KATHRYN B. BROWN
Owner
ANDREW CUTLER
Publisher/Editor
ERICK PETERSON
Hermiston Editor/Senior Reporter
THuRSDAy, FEBRuARy 24, 2022
A4
Founded October 16, 1875
OUR VIEW
State laws
on openness
need training
and teeth
T
he last thing most people want to
do when volunteering to serve on
a government committee is break
Oregon’s public meeting laws.
But the state needs two things. People
need training in the law. And there needs
to be teeth in the law to ensure people
obey it. That’s what House Bill 4140
would do.
The laws regarding open meetings in
Oregon aren’t terribly complicated. City
councils, school boards, library boards,
county commissions and the like must
meet in public. Debate in public. Vote in
public. Agendas must be public. They
must notify the public there will be a
meeting.
Those are the basics. Some things
people might do, though, can get them in
trouble. If for instance, people on a public
committee trade emails back and forth
and essentially hold a meeting through
email, that might be a violation of the
law. And sometimes government officials
willfully hold public meetings behind
closed doors — or just make mistakes.
That’s why the training and teeth
of House Bill 4140 is so important. It
would provide more training in the law
for public officials of governing bodies.
It would allow the Oregon Government
Ethics Commission to investigate possi-
ble violations and impose fines. Any civil
penalties would have to be paid by the
public officials themselves.
Opponents of the bill have testified
they don’t like the additional expenses
that public bodies might have to pay.
We’d argue expenses spent to ensure
government transparency should be part
of the government’s business.
The Association of Oregon Counties,
representing county governments, made
a curious argument in its testimony. It
pointed out the bill would require an
expansion in size of the Oregon Govern-
ment Ethics Commission. And that
commission is funded by public bodies.
The counties association said “it means
that good local government actors would
be paying for investigations into bad local
government actors, at taxpayer expense.”
Taxpayers fund all sorts of things that
they don’t benefit from directly. By the
association’s reasoning, people who don’t
break the law shouldn’t pay for police
investigations?
Another criticism of the bill is that
making public officials personally
responsible for any penalties could have
a chilling impact on recruiting people to
serve on boards. Yes, it can be difficult to
find people willing to make the commit-
ment. We look at that provision in the
proposed law differently, though. It would
provide a powerful incentive for people
who volunteer to serve to obey the law
and the bodies they govern ensure they
do.
The Legislature should pass House
Bill 4140. The bill actually may not move
forward this session. No further meet-
ings are scheduled for the bill. And it’s in
the House Rules Committee where bills
sometimes are sent to die.
Serving the community without being elected
TAMMY
MALGESINI
INSIDE MY SHOES
W
hile Nick Kristof’s hopes to
be elected the next gover-
nor of Oregon have been
dashed because of residency require-
ments, it is my hope he will continue to
pursue central issues of his short-lived
campaign narrative. Honestly, I think
he’s in a better position as a private
citizen with friends and supporters
with deep pockets to affect change.
And he won’t be “distracted” with
other day-to-day obligations of being
governor. He can take the time to focus
on such topics as poverty, homeless-
ness and addiction — several of the key
points he discussed during his abbrevi-
ated run for governor.
While I’ve never had the ambitions,
pocketbook or connections to run for
governor, back when I was young, full
of energy and had time I was willing to
share, I ran for a seat on the Hermiston
School Board. I thought I would have
made a good addition with innovative
ideas, a connection with a portion of
the community and I was married to an
educator.
After I didn’t garner enough votes
to be elected, I lost interest and focused
my attention elsewhere. Maybe my
20-something ego was bruised — I
have never run for a position again.
Instead, I dove into efforts that didn’t
require being “chosen” to participate.
In retrospect, I probably dodged a
bullet. The first city council meeting I
attended in Irrigon as a reporter lasted
more than three hours. And a couple
of years later, I experienced a similar
scenario during a Hermiston School
District work session and board meet-
ing.
One thing I learned through this
process is I appreciate fellow commu-
nity members who are willing to give
of their time in hopes of making a
difference in our community. While I
appreciate those who step up to serve,
I challenge our elected officials to
remember they represent their constit-
uents — and to reach out for public
input.
Another thing, that still seems
strange is the Hermiston School
District and the Hermiston City Coun-
cil meet on the same night. Why is
that?
In an election night interview on
Nov. 6, 2018, Mark Gomolski, who
was serving on the school board while
running for a seat on the city council,
said regardless of the outcome of the
race, he would continue to encourage
the organizations to find a way to meet
at different times so residents could
attend both. It also would be beneficial
for the two governing bodies, he said,
as they continue to partner on projects
such as using the aquatic center to host
free swimming lessons for students.
“If we’re going to be doing partner-
ships like that, I think we should be
attending each other’s meetings,” he
said.
And here we are more than three
years later with both groups still meet-
ing at the same time.
———
Tammy Malgesini, the East Oregonian
community writer, enjoys spending time
with her husband and two German shep-
herds, as well as entertaining herself with
random musings.
The ability to survive and shoot
straight, skills of an unmoneyed rural
people, have made us the people who
fight your wars for you. Our military
is composed of all skin colors of rural
people without much money. By feeding
this food source to the wolves, access to
the skills that made us valuable soldiers
is being lost.
The wolf policy is elitist, and the
damage that it causes is suffered by the
people who live on the frontiers and in
the forest, indigenous, and other unmon-
eyed people. That is not equitable.
Katy Nelson
John Day
people. It is not about organizations. It
is not about strategies . It is about people
motivating people to get the job done.
you get the job done or you don’t. And
the only way to do great work is to love
what you do. Remembering the goal
is to do the right thing and get the job
completed.
It is not the city management of Pend-
leton who pays the wages. The city of
Pendleton management only handles
the tax money. It is the tax paying adults
in this community who pay the city
employee wages. Hiring a new staff
member to do one of the eight essen-
tial functions and major responsibilities
of the Pendleton city manager is like
brushing your teeth while eating Oreos.
Where is this money coming from? Is
the city manager now a ⅞ position with
a deducted salary? Restructuring will
require difficult conversations about how
the city of Pendleton is managed and
how individuals are paid.
Sally Sundin
Walla Walla
YOUR VIEWS
Is the wolf policy equitable?
We learned that introducing wolves
to yellowstone destroyed up to 80% of
the elk population. Following that, we
are now encouraging the destruction of
peoples’ food and their cultural existence
by further encouraging wolves. Indig-
enous peoples’ treaties have hunting
rights.
The proliferation of wolves can viti-
ate these rights and we need not take
responsibility for what we have done.
Indigenous peoples’ culture and religion
and the hunt intertwine, as well as access
to the health benefits of this nutritious
protein.
Rural people with little money who
have supplemented their diets and
bonded in other ways around the hunt
see the ending of this viable and healthy
activity. Is the experience of the individ-
ual who is eating a piece of jerky they
made, the same psychologically, as the
individual who is going to pick up their
government cheese? Is there going to be
a difference psychologically in indepen-
dence and self satisfaction?
Get the job done, or don’t
If the city management of Pendleton
had a T-shirt, it would say, “We didn’t
actually overspend our budget, the allo-
cations simply fell short of our expendi-
tures.”
Confident frugal leadership is the
result of remembering you are already
equipped with everything you need to
get the job done. Leadership is all about
CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVES
U.S. PRESIDENT
Joe Biden
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20500
Comments: 202-456-1111
GOVERNOR
Kate Brown
160 State Capitol
900 Court St.
Salem, OR 97301-4047
503-378-4582
U.S. SENATORS
Ron Wyden
221 Dirksen Senate Office Bldg.
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-5244
La Grande office: 541-962-7691
Jeff Merkley
313 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-3753
Pendleton office: 541-278-1129
REPRESENTATIVES
Bobby Levy, District 58
900 Court St. NE, H-376
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1458
Rep.BobbyLevy@state.or.us
Greg Smith, District 57
900 Court St. NE, H-482
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1457
Rep.GregSmith@state.or.us
U.S. REPRESENTATIVE
Cliff Bentz
2185 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
202-225-6730
Medford office: 541-776-4646
SENATOR
Bill Hansell, District 29
900 Court St. NE, S-415
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1729
Sen.BillHansell@state.or.us