Opinion
4A
Tuesday, June 16, 2020
The Observer
OUR VIEW
County commissioners blundered with secret meeting
A
dozen county com-
missioners from
Eastern Oregon
met Thursday in Prairie City
to complain about Gov. Kate
Brown’s unilateral authority
to reopen the state and con-
trol the disbursement of fed-
eral coronavirus aid money.
The problem was, the
commissioners ignored
public meetings laws and
tried to gather in secret.
Union County’s three
commissioners — Paul
Anderes, Donna Beverage
and Matt Scarfo — joined
the group, as did Wallowa
County Commissioners
Susan Roberts and John
Hillock. Anderes contended
the meeting was not in secret
because news reporters were
there. He told The Observer,
“We didn’t publicly notice
it specifically, but I talked
about (attending) it in a
public meeting.”
That is not a notice of a
public meeting, and Anderes,
Beverage and Scarfo know
that. If they do not, as public
officials in Oregon, they
should.
Indeed, Emily Cureton
with Oregon Public Broad-
casting and Steven Mitchell
with the Blue Mountain
Eagle — a related news-
paper to The Observer —
covered the meeting. But
make no mistake, those com-
missioners did not want
reporters there.
As the Eagle reported,
Lake County Commissioner
Mark Albertson organized
this as an “information sem-
inar” with no announce-
ment to the public or media.
Mitchell and Cureton had
to negotiate to attend. Alb-
ertson noted it was “spooky”
the press showed up.
The spooky part was local
elected officials trying to
duck public meeting laws.
Cureton’s photo of Jef-
ferson County Commissioner
Mae Huston hiding her face
from a photo says it all. If
you have to hide your face in
a meeting, you know you are
doing something you should
not do.
The commissioners, how-
ever, likely face little reper-
cussions for meeting in
secret. Oregon law lacks
teeth when it comes to
enforcing public meetings
laws. Per Oregon Depart-
ment of Justice, “If a citizen
wishes to compel compli-
ance with the meetings law,
or believes that a governing
body has violated the law,
the citizen may file a private
civil lawsuit against the gov-
erning body.”
Yep, an Oregonian would
have to bring a lawsuit.
Unless the meeting was a
violation of the regulations
for an executive session.
Oregon law allows gov-
erning bodies to talk behind
closed doors under certain
circumstances, but the body
must state the reason for the
meeting and reporters can
cover most of those meetings
and report on their general
nature.
The commissioners
did not call the Thursday
meeting an executive session,
but a resident who believes
a governing body violated
the regulations allowing an
executive session may file a
complaint with the Oregon
Government Ethics Commis-
sion. That group can conduct
investigations, making deter-
minations and even assess
penalties up to $1,000 per
each violation.
Most of the time, however,
the ethics commission would
rather make a deal with
public officials who violate
the law and provide them
with letters of education in
lieu of civil penalties. Fear-
some, right?
EO Media Group news-
papers — including The
Observer — in early June
took Brown to task for
meeting with state lawmakers
behind your back. Now our
own county commissioners
pulled the same stunt.
And the timing could not
be worse for Union County,
which is in the midst of a
coronavirus outbreak and
sure to draw more scru-
tiny from the Oregon Health
Authority and governor’s
office.
Anderes, Beverage and
Scarfo and the nine other
commissioners may well
have legitimate gripes about
Brown’s handling of the
coronavirus pandemic and
the reopening. But hashing
that out in secret is the
wrong move. Union County
residents expect their com-
missioners to be transparent
and accountable no matter
how Brown operates.
State Rep. Greg Barreto (58th
District/ Cove): Salem office: 900
Court St. NE., H-384, Salem, OR 97301;
503-986-1458. Website: www.oregon-
legislature.gov/barreto. Email: rep.
gregbarreto@oregonlegislature.gov.
State Rep. Greg Smith (57th
District): Salem office: 900 Court
St. NE., H-482, Salem, OR, 97301;
503-986-1457. Heppner office: P.O. Box
219, Heppner, OR 97836; 541-676-
5154; Website: www.oregonlegisla-
ture.gov/smithg. Email: rep.greg-
smith@oregonlegislature.gov.
City of La Grande: Mayor Steve
Clements, City Manager Robert Strope;
P.O. Box 670, La Grande, OR 97850; 541-
962-1309; fax 541-963-3333.
Union County Commissioners:
Donna Beverage, Matt Scarfo and Paul
Anderes; 1106 K Ave., La Grande, OR
97850; 541-963-1001; fax 541-963-1079.
Wallowa County Commission-
ers: John Hillock,Todd Nash and Susan
Roberts; 101 S. River St., Room 202,
Enterprise, OR 97828; 541-426-4543,
ext. 11; fax 541-426-0582.
Elgin City Councilors: Mayor
Allan Duffy, 501 N 11th St., 541-437-
1016, mayor@cityofelginor.org; Mary
West, 260 N 5th Ave., 541-805-0443,
councilor3@cityofelginor.org; Kathy
Warren, PO Box 697, 541-786-9611,
councilor6@cityofelginor.org; Risa
Hallgarth, PO Box 525, 541-437-9462,
councilor2@cityofelginor.org; Rocky
Burgess, 800 N 14th St., P.O. Box 854,
541-786-2417, councilor1@cityofelgi-
nor.org; David Reed, 1011 Detroit St.,
PO Box 368; 541-975-3306, council-
or4@cityofelginor.org; Ryan Martin,
councilor5@cityofelginor.org.
La Grande City Council: Mayor
Steve Clements, Gary Lillard, Nicole
Howard, Corrine Dutto, Mary Ann
Miesner, Jim Whitbeck, Justin Rock;
through the city manager’s office, 541-
962-1309.
City of Cove: Mayor Del Little,
503-508-6727, 504 Alder St., P.O. Box 8,
Cove, OR 97824; City Recorder Donna
Lewis, 541- 568-4566.
CONTACT YOUR PUBLIC OFFICIALS
President Donald Trump: The
White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.,
Washington, D.C. 20500; 202-456-1414;
fax 202-456-2461; to send comments,
go to www.whitehouse.gov/contact.
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley: D.C. of-
fice: 313 Hart Senate Office Building,
U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C., 20510;
202-224-3753; fax 202-228-3997. Port-
land office: One World Trade Center,
121 S.W. Salmon St. Suite 1250,
Portland, OR 97204; 503-326-3386; fax
503-326-2900. Pendleton office: 310
S.E. Second St. Suite 105, Pendleton
97801; 541-278-1129; merkley.senate.
gov.
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden: D.C. office:
221 Dirksen Senate Office Building,
Washington, D.C., 20510; 202-224-
5244; fax 202-228-2717. La Grande
office: 105 Fir St., No. 210, La Grande,
OR 97850; 541-962-7691; fax, 541-963-
0885; wyden.senate.gov.
U.S. Rep. Greg Walden (2nd Dis-
trict): D.C. office: 2182 Rayburn Office
Building, Washington, D.C., 20515,
202-225-6730; fax 202-225-5774. La
Write to us
Mail: The Observer, 911 Jefferson Ave., La Grande, OR 97850
Email: news@lagrandeobserver.com
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Grande office: 1211 Washington Ave.,
La Grande, OR 97850; 541-624-2400,
fax, 541-624-2402; walden.house.gov.
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown: 254
State Capitol, Salem, OR 97310; 503-
378-3111; www.governor.oregon.gov.
Oregon Attorney General Ellen
F. Rosenblum: Justice Building, Sa-
lem, OR 97301-4096; 503-378-4400.
State Sen. William S. Hansell
(29th District/Pendleton): Salem
office: 900 Court St. NE., S-423,
Salem, OR 97301; 503-986-1729.
Website: www.oregonlegislature.
gov/ hansell. Email: sen.billhansell@
oregonlegislature. gov.