FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2015
4 — THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS
Opinion
— Editorial —
Refugees: a
risk we
can’t take
“Give me your tired, your poor,
your huddled masses yearning to
breathe free, the wretched refuse
of your teeming shore. Send these,
the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden
door!”
These are the words on the Statue
of Liberty.
With our support of these words,
one might think we’d be supportive
of accepting Syrian refugees into our
state and county.
But we aren’t. We stand with the
31 states who are refusing President
Obama’s move to place these refu-
gees in their states. And here’s why.
We understand that many of these
individuals are fl eeing from the same
terrorism that threatens America.
However, it’s a proven fact, particu-
larly after the attacks in Beirut and
Paris last week, that these groups of
refugees are being used to conceal
ISIS terrorists within them. There
is no defi nitive way to vet these in-
dividuals. There’s no way to screen
them, to prevent them from infi ltrat-
ing our states or stop them from
setting up a network with which to
attack us from within.
We have to protect our own fi rst.
It’s the President’s duty to do so.
Instead, the President and the gov-
ernors of the states (including our
own Kate Brown) who are willing to
take in these particular masses, are
opening up legal American citizens
to a daily game of Russian roulette.
And that’s unconscionable. Some-
where, some time, some place along
the way, Americans will die because
of that decision. On whose hands
will that blood be?
If America were to fall to ISIS, we
would no longer be in a position to
help anyone seeking refuge in this
world. We wouldn’t even be able to
help ourselves. What would happen
around the world if American fell?
Stop for a moment and imagine the
domino effect.
Accepting mass groups of
refugees is a risk our government
shouldn’t begin to take. Yet, sadly,
they are.
—The Baker County Press Editorial Board
— Letters to the Editor —
Coat Drive a Success
To the Editor:
Baker City Rotary Club held their
second “Coat Drive for Kids” Saturday
November 7th at Sorbenots Coffee on
Campbell Street. Thank you to everyone
who participated by donating a coat and to
our Rotary volunteers who spent hours in
the cold collecting them.
More than 100 coats were donated and
with the help of local charity organiza-
tions every single one will be given to a
child in Baker County that would oth-
erwise go without this winter. Thanks
to the generosity of our community and
volunteers, many kids will now have coats
Letter to the Editor Policy: The Baker
County Press reserves the right not to pub-
lish letters containing factual falsehoods or
incoherent narrative. Letters promoting or
detracting from specifi c for-profi t business-
es will not be published. Word limit is 375
words per letter. Letters are limited to one
every other week per author. Letters should
be submitted to Editor@TheBakerCounty-
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Advertising and Opinion Page Dis-
claimer: Opinions submitted as Guest
The
when they leave for school on these cold
winter mornings.
Special thanks goes out to Sorbenots for
their generous contribution of a coffee
drink to everyone who donated a coat.
When we approached Sorbenots, they
were excited about being a partner in
this effort and we are extremely grateful.
Please visit them the next time you need a
coffee pick-me-up and express your grati-
tude to them personally. They help make
Baker City a great place to live!
Anthony Bailey, President
Baker City Rotary Club
Baker City
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Baker County Press
— Guest Opinion —
Oregon
public
records
reform smells
like cover-up
By Scott Roberts
Special to The Baker County Press
In 1973, Oregon enacted one of the
nation’s most robust public records
laws. The broad-sweeping legislation
gave state residents the reins with
which to control the government they
had created.
Since then, however, the Leg-
islature has added more than 400
exemptions to the law. Government
administrators have also been given
the latitude to determine how much
records will cost and how long it will
take to produce them.
The combination of all three effec-
tively renders the laws meaningless
to anyone but friends of the party in
power, which is precisely how they
were not meant to work.
Those who can withstand exorbitant
costs and long wait times can receive
the remaining records that aren’t ex-
empt. Most private citizens however,
don’t have the wherewithal or the
patience to withstand the bureaucratic
red tape.
Last year, to cite one glaring
example, the Freedom Foundation
requested a list of state-subsidized,
in-home healthcare workers’ names
and addresses so we could mail them
information about the recent Harris v.
Quinn U.S. Supreme Court decision
that determined they were not state
workers and couldn’t be forced to
join a labor union.
The Oregon Department of Human
Services informed the Freedom Foun-
dation it was processing our request,
but in reality the agency was pushing
legislation to add in-home healthcare
worker’s mailing address to the ever-
growing list of exemptions.
One day after the bill passed, the
Freedom Foundation was notifi ed
the agency would like to have given
us the information, but it was now
exempt. Sorry.
The action by government will now
cost Oregon taxpayers tens of thou-
sands of dollars in litigation because
the Freedom Foundation—unlike
ordinary citizens—isn’t going to be
Submitted Photo
Scott Roberts is the Citizen Action
Network director for the Freedom
Foundation, a Northwest-based
nonprofi t, nonpartisan think tank
promoting free markets and limited,
accountable government.
bluffed or bullied out of doing what’s
right.
The Freedom Foundation is not
alone in having to litigate for public
records.
Oracle recently fi led suit to ob-
tain former Gov. Kitzhaber’s emails
related to the Cover Oregon website
fi asco.
In 2010, former Attorney General
John Kroger convened a task force
and recommended the 2011 Legis-
lature reform the records laws by
reducing the number of exemptions
allowed, reducing the cost of records,
and providing more certain response
times. The 2011 legislature failed to
act.
Last month Attorney General Ellen
Rosenblum convened her own task
force and almost as soon as it had be-
gun, she announced her recommenda-
tions wouldn’t be ready for the 2016
legislative session.
It’s unlikely there will be any new
recommendations beyond the three
mentioned, so apparently the task
force was formed only to give the
AG’s Offi ce political cover.
Republican legislators have taken
interest in the public records issue
and have promised to introduce legis-
lative reforms in the 2016 legislative
session.
And with good reason. Earlier this
month the Center for Public Integrity
gave Oregon an “F” and ranked it
44th out of 50 states in terms of ethics
and public records laws. The ranking
affi rms what anyone who’s requested
records already knows.
Reforming the records laws in con-
cept is relatively easy, but it will take
a substantial dose of political will.
Until then, records will only be ac-
cessible to groups like Oracle and the
Freedom Foundation who can afford
them.
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