Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 8, 2019)
A3 THE ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2019 Brown delays releasing public records, defi es early promises of transparency By HILLARY BORRUD The Oregonian Nearly fi ve years have passed since then-Gov. John Kitzhaber left offi ce amid an infl uence peddling scan- dal and a backlog of public records requests from jour- nalists seeking information about the governor and fi rst lady’s dealings. In response to the records pileup, lawmakers in 2017 passed Oregon’s fi rst pub- lic records deadline, giv- ing govern- ments 15 days to hand over doc- uments or cite a legal reason to withhold Kate Brown them. But the governor’s well-staffed offi ce is now relying on exceptions intended for small rural school districts or tiny cities with scant staffi ng to justify withhold- ing public records for nine weeks or longer. The new law, spear- headed by Attorney Gen- eral Ellen Rosenblum, con- tains broad exceptions to the 15-day deadline that lawmakers granted at the request of school districts, small cities and other local governments. Those small public bodies worried about being held to strict dead- lines they lacked the staff- ing to meet. Two years in, however, Oregon’s highest elected offi cial — Gov. Kate Brown — is also relying on those exemptions to justify taking months to turn over public records. And there are signs a high-profi le agency under her direction, the Depart- ment of Human Services, might also employ them. The Oregonian learned of the situation as two requests fi led in mid-Au- gust languished for more than six weeks. In recent days, Brown’s Govern- ment Accountability Attor- ney Emily Matasar said it could take her at least nine weeks total to fulfi ll those ‘IF YOU’RE CONSISTENTLY HAVING A BACKLOG OF REQUESTS, THE ANSWER TO THAT IS NOT TO DELAY RESPONSES FOR MONTHS. THE ANSWER IS TO HIRE MORE STAFF … IT’S REALLY A POLITICAL CHOICE NOT TO STAFF YOUR OFFICE TO MEET YOUR OBLIGATIONS TO THE PUBLIC AND TO GET PUBLIC RECORDS OUT TO THE PEOPLE WHO ARE PAYING FOR THEM.’ Rachel Alexander | vice president of the Society of Professional Journalists Oregon Territory board requests. Other journalists are still waiting to receive responses to public records requests they fi led with the governor’s offi ce in mid-July. When asked about her offi ce’s public records backlog in a Sept. 17 inter- view, Brown asked her senior adviser and commu- nications director Chris Pair to respond instead. “We’re under an unusu- ally high volume because of three signifi cant events, right?” Pair said. He pointed to requests related to the Oregon Senate Republi- cans’ walkout over a cli- mate change bill in June and the Brown administration’s role responding to protests in Portland this summer. “We had several requests and many of those were large,” Pair said. Lastly, he cited public records requests related to the September resignation of Oregon’s public records advocate, who attributed her decision to pressure from Brown’s staff to secretly work to advance the gover- nor’s public records policy goals. Under the 2017 public records deadline law, Ore- gon governments can take longer than the 15-day deadline if the timeline would be “impracticable” because “of the volume of public records requests being simultaneously pro- cessed by the public body.” They can also take longer if the employee who would handle the public records request is out of the offi ce. But according to the most current attorney gen- eral’s public records man- ual, issued by Rosenblum this year, to invoke the “this agency is overwhelmed and running behind” or “every- one is on leave” exceptions, “the public body carries the burden to demonstrate that one of these exemptions applies and the exemp- tions are intended to apply – either to very small bod- ies or in unusual circum- stances. Public bodies with the resources to adequately staff its public records requests are expected to do so.” Brown has chosen to have just one person, Matasar, handle virtually all of her public records responses. The governor’s nearly 70-person staff includes a communications team of six, but those employees almost never handle pub- lic records requests, deputy communications director Kate Kondayen wrote in an email Friday. Instead, they write press releases, answer journalists’ questions, draft talking points and media strategies, arrange some of the governor’s pub- lic appearances and create material for the governor’s social media accounts such as upbeat Tweets and videos of Brown and First Gentle- man Dan Little’s recent meeting with endurance athlete Colin O’Brady. Rachel Alexander, vice president of the Society of Professional Journal- ists Oregon Territory board, said government offi cials often tell reporters they are swamped by massive public records requests. “If you’re consis- tently having a backlog of requests, the answer to that is not to delay responses for months,” Alexander said in an interview on Friday. “The answer is to hire more staff … It’s really a politi- cal choice not to staff your offi ce to meet your obliga- tions to the public and to get public records out to the people who are paying for them.” Journalists knew of the weaknesses in the 2017 records deadline law and as a result, they lobbied the Legislature to pass a law this year to allow district attorneys and the attorney general to impose penalties on governments that fail to comply, Alexander said. However, the public can- not appeal to district attor- neys or the attorney general when elected offi cials such as the governor or a state lawmaker assert a right to records delays or denials. “As you’re fi nding with the governor, there’s kind of a loophole for elected offi cials,” Alexander said. “It’s really easy for elected offi cials to fl out the law because there’s no mecha- nism to hold them account- able other than to hire a law- yer and sue them, and that’s not an affordable option for a lot of people.” There is no requirement that lawyers handle public records requests and Ore- gon governments routinely rely on non-attorney staff to get the work done. But Kondayen said the legal input is critical for the gov- ernor’s offi ce. “Our public records requests have to be reviewed by an attorney to ensure that we are meeting the require- ments under Oregon law to release all records to the public,” Kondayen wrote on Friday. “We need to get it right the fi rst time and be completely forthcoming in release of public records, and Emily is the person that makes that happen.” Public records previously obtained by The Oregonian revealed the governor’s communications team does have some involvement in public records requests: In 2018, Kondayen strategized with Department of Human Services offi cials regard- ing the potential to strate- gically delay a response to The Bulletin newspaper in Bend. Before McCall’s resigna- tion on Sept. 9, journalists and other members of the public had submitted 146 public records requests to Brown’s offi ce. That’s the same number of requests Brown’s offi ce received in 2018. The number of requests has since reached the total number of requests Brown received in 2017, 166. Of the 18 requests this year predating McCall’s resignation that had yet to be fulfi lled as of Friday, fi ve were fi led in early to mid-July. All were fi led by journalists and with one exception, they seek corre- spondence and other docu- mentation of Brown’s work on the controversial climate change bill at the center of a state Senate Republican walkout this year, as well as any earlier work her admin- istration did to develop a carbon emissions pricing policy. The fi fth and earlier request — fi led July 9 — is from a small newspaper in Eastern Oregon regard- ing a high-profi le local rail- road project. That county rail project received state funding over the summer, after state transportation offi cials abruptly changed course from their previous reticence toward the proj- ect, the Malheur Enterprise reported. As for the Depart- ment of Human Services, where Brown has pledged to improve public records responses, it recently began including a caveat in form emails acknowledging requests. This week, the agency told a reporter for The Ore- gonian it would stick to the 15-day deadline. That is, unless “DHS asks you for more information,” “the staff needed to fi nish the request are unavailable” or “the number of other requests being worked by DHS makes the deadline unrealistic.” WANTED Alder and Maple Saw Logs & Standing Timber Northwest Hardwoods • Longview, WA Contact: John Anderson • 360-269-2500 FALL INTO GREAT SAVINGS FRE CORDL E ESS PLUS 25 % Off Select Signature Series In-Home Consultation • Expert Measuring • Professional Installation • The Strongest Warranty 3 rd Annual Founder’s Dinner October 13th, 2019 • Time: 5:30pm Seaside Convention Center Tickets available at the door Oregon Coast 503-738-5242 Lincoln City 541-994-9954 SW Washington 503-738-5242 www.budgetblinds.com *Applies to selected Signature Series window treatments. Restrictions may apply, ask for details. Valid for a limited time, not valid with any other offers, discounts, or coupons. Offer good at initial time of estimate only. At participating franchises only. ©2017 Budget Blinds, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Budget Blinds is a trademark of Budget Blinds, LLC and a Home Franchise Concepts Brand. Each franchise independently owned and operated. Thank you to our event sponsors! National Cat Day CUTEST CAT PHOTO CONTEST National Cat Day is Tuesday, October 29 th We are on the prowl for the bestest, cutest, snuggliest cats on the coast. SUBMIT YOUR CAT PHOTOS Until 10 p.m. Friday, Oct. 11. (1 photo per cat, but multiple cats OK.) VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITES From 10:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 11 until 10 p.m. Friday, Oct. 18. WATCH FOR THE SPECIAL SECTION in The Astorian on Oct. 29, for the top vote-getting cats on the coast. In this contest, we aim to celebrate coastal felines. About 100 of these photos will be featured in the Oct. 29 special section. According to www.nationalcatday.com, the national organizers “live to celebrate cats and help them to find forever homes.” Now, where was that catnip? For more information, call The Astorian at (503)738-3211 or (800) 781-3211 Other sponsors: • Raven Russell • Street 14 Café • North Pacific Excavation • Old Town Framing • T. Paul’s Urban Café & Supper Club • Bank of the Pacific
