribal police as Oregon law enforcement officers with all the accompanying rights and responsibilities.

But the blanket exceeded the $50 limit on gifts a public official can receive from someone during a calendar year, so it posed an ethical dilemma. As a former member of the Senate rules committee, Ferrioli knows the rules better than most people, Bersin noted.

Two days Ferrioli received the blanket, he emailed Bersin and other officials, asking their advice and saying, "Receipt of this item puts me in a potentially awkward position."

Accepting it, he wrote, might violate ethics regulations, but returning it "might constitute an insult."

"As you know, the bestowing of gifts is a deeply rooted part of Native American Culture, in meaning, far greater than the material value of the item given," Ferrioli wrote.

He noted, though, that if he divided $249 by nine, the value of the gift, per giver, would be only $27.67. What, Ferrioli asked, should he do: Return the gift, accept it on a per-giver basis, accept it on behalf of a third party, or take some other action?

Bersin wrote back that if tribal funds bought the blanket, then there is just one giver and Ferrioli couldn't accept it if the tribes might have an economic interest in Ferrioli's decision-making as a public official. But if the nine members used their personal funds, he could keep it. Noting that returning the blanket could be problematic, Bersin suggested donating it.

Ferrioli decided to donate it to the Senate, where it will be hung on a wall in a room dedicated to historical items.

On Feb. 15, Ferrioli traveled back to the Capitol to receive accolades alongside another recently departed lawmaker on the Senate floor. As senators spoke fondly of Ferrioli, the blanket was close by, ready to be formally handed over to Senate Secretary Lori Brocker.

After the speeches, and back-slapping and handshakes as lawmakers ate cake and drank punch outside the Senate chamber, a man with an erect posture and hair streaming down his back walked up to Ferrioli and handed him a box.

In it was another Pendleton blanket. This one was from the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians. Ferrioli graciously accepted it.

But he isn't keeping this one either. On advice of ethics commission, it will be retained permanently by the Senate, Ferrioli said.

-- The Associated Press