9A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2017
New secrecy tactic: suing people who seek public records
Government
turns the tables
By RYAN J. FOLEY
Associated Press
An Oregon parent wanted
details about school employ-
ees getting paid to stay home.
A retired educator sought data
about student performance in
Louisiana. And college journal-
ists in Kentucky requested doc-
uments about the investigations
of employees accused of sexual
misconduct.
Instead, they got something
else: sued by the agencies they
had asked for public records.
Government bodies are
increasingly turning the tables
on citizens who seek public
records that might be embar-
rassing or legally sensitive.
Instead of granting or denying
their requests, a growing num-
ber of school districts, munici-
palities and state agencies have
filed lawsuits against people
making the requests — taxpay-
ers, government watchdogs and
journalists who must then pur-
sue the records in court at their
own expense.
The lawsuits generally ask
judges to rule that the records
being sought do not have to
be divulged. They name the
requesters as defendants but do
not seek damage awards. Still,
the recent trend has alarmed
freedom-of-information advo-
cates, who say it’s becoming
a new way for governments to
hide information, delay disclo-
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At least two recent cases
have succeeded in blocking
information while many others
have only delayed the release.
State
freedom-of-infor-
mation laws generally allow
requesters who believe they
are wrongly denied records to
file lawsuits seeking to force
their release. If they succeed,
government agencies can be
ordered to pay their legal fees
and court costs.
Suing the requesters flips
the script: Even if agencies are
ultimately required to make the
records public, they typically
will not have to pay the other
side’s legal bills.
“You can lose even when
you win,” said Mike Desho-
tels, an education watchdog
who was sued by the Louisiana
Department of Education after
filing requests for school dis-
trict enrollment data last year.
“I’m stuck with my legal fees
just for defending my right to
try to get these records.”
The lawsuit argued that
the data could not be released
under state and federal pri-
vacy laws and initially asked
the court to order Deshotels
and another citizen requester to
pay the department’s legal fees
and court costs. The department
released the data months later
after a judge ruled it should be
made public.
Deshotels, a 72-year-old
retired teachers’ union offi-
cial who authors the Louisi-
ana Educator blog, had spent
$3,000 fighting the lawsuit
by then. He said the data ulti-
mately helped show a widening
achievement gap among the
state’s poorest students, under-
cutting claims of progress by
education reformers.
The lawsuits have been
denounced by some courts and
policymakers. A New Jersey
judge in 2015 said they were
the “antithesis” of open-re-
cords policies and dismissed a
case filed by a township against
a person who requested police
department surveillance video
footage.
In Michigan, the state House
voted 108-0 earlier this year in
favor of a bill that would make
it illegal for agencies to sue
public records requesters. The
proposal came in response to a
county’s lawsuit against a local
newspaper that had sought the
personnel files of two employ-
ees running for sheriff. A judge
dismissed the lawsuit, saying
the county had to approve or
deny the request.
The documents, ultimately
In April, the Portland
school district filed a lawsuit
against parent Kim Sordyl,
who is seeking records about
employees on leave for alleged
misconduct after the disclosure
that one psychologist had been
off for three years. Sordyl said
she believes the information
will expose costly missteps
by district human resources
officials and lawyers, and the
district attorney has already
ordered the records to be
released.
652 Work Wanted
664 Services
101 Legal Notices
101 Legal Notices
101 Legal Notices
IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS
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or in Portland at
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AB6456
NOTICE OF SHERIFF’S
SALE
Flipping the script
NOTICE: Oregon Landscape
Contractors Law (ORS 671)
requires all businesses that
advertise landscape contract-
ing services be licensed with
the Landscape Contractors
Board. This 4-digit number
assures the business has a
bond, insurance and an asso-
ciated individual
contractor
who has fulfilled the testing
and experience
require-
ments for licensure. For your
protection call (503)378-5909
or use our web site: www.lcb.
state.or.us to check license
status before contracting with
the business. Persons doing
landscape maintenance do
not
require a LCB license.
Oregon state law requires
anyone who contracts for
construction work to be
licensed with the
Construction Contractors
Board. An active license
means the contractor is
bonded and insured.
Verify the contractor’s CCB
license through the CCB
Consumer Website
www.hirelicensedcontrac-
tors.com
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THE DAILY ASTORIAN
664 Services
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breakfast in the kitchen in Portland in July.
667 Loans
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464 Warrenton
released days before the elec-
tion, showed that one of the
candidates had been disciplined
for carrying on an affair while
on-duty in 2011. That candi-
date lost.
The Michigan bill’s spon-
sor, Republican state Rep. Klint
Kesto, called the tactic “a back-
door channel to delay and put
pressure on the requester” that
circumvents the state’s Free-
dom of Information Act.
“Government shouldn’t file
a lawsuit and go on offense.
Either approve the request
or deny it,” he said. “This
shouldn’t be happening any-
where in the country.”
As his bill remains pend-
ing in a state Senate committee,
Michigan State University filed
a lawsuit in May against ESPN
after the network requested
police reports related to a sex-
ual assault investigation involv-
ing football players. That and a
number of other cases are cur-
rently unfolding.
“They are going to great
lengths to protect themselves
and their own mismanagement.
This is retaliation,” said Sor-
dyl, who has hired an attorney.
“Most people would give up.”
A district spokesman said
the lawsuit, which also names
a journalist who requested sim-
ilar information, amounts to
an appeal “in an area of pub-
lic records law that we believe
lacks clarity.”
“When this information
is released prematurely, the
district’s position is that the
employees’ right to due process
is jeopardized,” spokesman
Dave Northfield said.
The University of Kentucky
prevailed in January when a
judge blocked the release of
records sought by its student
newspaper detailing the inves-
tigation of a professor who
resigned after being accused of
groping students.
The judge agreed with the
university that the records
would violate the privacy rights
of students who were vic-
tims even if their names were
redacted.
While that ruling is on
appeal, Western Kentucky Uni-
versity filed a similar lawsuit
against its paper, the College
Heights Herald, which sought
records related to allegations of
sexual harassment and assault
involving employees. Several
other state universities released
similar documents to the news-
paper, and the state attorney
general has ruled that they are
public records.
sure and intimidate critics.
“This practice essentially
says to a records requester,
‘File a request at your peril,’”
said University of Kansas jour-
nalism professor Jonathan
Peters, who wrote about the
issue for the Columbia Jour-
nalism Review in 2015, before
several more cases were filed.
“These lawsuits are an absurd
practice and noxious to open
government.”
Government officials who
have employed the tactic insist
they are acting in good faith.
They say it’s best to have courts
determine whether records
should be released when legal
obligations are unclear — for
instance, when the documents
may be shielded by an exemp-
tion or privacy laws.
Go.
Do.
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On October 5, 2017, at the
hour of 10:00 AM at the
Clatsop County Sheriff’s
Office, 1190 SE 19th Street in
the City of Warrenton,
Oregon, the defendant’s
interest will be sold, subject
to redemption, in the real
property commonly known
as: 1000 N Holladay Drive
Seaside, OREGON. The
court case number is
16CV30305, where WELLS
FARGO BANK, N.A. is
plaintiff, and THE ESTATE
OF LESLIE A. DEGANDI,
DECEASED; TRACY W.
DEGANDI, AS PERSONAL
REPRESENTATIVE OF THE
ESTATE OF BONITA L.
DEGANDI, DECEASED;
THOMAS D. DEGANDI;
TIMOTHY S. DEGANDI;
TRACY W. DEGANDI;
UNKNOWN HEIRS AND
DEVISEES OF LESLIE A.
DEGANDI, DECEASED;
BRIDGEPORT
CONDOMINIUMS UNIT
OWNERS ASSOCIATION;
AND PERSONS OR
PARTIES UNKNOWN
CLAIMING ANY RIGHT,
TITLE, LIEN, OR INTEREST
IN THE PROPERTY
DESCRIBED IN THE
COMPLAINT HEREIN is
defendant. The sale is a
public auction to the highest
bidder for cash or cashier’s
check, in hand, made out
to Clatsop County Sheriff’s
Office. For more information
on this sale go to:
http://oregonsheriffssales.org/
(OR), http://files.co.clatsop.
or.us/ccso/foreclosures.pdf
Published: August 30th,
September 6th, 13th, and
20th, 2017.
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AB6465
NOTICE OF SHERIFF’S
SALE
On October 19, 2017, at the
hour of 10:00 AM at the
Clatsop County Sheriff’s
Office, 1190 SE 19th Street in
the City of Warrenton,
Oregon, the defendant’s
interest will be sold, subject to
redemption, in the real
property commonly known
as: 91507 Railroad Road,
Warrenton, OREGON.
The court case number is
17CV05095, where
FEDERAL NATIONAL
MORTGAGE ASSOCIATION
(“FANNIE MAE”) is plaintiff,
and MARGARET D.
TOMITA, INDIVIDUALLY AND
AS TRUSTEE OF THE
MARGARET D. TOMITA
TRUST DATED AUGUST
27, 1996; and ALL OTHER
PERSONS OR PARTIES
UNKNOWN CLAIMING ANY
RIGHT, TITLE, LIEN, OR
INTEREST IN THE REAL
PROPERTY COMMONLY
KNOWN AS 91507
RAILROAD RD,
WARRENTON, OR 97146
is defendant. The sale is a
public auction to the highest
bidder for cash or cashier’s
check, in hand, made out
to Clatsop County Sheriff’s
Office. For more information
on this sale go to:
http://oregonsheriffssales.
org/ (OR),
http://files.co.clatsop.or.us/
ccso/foreclosures.pdf
Published: September 6th,
13th, 20th and 27th, 2017.
Parent sued
AB6475
IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE STATE OF OREGON
FOR THE COUNTY OF CLATSOP
WELLS FARGO BANK, NA,
Plaintiff,
v.
THE UNKNOWN HEIRS AND DEVISEES OF
NEIL S. MCCARTNEY; UNKNOWN
SUCCESSOR TRUSTEE OF THE NEIL S.
MCCARTNEY REVOCABLE LIVING TRUST
OF 2013; KRISTI ROSSELL; OCCUPANTS OF
THE PROPERTY,
Defendants.
Case No.: 17CV21701
SUMMONS BY
PUBLICATION
To: THE UNKNOWN HEIRS AND DEVISEES OF
NEIL S. MCCARTNEY and UNKNOWN SUCCESSOR
TRUSTEE OF THE NEIL S. MCCARTNEY
REVOCABLE LIVING TRUST OF 2013
You are hereby required to appear and defend the Complaint
filed against you in the above entitled cause within thirty (30)
days from the date of service of this summons upon you,
and in case of your failure to do so, for want thereof,
Plaintiff will apply to the court for the relief
demanded in the Complaint.
NOTICE TO DEFENDANT:
READ THESE PAPERS CAREFULLY!
You must “appear” in this case or the other side will win automati-
cally. To “appear” you must file with the court a legal paper called
a “motion” or “answer.” The “motion” or “answer” (or “reply”) must
be given to the court clerk or administrator within 30 days of the
date of first publication specified herein along with the required
filing fee. It must be in proper form and have proof of service on
the plaintiff’s attorney or, if the plaintiff does not have an attorney,
proof of service on the plaintiff. If you have questions, you should
see an attorney immediately. If you need help in finding an
attorney, you may call the Oregon State Bar's Lawyer
Referral Service at (503) 684-3763 or toll-free in Oregon at (800)
452-7636.
The relief sought in the Complaint is the foreclosure of the prop-
erty located at 82378 Vinemaple Road, Seaside, OR 97138.
Date of First Publication: September 18th, 2017.
McCarthy & Holthus, LLP
Jeremy Clifford,
OSB No. 142987
920 SW 3rd Ave, 1st Floor
Portland, OR 97204
Phone: (855) 809-3977
Fax: (971) 201-3202
E-mail: jclifford@mccarthyholthus.com
Of Attorneys for Plaintiff
Published: September 20th, 27th, October 4th and 11th, 2017