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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, APRIL 5, 2016
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Waning drive
for reforms
By HILLARY BORRUD
DQG PARIS ACHEN
Capital Bureau
SALEM — A year after
Gov. John Kitzhaber resigned
under the cloud of a federal
criminal investigation, there is
waning momentum for govern-
ment transparency reforms in
the state capital.
Federal
prosecutors
launched the investigation
after news reports revealed
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Hayes since 2011 worked as a
paid consultant for groups that
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cies. The news also prompted
some people to call for govern-
ment to operate more openly.
After succeeding Kitzhaber
as governor, Kate Brown
pledged to spearhead legisla-
tion to strengthen government
ethics and public records laws.
“It was clear that transpar-
ency was not a priority in the
prior administration,” Brown
said in November. “I changed
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and every day since. Since I
was sworn in, my team and I
have worked to increase the
level of transparency in state
government.”
Yet 13 months later, Brown
and lawmakers have done little
to increase transparency.
Lawmakers have twice
failed to pass legislation that
would set limits on the time and
fees for responding to public
records requests. And groups
that shape state policies and
laws, including political party
caucuses and work groups that
advise the governor and Legis-
lature, routinely meet in secret.
Jim Moore, a political sci-
ence professor and director of
the Tom McCall Center for Pol-
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versity, said the situation was
not surprising, given the trend
in Oregon over the last 40 years
has been to whittle away at the
state’s open meetings and pub-
lic records laws, effectively
reducing transparency.
“Occasionally, there will be
a blip kind of the other way,”
Moore said. “You would think
that the Kitzhaber thing would
cause that reaction, but it really
didn’t.”
Mateusz Perkowski/EO Media Group
Members of Oregon’s House of Representatives are de-
picted on March 3 at the end of the legislative session.
Neither the Legislature or Gov. Kate Brown did much in
the recent session to bolster government transparency.
other requests remained unful-
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in February 2015. There is
no deadline to release public
records under Oregon law.
The public records backlog
prompted proposals to improve
the state’s public records law.
Brown introduced three
bills in 2015 as part of her eth-
ics reform and transparency
agenda. The bills, all of which
passed the Legislature, were
narrowly targeted at some of
the issues in the Kitzhaber
and Hayes scandal and did not
make any sweeping changes to
government transparency.
One bill required an audit
of how state agencies handled
public records requests.
At the same time, a broad
public records bill introduced
by state Rep. Julie Parrish,
R-West Linn, died due to lack
of support. Parrish’s bill would
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cials who conducted public
business using private email
accounts, as well as social
media and cellphone texts,
to hand over a copy of those
records to the government for
archiving within 30 days.
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Kitzhaber and his staff, Hayes
and former Gov. Ted Kulon-
goski all used private email
accounts to discuss state busi-
ness in recent years.
The legislation also would
have required governments
to respond to public records
requests within seven days and
to waive all fees if employ-
ees were unable to release the
record within three weeks.
Rep. Val Hoyle, D-Eugene,
who at the time was House
Democratic Leader and chair
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Journalists’ inquiries late in bill died, said it stalled because
2014 into Hayes’ clients and city and county governments
WKH H[WHQW RI KHU LQÀXHQFH RQ opposed the deadlines and fee
state policies caused a back- limits in the bill. Hoyle said
log of public records requests at she and other lawmakers still
WKH *RYHUQRU¶V 2I¿FH ,W WRRN wanted public records reform,
months for Kitzhaber’s staff to but they decided they needed
release some of the records, and more time to reach consensus
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they examined generally fur-
nished records in two weeks or
less for routine requests, while
more complicated requests
could take more than 265 days
and result in high and inconsis-
tent fees.
Brown ordered state agen-
cies to develop standardized
public records fees and pro-
cedures, and said she planned
to offer legislation “to estab-
lish a neutral third party entity
to mediate disputes regarding
public records between request-
ers and state agencies.”
Brown’s communications
director described the job as an
ombudsman. The governor did
not follow through on that plan.
Instead, she asked lawmak-
ers to approve two temporary
positions at the Department of
Administrative Services to help
process public records requests.
Neither position has duties
involving helping the public
when an agency denies a pub-
lic records request.
By EDWARD
STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
When Terrence Smyth
resigned as superintendent
of Knappa School District
and principal of Knappa
High School in January after
less than six months on the
job, he cited health con-
cerns and his commute from
Jewell.
Later that month, Smyth
started working at Jew-
ell School, where he lives
in a district-owned resi-
dence with Alice Hunsa-
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and superintendent of Jewell
since 2013.
“I’m simply a sub, a
long-term sub,” Smyth said.
“I’m not even bothering get-
ting hired into the job.”
He is teaching art, per-
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for student services repre-
sentative Kim Morrison,
who Hunsaker said abruptly
resigned from Jewell shortly
after he had left Knappa.
Starting this week, Smyth
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Principal Mike Scott, who
left for a hip replacement.
Smyth was hired over the
summer as high school prin-
cipal and superintendent in
Knappa after his predeces-
sor Jeff Leo became super-
intendent of nearby Banks
School District. But Smyth
said there was a misun-
derstanding about how he
would split his time between
the two positions. He said
the long hours, the 2 1/2-
hour daily round-trip com-
mute between Jewell and
Knappa and all the events
he was attending combined
OPEXGsPDQ
Alice
Hunsaker
Terrence
Smyth
to cause some stress-related
health issues.
At Jewell, Smyth said he
is brushing off his teaching
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minutes to work.
“It is less stress …
maybe,” he said. “I’m still
learning. We’ll see here,
after I start subbing for Mike
Scott.”
After Smyth left, Knappa
entered into a contract
with Assistant Superinten-
dent Paul Peterson from the
Northwest Regional Edu-
cation Service District to
replace Smyth as a part-
time superintendent. Science
instructor Laurel Smalley is
on special assignment, han-
dling many of the daily func-
tions of a principal.
The Knappa School
Board recently decided to
expand the administration to
a part-time superintendent
and full-time principal.
“I imagine we’ll be wrap-
ping up the principal hire
within the next six weeks,”
Peterson said.
After the principal is
hired, he said, the district
will begin searching for a
new superintendent. Greg
McKenzie, whose search
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offered search services at no
charge.
Kristen Grainger, Brown’s
spokeswoman, said the Gover-
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was a more pressing need for
technical assistance helping
agencies respond to requests
for electronic records.”
Brown plans to propose leg-
Jim Moore
islation for a public records
political science professor,
Pacific University
ombudsman in 2017, Grainger
said.
with local governments.
Brown has also commit-
Hoyle formed a biparti- ted to increasing day-to-day
san work group in May to dis- transparency in the Governor’s
cuss ideas for this year. Those 2I¿FH IRU H[DPSOH E\ RUGHU-
meetings, like other legislative ing her staff not to use private
work groups, were closed to the email accounts to conduct pub-
public and required no public lic business.
notice.
At the same time, Brown’s
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policies that preclude the media
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Hoyle’s group proposed from speaking to her advisers
House Bill 4130, which would and limit the public’s ability to
have required governments to observe policymaking.
Grainger, Brown’s commu-
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within 30 days or provide an nications director, recently told
explanation for why the records the EO Media Group/Pamplin
Media Group Capital Bureau
are delayed.
Even with compromises that only she and the governor’s
Alder and Maple Saw Logs & Standing Timber
and bipartisan support, the press secretaries are authorized
N orth w es t H a rdw oods • Lon gview , W A
proposal ultimately died in to speak to the media.
Contact: Steve Axtell • 360-430-0885 or John Anderson • 360-269-2500
committee. As lawmakers pre-
pared to wrap up work at the
end of February, the state Sen-
ate already had a backlog of 80
bills it was trying to consider
before the end of the session
in early March, said Robin
Maxey, Senate President Peter
Warrenton Grade School
820 SW Cedar St.
Courtney’s spokesman.
Saturday
Warrenton, OR 97146
Brown had also planned to
April 16 TH
introduce reforms in the short
10 AM -1 PM
session, based in part on the
audit of state agencies’ handling
of public records requests.
The Secretary of State’s
Come meet the local preschools
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and early childhood providers –
November. Auditors found
that the nine state agencies
learn about their curriculum,
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W e bill m ost in su ra n ce
com pa n ies in clu din g M edica re
By PHOUNG LE
Associated Press
SEATTLE — The federal
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West Coast ban on new com-
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seabirds and marine mammals
depend on for food.
NOAA Fisheries says the
move is needed to proac-
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play such a critical role in the
marine food web.
The ban does not affect
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It covers species including
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and certain varieties of herring,
smelt and squid. The restric-
tions apply to federal waters
off the coast of Washington
state, Oregon and California.
Conservation
groups
praised the new protec-
tions, saying it represents a
real change in the way ocean
resources are managed.
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Fishery Management Council
adopted the ban by unanimous
vote. On Monday, NOAA pub-
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which takes effect in May.
‘You would
think
that the
Kitzhaber
thing would
cause that
reaction,
but it really
didn’t.’
Former Knappa
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in at Jewell School
5 03 -3 25 -3 3 11 2935 M ARIN E DR • AS TORIA
philosophies, tuition and more!
Free!
and
Activity area
provided
for kids
C LATSOP K INDER R EADY , NW P ARENTING ,
AND OTHER LOCAL RESOURCES WILL BE
ATTENDING TO PROVIDE INFO TO PARENTS
Sponsored by: MOMS Club of
Astoria, Clatsop Kinder Ready
& NW Parenting
momsclubofastoria.org
Early Childhood
Health & Education Clinic For
Clatsop County Kids
SIGN UP TODAY!
FREE For all 2-5 year olds, regardless of income
Saturday
April 9
th
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Gaming Starts
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Heritage Museum
1618 Exchange St. Astoria
Enter thru the “Black Door”
(yes “BLACK” - not back)
off Duane Street Side - Opens
p
at 6:30
3 p
pm
K noc
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$15 Entry for r One: :
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oney
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7:00, 8:00 AND 9:00
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rTwo:
April 19, 2015
Seaside Convention Center
415 First Avenue, Seaside
Early screening is an important step to successful learning.
Your child will receive the following exams and screenings:
~ Physical ~ Hearing ~ School Readiness ~Speech
~ Nutrition ~Vision ~Dental ~Immunization
$50 in play money
oney
10 PERSON LIMIT PER GAME. Buy-ins of $30, $40 or $50 respectively.
Buy-in in addition to entry ticket. The chip leader at the end of 50
minutes wins a Visa Cash Card valued at 50% of the total buy-in per
game. Maximum potential prize money is:
1st Game: $150 ◆2nd Game: $200 ◆ 3rd Game: $250
R S V P
April 13, 2015
Astor Elementary School
3550 Franklin Ave., Astoria
503.325.2203 or
cchs@cumtux.org
Call your local elementary school or Head Start center for an appointment by April 6 for the
Astoria clinic or April 14 for the Seaside clinic.
Limited transportation help is available upon request. se habla espanol.
Prize for best 1920’s costume
Thanks
Tha
h nks to o
our Sponsors!
Sponsors are NW Early Learning Council, NW Educational Service District
and Clatsop Kinder Ready. Major health & education groups of
Clatsop County are partnering to make this clinic possible.