KATHRYN B. BROWN
Owner
ANDREW CUTLER
Publisher/Editor
ERICK PETERSON
Hermiston Editor/Senior Reporter
THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 2022
A4
Founded October 16, 1875
OUR VIEW
Ensuring
public
meetings
are public
O
regon’s Public Meetings Law, which
has been in place since 1973, is pretty
straightforward as laws go.
And its purpose could hardly be more
clear.
Groups of elected or appointed officials
who conduct the public’s business, and spend
the public’s money, should do so in venues
that are open to the public. The law applies
to meetings when a quorum of the body is
present.
Public bodies subject to the law include
those most people would probably expect —
city councils, county commissions, school
boards. But the law also applies to many
that don’t generally get as much attention,
or publicity, such as the various boards
and commissions, some elected and some
appointed, that most cities and counties have.
The law, as laws so often are, is littered
with exceptions.
Public bodies can legally meet in private
(although journalists, in most instances, can
attend) to discuss certain topics such as real
estate negotiations or to consult with an attor-
ney.
But during these “executive sessions,”
public bodies are not allowed to make final
decisions.
For instance, a city council could meet in
an executive session to discuss buying prop-
erty. But councilors couldn’t actually decide
to purchase the parcel until they reconvene in
a public session that has been announced so
that people who wish to attend can do so.
To reiterate — the law isn’t complicated.
Most discussions by a quorum of a public
body — and all final decisions — must take
place in public.
But inevitably, some public bodies violate
the law, some intentionally, some inadver-
tently.
The problem is that people who believe
such violations have happened are on their
own in most cases — in terms of money as
well as time — in filing a legal challenge.
Citizens’ main recourse is to file a complaint
in circuit court. The exception is in the case
of a public official who might have violated
the executive session provisions of the public
meetings law. In that case a resident can file
a complaint with the Oregon Government
Ethics Commission, the agency that enforces
ethics laws which, among other things, deal
with conflicts of interest and instances of
public officials using their office for personal
gain.
House Bill 4140 would make it much easier
for the public to enforce the public meetings
law, and create a much more effective deter-
rent for officials who might violate it.
The bill, which appears unlikely to pass
during the current legislative session, would
allow the Government Ethics Commission to
investigate alleged violations of the law, and
to fine each public official involved in a viola-
tion up to $1,000. Importantly, the law would
prohibit officials from passing off fines to the
agency — a city or school board, for instance
— that the officials represent.
The fines are the stick in the law. Its carrot
is a requirement that the Government Ethics
Commission offer training to public bodies
affected by the public meetings law. This
training need not be complex, given how
easy it is to understand the requirements of
the public meetings law, and how easy it is to
comply with them.
If House Bill 4140 doesn’t make it out of
the current session, legislators need to bring it
back in 2023.
It’s vital that the public’s business be
conducted, and its money spent, transpar-
ently. That’s why Oregon has had a law defin-
ing public meetings for almost half a century.
But without a reasonable method for ensuring
that the law is enforced, its well-intentioned
provisions ring hollow.
Spring is coming too soon
PEPPER
TRAIL
OTHER VIEWS
A
h, what a beautiful day. The air
has that magical quality it some-
times gets in spring, a caressing
softness on the skin. The buds on the
plum trees are swelling and the robins
have ascended to the tops of the trees,
where they’re singing with abandon.
But … it is February. Today’s high
temperature was 72 degrees, almost 20
degrees higher than normal and a new
record.
At this time of year, the mountains
surrounding my southern Oregon valley
should be deep in snow. The high coun-
try lakes should be full, but frozen. The
sky should be gray and, ideally, snow-
ing.
Winter weather is the price we pay
— gladly — for the mountain wild-
flowers, the lakes full of trout, the water
that irrigates our farms, orchards and
gardens through the long hot summer
and for the lush, green forests that are
not on fire.
But as the great naturalist Aldo
Leopold remarked, “To be an ecologist
is to live in a world of wounds.” These
days, the same could be said for meteo-
rologists, or for any of us trying to find
uncomplicated pleasure in the beauty of
a spring day in mid-winter.
For this too-warm day reveals we
are in another drought year. Almost all
the precipitation in my region of south-
ern Oregon falls from October through
March, and we need as much of that
as possible to be in the form of snow.
Snow that piles up deep in the mountain
forests and slowly melts through spring
and early summer, soaking into the soil
and filling the streams.
That hasn’t happened this year, or
last year or the year before that. Since
Jan. 1, we have received just 0.61 inches
of rain, 2.11 inches less than normal. For
the “water year” that started Oct. 1, we
are at 8.54 inches, most of which came
in a near-blizzard in late December.
That storm gave us a nice white Christ-
mas and hope for a wet winter at last —
but since then, nothing. Normal for this
time of year would be about 12 inches.
And the long-term forecast doesn’t look
good.
The snow has melted except at the
highest elevations, and there is no
precipitation in the extended forecast.
According to the federal Drought Moni-
tor map, we are on the border between
Severe Drought and Extreme Drought.
Just on the other side of the Cascades
to the east, there is a huge dark blob
of Exceptional Drought, the highest
category. These catastrophic drought
conditions are unfortunately shared by
Nevada, Utah, Montana, Colorado and
New Mexico.
Should we be surprised when scien-
tists tell us the West is the driest it’s
been in more than a thousand years?
On the Oregon-California border, the
drought forced a complete shutdown of
water deliveries to farmers in the Klam-
ath Basin this year. The basin’s great
national wildlife refuges — used by
80% of the migrating ducks, geese and
swans on the Pacific Flyway — almost
are completely dry, their lakes nothing
but expanses of cracked mud.
The Klamath River, normally fed by
mountain snowpack, is running low,
and there are great fears of massive
die-offs in salmon returning to spawn
this summer.
Closer to home, the mountain lakes
that feed our streams and supply our
irrigation districts are all at less than
10% full, just sad little puddles.
Looming over all this bad news is
perhaps the biggest fear of all: Fire.
Without snowpack to keep the moun-
tain forest hydrated into the summer,
the risk of wildfire is extreme. My town
is nestled against conifer forests that
come within a few hundred yards of the
city limits. Our recent summers have
been plagued by weeks of eye-burn-
ing smoke, and in 2020 a wind-driven
fire devastated the Oregon towns of
Talent and Phoenix, even though they’re
surrounded by orchards.
Back in the moment, I sit on my deck,
sip my tea and enjoy this glorious day.
Each year, I know, gives us just a few
days like this, and when they come —
whenever they come — they must be
savored with gratitude. Yet this beauti-
ful day carries the knowledge of what it
may cost us in the months to come.
So, to whoever this prayer could be
addressed, thank you for this day. Now,
please, how about a few weeks of gray
skies and wet snow?
———
Pepper Trail is a contributor to Writ-
ers on the Range, writersontherange.org,
a nonprofit dedicated to spurring lively
conversation about the West. He is an
ecologist in Oregon.
safety fee it brings it to over $100.00
each month. Does anyone else think this
is not right?
Kathy Inscore
Pendleton
Indian Reservation in youth career
exploration and collaborative entre-
preneurship. Umatilla County needs
improvements in tribal representation on
county commissions and work groups.
Susan’s work ethic and experience
will benefit everyone in this area. She
is an active caring citizen of Umatilla
County. She has been on several commu-
nity steering committees including the
Relay for Life of Pendleton and the Chil-
dren’s Museum of Eastern Oregon.
As Umatilla County moves forward
post-pandemic, Susan Bower will be the
best choice for county commissioner.
Karen Malcolm
Pendleton
YOUR VIEWS
Is anyone else upset about
their water bill?
Dear Pendleton People,
I wonder if anyone else living in the
city of Pendleton is as upset and appalled
as I am that my water bill during the
winter months is more than my heating
bill? This just doesn’t seem right. My
water bill has been more than $100 each
month during the winter while my heat-
ing bill has been under $90 each month.
We are a two person household and are
currently not using water outside the
house. Actually, my water usage is not
much over the base water rate but with
the sewer fee, street utility fee and public
Bower is best choice
for county board
Susan Bower is the best choice for
Umatilla County Board of Commission-
ers Position 1.
Susan’s business expertise will be a
tremendous asset as Umatilla County
prepares for economic recovery. I look
forward to future partnerships with the
Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla
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