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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (May 26, 2016)
OPINION 6A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, MAY 26, 2016 GUEST COLUMN Founded in 1873 STEPHEN A. FORRESTER, Editor & Publisher LAURA SELLERS, Managing Editor Oregon lawmakers should take cue from Florida’s sunshine laws BETTY SMITH, Advertising Manager By JOHN SEPULVADO Oregon Public Broadcasting CARL EARL, Systems Manager JOHN D. BRUIJN, Production Manager DEBRA BLOOM, Business Manager HEATHER RAMSDELL, Circulation Manager n elementary school, Franklin Weekley was diagnosed as “mentally retarded.” He was slow to learn, but quick to act out on impulse. I Teachers at his rural school were unequipped to get a handle on him. Weekley ended up spending much of his time at home. Unsupervised, he would often get in trouble. Photo by Cameron Browne Weekley fought with his siblings John Sepulvado and raged at his neighbors. He was fascinated with ire and explosives, darkest recesses of government — insurance companies, manufactured and was quick to run away in frus- like the bottom of a derelict elevator homes, and even the state’s judges. tration. His parents — who were also shaft on state-owned property. Public developmentally disabled — hoped records laws help keep things honest. n comparison, Florida has four Weekley would grow out of it. That was the case in Florida, exemptions of public records, there In 2001, that hope went up in where Franklin Weekley died. Yet if are deadlines for when responses must smoke — literally — after Weekley set that were to happen in Oregon, it’s a be iled and costs must correlate with his family home on ire. good bet that Weekley’s work performed and be clearly outlined. The family lost every- whereabouts would Legal challenges to this obstruc- thing, including their If it’s good still be unknown. tion are often long and costly and son, who was commit- That’s because a pub- it creates an Oregon where only ted to a state-run mental enough for lic records request those with resources have access to facility as a result. for a case like Week- transparency. Florida, While in state care, ley’s would almost cer- While the state’s reporters have Weekley vanished one it should tainly be obstructed long complained about the state’s open day. The state agency in by delays, exemption records laws, national research shows be good claims and high costs. Oregon has some of the weakest open charge of his care would claim the developmen- “The current state of records rules in the country. Accord- tally disabled teenager enough for public records is poor ing to the Center for Public Integrity, — who had problems pathetic,” said Wil- Oregon earns an “F” grade in the State Oregon. to lamette dressing himself — ran Week reporter Integrity Investigation, which mea- to Canada. But around Nigel Jaquiss. “The sures “transparency and accountability 2004, an attorney heard about the public agencies have no deadlines to grades for all 50 states.” disappearance. That attorney told a require to public records request, so The state also earns an “F” grade reporter, and soon after, the reporter they often do so slowly and incom- measuring the public’s access to infor- iled public records request with the pletely. Some public agencies use mation, ranking 34th in the country. state agency in charge. their ability to charge whatever they For context, Florida is ranked 17th (and Those records showed that want in a punitive fashion.” neighboring California and Washington state contractors had found a body Jaquiss, a Pulitzer Prize winner ranked 28th and 32nd, respectively). in an abandoned building on the for Investigative Reporting, routinely The Oregon Territory Chapter property shortly after Weekley’s iles public records requests — and he of the Society of Professional Jour- disappearance. said state agencies often ind reasons nalists is calling on policymakers to The records showed the body was to block requests because they “fear reform Oregon’s open record laws. badly decomposed, but around the publication of a story that would be Our membership believes that if it’s skeleton’s hips was an elastic under- embarrassing.” good enough for Florida, it should be wear band with “F.Weekley” written As Jaquiss noted, there are no dead- good enough for Oregon. We urge the on the tag. A reporter’s investigation lines for Oregon agencies to respond public to support that reform. found Weekley had run away into an to requests, nor are there limits to And we encourage all journal- abandoned building and fell down an costs. Even if the agencies do respond, ists and voters to hold policymak- elevator shaft, where he died. there are more than 500 exemptions ers accountable until that reform is Shortly after that story was pub- to the state’s public records laws. And achieved. lished, the state agreed to pay Frank- while some of the exemptions serve John Sepulvado, OPB’s Weekend lin Weekley’s parents $1.3 million. the public good by protecting the vic- Edition host and a member of the Ore- tims of domestic abuse, or shielding gon SPJ Sunshine Committee, wrote trong public records laws have the state employee medical information, this on behalf of the Oregon Territory ability to right wrongs, hold state other exemptions include dog licenses, Chapter of the Society of Professional workers — including politicians — information about boat accidents and Journalists board. Reach the chapter accountable, and shine a light into the complaints iled by consumers about through spjoregon@gmail.com. I Statewide Landslide Information Database for Oregon Clatsop County having the state’s densest concentration of sites with very high susceptibility to landslides. Preventing landslides should be top priority T he Willapa Hills and Oregon Coast Range are comparative youngsters when it comes to mountains, having been born something like 40 million years ago, compared to 300 to 500 mil- lion years for the supericially similar Appalachian Mountains. Like all youngsters, our state’s densest concentration local hills are subject to rapid of sites with very high suscep- change — including land- tibility to landslides. With par- slides, a geological equivalent allel geology but only about of growth pains. half as many residents, Paciic Human actions can trig- County has similar hazards but ger landslides through devel- fewer chances they will impact opment, timber harvesting on residents. steep slopes, poorly designed A number of implications roads or drainage systems, and low from our area’s propen- other forms of land-use mal- sity to slide downhill at awk- practice. But often, landslides ward times and places: just happen. For example, • Land-use planning must there have been some in Cape do better at concentrating res- Disappointment State Park idential growth in safer areas, in recent years in places no while acknowledging that who else is an obviously By FRANK BRUNI There are various mea- human has touched in decades, inevitable population growth loving and beloved parent? New York Times News Service sures of the chilling sin- if ever. will push housing into places gularity of Trump’s can- Clinton. You know who The slide on the Upper prone to landslides. had a strained relation- recently asked a good friend didacy, including the last two Republican presidents’ ship with his kids? Ron- Naselle River in Washington • Agencies must place a top where her boss stood on announcement that they ald Reagan. If that wasn’t combines several risk factors, priority on personal safety in Donald Trump. won’t be attending their a mark against him, why is This wasn’t an idle question. party’s convention, all the the opposite a gold star for starting with the fact that it landslide-prone areas. This Her boss gives big money to prominent GOP donors Trump? previously experienced severe means enforcing weight lim- Republican candidates. He’s both who have publicly rejected But Trump will be a slippage. There are questions its on roads, funding better power broker and weather vane. And Trump and the stubborn competent executive! Let’s Frank assume that’s so. Will he about drainage design and a culverts and insisting private she talks politics with him all the drumbeat among some Bruni time. Republicans for a third- be executing a Muslim choice by Paciic County to landowners do the same, map- But she has no idea about him and party challenger, if only as a means ban? In that case, wouldn’t incompe- not enforce a weight limita- ping hazard zones and making Trump. She hasn’t inquired, because to assure Hillary Clinton’s victory. tence be preferable? doesn’t want to know. She’s fond These are extraordinary develop- Enough about the Muslim ban, his tion, which sent many thou- sure this information reaches she of her boss. She respects him. But ments. We mustn’t forget that. accommodators respond: He doesn’t sands of tons of logs over a the public, mortgage lenders what if he’s made peace with a can- But another gauge of this freaky believe in three-quarters of what he didate who called for a ban on all interlude is the number of us who are puts out there. It’s all theater. fragile road with a 5-ton limit. and insurers. Muslims entering the United States, steadfastly avoiding conversations Great! So what does he believe in? There have been numerous • Forestry practices still mocked a disabled journalist, belittled we’d normally have. We pride our- Are we supposed to guess and hope expensive landslides through- allow clearcut logging on John McCain’s experience as a pris- selves on not letting political argu- for the best? And will his theatrical of war, praised ments disrupt per- impulse dissipate when he takes the out the Lower Columbia slopes that are inappropri- oner Vladimir Putin’s sonal relationships. oath of ofice? Or will it lare now Trump is a region in recent years. A ately steep, where land fail- thuggish leader- We have friends and again, sending markets into tur- ship style, compli- the ideo- moil and ships into battle? December 2007 mudslide ures may one day put human mented the Chi- disagreement across logical spectrum. With Clinton, they say, we get did extensive damage in lives or valuable natural assets nese government on We esteem leaders the status quo. With Trump we get too far, an from both parties. disruption. Woodson between Astoria and like the Naselle River at risk. its brutal handling enthusiasm We value a healthy Possibly. But disruption cuts many of the uprising in Clatskanie, blocking Oregon Local residents and agencies Tiananmen Square, different ways. And Trump’s particu- too bizarre. give-and-take. But we can’t it lar disruption could leave us in shreds. Highway 30 for a time and can be pro-forestry and yet made misogynistic galore and Trump into that. To some of us, Trump is a funda- costing about $1.5 million to insist that companies bear the remarks boasted during a debate about the size He’s a disagreement too far, an enthu- mentally unserious person, and thus repair. A huge slump on KM full costs and risks associated of his penis? siasm too bizarre. So we’re treading a dangerous one. To others, he’s a She can’t go there. lightly and maneuvering around him. vessel of grievance and protest, and Mountain in 1990 between with logging. I understand. We’re Trumping on eggshells. that’s enough. The chasm between Naselle and Longview closed In an historical context, I have many relatives who loy- That’s not the same as burying our those viewpoints isn’t easily bridged. Washington State Route 4 for we are still in the early days ally vote Republican, regardless of heads in the sand, and it’s not a squan- So we take detours around it. They’re excitement about the particular dered opportunity to dissuade some- as elaborate as cloverleafs. so long a backcountry detour of modern-style development their nominee. There’s a deinite chance one from Trump. Most Trump sup- Friends have asked me about the was paved. In February 1998, on the far West Coast. Many that some of them back Trump. So porters aren’t ignorant of the litany I leanings of other friends, because a deep-seated earth low in the generations of intense devel- I steer clear of talk about this elec- presented above. They’ve decided not they shudder to ind out for them- tion, though we’ve spoken plenty to be bothered by it. They’ve crafted a selves. Relatives have grilled me on Aldercrest neighborhood of opment lie ahead. Climate — and placidly — about every other counterargument. I’ve heard it. other relatives. I’m acquainted with At least he’s not Clinton, they say. anti-Trump Republicans who have Kelso resulted in loss of 138 predictions suggest more election. One of these relatives routinely True. Neither is Kim Kardashian. purged the billionaire from their dis- homes. The list goes on and intense rainfall events, which pushes back at any Trump-nega- Shall we elect her? Her husband, course with Trump-acquiescent on. play a major role in trigger- tive columns I write, and I’ve con- Kanye West, has said that he might Republicans, simply so they can press The Statewide Landslide ing slides. It is crucial we lay vinced myself that he’s just baiting run in 2020. Let’s accelerate the time- on. There will be epic ugliness in the me and playing devil’s advocate. I’ve table and speed the couple to 1600 Information Database for a rational groundwork now to never said to him, point blank, “Are Pennsylvania Avenue. foreground of this election. But pock- Trump has a furtive decency and ets of silence in the background will Oregon (www.oregongeology. avoid expensive and danger- you actually voting for Trump?” And I won’t. It’s my goal to get to and unsung sensitive side, or so his boost- be just as unsettling, because they’ll org/slido/index.html) shows ous mistakes in the centuries through Election Day without learn- ers claim. They cite his relationship relect a despair and baflement Clatsop County having the ahead. ing the truth. with his grown children. You know beyond words. S Trumping around on eggshells I
