Oregon state treasurer, former lawmaker Ben Westlund dies at 60 after battle with lung cancer
By APSunday, March 7, 2010
Oregon state treasurer Westlund dies at 60
PORTLAND, Ore. — Oregon state treasurer Ben Westlund, who helped stabilize the Oregon college savings plan after one of its managers posted big losses, has died after a long battle with lung cancer. He was 60.
Westlund served 12 years in the Oregon Legislature, first as a Republican and then as an Independent and a Democrat. He took office as treasurer in early 2009.
His campaign manager, Stacey Dycus, said from the family’s home in Bend that Westlund died Sunday morning.
During Westlund’s tenure as treasurer, he and the Oregon attorney general’s office sued New York-based OppenheimerFunds Inc. for $36 million, saying it falsely promoted a high-risk college investment plan as “conservative.”
OppenheimerFunds last year agreed to pay $20 million to settle the suit, but admitted no wrongdoing.
