Opinion
A4
Saturday, January 29, 2022
OUR VIEW
Public
records and
real numbers
N
inety million dollars. It’s a lot of money.
It’s the number Adam Crawford, external
relations director for the state’s Depart-
ment of Administrative Services, used last week
about the cost of public records. He said that’s
what he thought Oregon might be spending
to give media organizations and others public
records at reduced cost or free.
“I think the number may be even higher,”
Crawford replied, when he was challenged on it
by another member of the Oregon Public Records
Advisory Council. The discussion then quickly
shifted away.
If it really is $90 million or more, it’s a mighty
sum that Crawford pointed out the state is trans-
ferring, in part, to for-profi t companies.
But when we later asked him about that
number, it seemed an educated guess. He didn’t
make it clear where it came from. He did men-
tion a survey of state agencies from 2018. It said
agencies fulfi lled roughly 25,000 public records
requests and charged under $150,000 for doing
that, waiving all other staff and legal costs.
Would that add up to $90 million? Maybe.
Maybe not.
If Crawford believes that number is right,
though, and he’s a member of the executive team
of a key state agency, journalists and the public
should not be surprised when they face enormous
fees when they ask for public records. Govern-
ment offi cials may believe they are simply giving
away too much at the cost of other state priorities.
Public agencies can charge reasonable fees
for public records in Oregon. They don’t have to.
They can waive some or all of the cost. Charging
high fees can be the same as denying a request.
What should be charged and who should pay it is
at the heart of the questions the state committee,
the Oregon Public Records Advisory Council, is
looking at, as Crawford said.
For government bodies, releasing public
records isn’t just a matter of doing a computer
search, the computer spits out the records and
then the government hands them over in minutes.
State and local government agencies don’t always
have the most modern computers. The state is in
the process of upgrading many outdated systems.
The old systems weren’t designed to make public
records searches easy.
There can also be a problem with how infor-
mation is stored. Releasable information can be
stored mixed in with personal information that
should not be disclosed. Scouring records and
redacting personal information takes time and
eff ort. Who should pay for that?
And there can be issues when people take on
new roles volunteering to serve on government
committees. They can end up using their personal
email accounts when they email about govern-
ment business. Those particular emails would be
public records. That would mean the volunteers
would have to compile them and hand them over
if requested. If some of the emails didn’t show
them in the best light, would they?
What is the solution? That’s what Oregon’s
Public Records Advisory Council is working on.
Real numbers should be the foundation of the
discussion.
We’re still waiting to see the maps
MATT
McELLIGOTT
OTHER VIEWS
S
ome things from 2021 are
still lingering in 2022, like
the River Democracy Act that
Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley
are pushing. They are trying to
amend the Wild and Scenic Rivers
Act of 1968.
For several months I’ve been
following this issue and still there
are no answers to many revolving
questions. Like why are some of
the designated streams not streams
at all, but dry washes? Why are
the stream buff ers increased from
a quarter mile to a half mile? The
act has pages of coordinates of the
streams, rivers and dry gulches to
be protected, but not one map.
In May 2021, the Oregon Cat-
tlemen’s Association asked for the
maps and then they asked again
in November. As of this writing,
we still don’t have the maps from
Wyden’s offi ce.
I know of two counties in
Eastern Oregon that have, at their
own expense, hired an engineering
fi rm to map the coordinates in the
act in order to have a visual map of
the aff ected streams. These visual
maps give the county a picture of
how this act will impact them.
It is unconscionable that any
county government should have to
spend money from its general fund
to map these streams when informa-
tion should be available upon request
from Wyden or Merkley. Yet, they
continue to ignore the requests. How
will this aff ect livestock grazing and
other natural resource users?
This act talks a lot about fi re
resiliency but supplies no details as
to how locking up 3.1 million acres
of federal land will reduce threat of
fi re to land, lumber and lives. What
long-term economic eff ect will this
bill have on rural Oregon? Wyden
and his team expound on the great
benefi ts of tourism and the dollars
spent on recreation. “Money will
fl ow like manna from the gods to
rural Oregon.”
That’s the well-polished sales
pitch and talking points pounded
into their heads at staff meetings.
When hikers, bikers and ATVers
visit rural Oregon most of them
bring their own tents, campers or
RVs. They fi ll their coolers and
gas tanks at home and don’t spend
much in the small towns they drive
CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVES
U.S. PRESIDENT
Joe Biden
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20500
Comments: 202-456-1111
U.S. SENATORS
Ron Wyden
221 Dirksen Senate Offi ce Bldg.
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-5244
La Grande offi ce: 541-962-7691
Bobby Levy, District 58
900 Court St. NE, H-376
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1458
Rep.BobbyLevy@state.or.us
Kate Brown
160 State Capitol
900 Court St.
Salem, OR 97301-4047
503-378-4582
Cliff Bentz
2185 Rayburn House Offi ce Building
Washington, DC 20515
202-225-6730
Medford offi ce: 541-776-4646
SENATOR
Greg Smith, District 57
900 Court St. NE, H-482
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1457
Rep.GregSmith@state.or.us
Bill Hansell, District 29
900 Court St. NE, S-415
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1729
Sen.BillHansell@state.or.us
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through. Wyden’s bill has a $30
million price tag. Not just for the
fi rst year but every year — for-
ever. Only $5 million of that is ear-
marked. What is the other $25 mil-
lion for? They haven’t answered
that one either.
The original intent of the Wild
and Scenic Rivers Act was to pre-
serve certain rivers with “out-
standing, natural, cultural, and rec-
reational values in a free-fl owing
condition.” The River Democracy
Act as presented is a vast depar-
ture from the original Wild and
Scenic Rivers Act. If this act passes
into law, it will set grave precedent
that will enable lawmakers to cir-
cumvent protocol and procedures.
Our senators were elected to rep-
resent all Oregonians, not a select
demographic.
Please take the time to look up
SB 192. If you don’t like what you
see, if you don’t want another 4,700
miles of streams and 3.1 million
acres of Oregon locked up, reach
out to Oregon’s senators and let
them know.
———
Matt McElligott is the Oregon
Cattlemen’s Association
president-elect and public lands
council committee chairman.
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