Opinion
4A
Tuesday, May 26, 2020
The Observer
OTHER VIEW
Gov. Brown sends government further into secrecy
G
ov. Kate Brown
said when she first
took office that
throughout her career she has
“sought to promote trans-
parency and trust in govern-
ment, working to build confi-
dence that our public dollars
are spent wisely. As governor,
this will not change.”
As governor, it has
changed.
She issued an executive
order that allows local govern-
ments to post required public
notices about their budgets
only on their own websites.
That’s like the fox guarding
the henhouse.
It has nothing to do with
protecting public health
during the pandemic. It’s
an attack on government
transparency.
You have probably seen
public notices in newspapers.
They are those long, wordy,
technical and dry ads usually
in the classifieds. They can
make your eyes glaze over
faster than a parking spot is
scooped up on Wall Street in
Bend — at least in the down-
EO Media Group file photo
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown, seen here in 2016.
town before the pandemic.
Public notices, though,
have information that is
important to people, such as
how the government plans
to spend taxes. And they are
required by law. They exist so
the public knows what their
government is doing, so gov-
ernment is transparent and
open.
Public notices are reported
to have begun in English
newspapers in 1665 with what
was later renamed as The
London Gazette. It published
notices from the King’s Court,
from London officials and so
on. The practice later spread
to the United States. Congress
made it a requirement in 1789
for the federal government
to publish similar notices in
newspapers.
So much has changed. The
internet makes it much easier
to share information and to
find it. State and local govern-
ments across the country have
pushed for the freedom to
only publish such notices on
their own websites.
The biggest argument
for that is: It’s free. It costs
money to run legal notices
in newspapers, and newspa-
pers makes money from legal
notices.
But the important issue
is getting information to the
public. Where does the public
look for such information? In
newspapers. Remove it from
newspapers and bury it on a
website and who will see it?
That precisely could be the
goal.
The internet is available
almost everywhere. But as
we all know, and politicians
and school officials say again
and again, not everybody
has access to it. Why would
the governor make a move to
secrete more information on
the wrong side of the digital
divide?
The other issue is the
absence of connection
between the change and the
pandemic. We asked the gov-
ernor’s office about that. We
were told that the change was
made at the request of local
governments who were con-
cerned about completing their
budget processes on time.
That argument just does
not make sense. Publishing
legal notices is part of the
routine. It’s not an onerous
requirement. Where is the
danger to public health and
safety? What’s the problem?
There isn’t one.
Gov. Brown has done her
best during the pandemic to
balance public health, the
economy and keeping gov-
ernment operating and open.
When there’s a threat like
COVID-19, politicians can
use it to make changes with
less public scrutiny. Never let
a good crisis go to waste, as
the saying goes. Gov. Brown
chose this crisis to undermine
public access to informa-
tion about how tax dollars are
spent. She has changed.
About the Author
This guest editorial is from
the Bend Bulletin Editorial
Board. The EO Media Group
owns the Bulletin along with
The Observer.
OTHER VIEWS
Pandemic restrictions highlight blessings we take for granted
Free speech is one
right we ought never take
for granted.
“As we have seen
recently in America,
political tensions are run-
ning at an all-time high,”
reported The Post. “But
people are enti-
tled to their
TOM PURCELL
opinion and in
SYNDICATED
COLUMNIST
America, you
can express this
“The List of Things
without fear of repercus-
Americans Take for
sions … .”
Granted,” the newspaper
Some refer to our
examined some of the
leaders with vulgar, crass
freedoms and blessings
expressions. Some make
that too many Americans allegations about politi-
forget they have.
cians that facts don’t sup-
Amid the pandemic
port. Others — a regret-
— as we all get a taste of tably small percentage
having some of our free-
— take the high road by
doms curtailed — per-
making reasoned argu-
haps it should be easier
ments about what they
to remember how good
think of ideas or policies.
Whatever Americans
we’ve had it.
W
hat The
Bogota Post
got right
about America before
COVID-19 rings just as
true during the pandemic
— maybe even more true.
In a May 2019 article,
say publicly or post on
social media, nobody
fears government hit
squads kicking down
their doors in the middle
of the night. Try that in
many other countries and
see what happens.
“In China, Thailand or,
as has recently been seen
in Hong Kong, expressing
your political views, even
in a diplomatic way, can
lead to your imprison-
ment or even worse, the
death penalty,” reported
The Post.
Another right too
many Americans take
for granted is voting
— choosing our gov-
ernment’s leaders and
policies.
The integrity of
the vote is central to a
well-functioning republic.
It lets us settle our differ-
ences at the ballot box,
not on the battlefield.
Our two-party system
has its flaws, but, said
The Post, “some coun-
tries have a one-party
system where you can
only vote for candidates
who stand for that party.
Other countries don’t
even (have) an illusion of
democracy — they have
a dictator in charge and
his or her word is what
makes the law.”
Comparing the U.S.
to developing coun-
tries, The Post noted that
clean tap water and abun-
dant electricity are taken
for granted. Both result
from the freedoms that
unleash massive wealth
creation. Our economic
horsepower funds mas-
sive projects that deliver
power and drinking water
across our great land.
Before COVID-19
did a number on our
economy, some Ameri-
cans took abundant jobs
for granted. Our robust
free markets enable
entrepreneurs to inno-
vate, creating jobs that
enable millions to thrive.
Earlier generations
were happy just to have a
good-paying job. Today’s
Americans can choose
paths that are mean-
ingful to them. Don’t like
what you’re doing? Try
something else — open a
restaurant, start an online
business, get training for
the job you want.
The Post article cap-
tures well the great irony
of America: The better
off we become, the more
we complain about how
bad things are.
“Americans often take
for granted these free-
doms and privileges and
with social media and
a consumerist society it
is easy to feel unhappy
with what you haven’t got
rather than what you have
got.”
Exactly. COVID-19 is
temporarily restricting
some of our freedoms
and blessings. Let’s
make sure they’re fully
restored when that chal-
lenge has ended.
Let’s make sure we
preserve them for future
generations to fully expe-
rience and appreciate.
About the Author
Tom Purcell, author
of “Misadventures of
a 1970’s Childhood,” a
humorous memoir avail-
able at amazon.com, is a
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
humor columnist.