ANDREW CUTLER
Publisher/Editor
KATHRYN B. BROWN
Owner
ERICK PETERSON
Hermiston Editor/Senior Reporter
SATuRDAy, APRIL 9, 2022
A4
Founded October 16, 1875
OUR VIEW
Our public
records law
could use some
Kentucky
flavor
I
t happened during rush hour, just
after 6 p.m. in 2007. The Interstate
35 bridge over the Mississippi River
near Minneapolis collapsed. The bridge
was packed with vehicles. A total of 13
people died and 145 were injured when
111 vehicles went down with the bridge.
In the wake of that catastrophe, report-
ers across the country looked into their
own state’s bridges. One was Marcus
Green, now a reporter with WDRB
in Louisville, Kentucky. Because of
Kentucky’s public records law, he was
able to get thousands of pages of bridge
reports for his state and not worry that he
wouldn’t be able to afford it. Kentucky is
a state where reporters don’t really have
to worry about how much a public record
will cost. That’s not the case in Oregon.
Could Oregon learn something from
Kentucky about access to public records?
Oregon’s Public Records Advisory Coun-
cil is looking at how Oregon’s public
records may be improved.
There are many tricky issues in public
records law. What should be forbidden
from being released? Who decides? What
right do people have to appeal when a
request for a record is denied and how
hard is it to appeal?
Another big issue is cost. What should
government charge a member of the
public for a record? In Oregon, govern-
ments are permitted to charge fees
“reasonably calculated to reimburse [it
for the] actual cost of making public
records available.” In Kentucky it can be
much less. It’s generally 10 cents a page
or free. More can be charged in certain
cases.
What if Oregon were to shift to more
of a Kentucky model? Smaller and even
larger public bodies likely would be
worried about what it would do to their
costs. Often it’s not easy for govern-
ment employees to find a public record.
Government agencies don’t necessar-
ily have the latest software or comput-
ers that make searches easy. There can
be personal information that should
not be shared embedded in some docu-
ments. It takes time for somebody to go
through and redact that. And the cost of
public records can be a tool public agen-
cies wield to convince people to reduce
the scope of a records request down to a
manageable level.
In Kentucky, though, the government
bodies find a way to make it work. Why
not Oregon?
One provision in the law that Kentucky
has is an unreasonable burden provision.
“If the application places an unreasonable
burden in producing public records or if
the custodian has reason to believe that
repeated requests are intended to disrupt
other essential functions of the public
agency, the official custodian may refuse
to permit inspection of the public records
or mail copies thereof. However, refusal
under this section shall be sustained by
clear and convincing evidence.”
Oregon is not Kentucky. There may be
many reasons why adding some Kentucky
flavor to Oregon’s public records law
would not be a perfect fit. But there is
certainly good reason for Oregon legisla-
tors to consider it. It would increase public
access to records that Oregonians are
supposed to have access to.
YOUR VIEWS
Climate change — all
hands on deck
Not to be critical but the recent
East Oregonian editorial “Private
enterprise shines in climate efforts,”
Thursday, March 31, lauding private
enterprise over government efforts to
deal with climate change presents an
oversimplified comparison of public
policy and private enterprise.
It was encouraging to read the EO
Editorial Board acknowledging the
need to address climate change. The
global, national and international
evidence of climate change are in the
news daily. The companion article on
the same page as the Our View piece
addressed water shortages in the West.
It pointed out that many domestic
wells in the Klamath basin are going
dry and the Oregon Department of
Human Services was making water
deliveries to owners of dry wells.
Across the nation and the world
water needs for human consump-
tion, agriculture, industry and natural
systems are in conflict. The solu-
tions will not be simple and cannot be
solved by framing problems as either
addressed by government or by private
enterprise. We need to move beyond
an either/or perspective to one of both/
and.
Private enterprise, be it personal
or corporate, exists to make money
for the owners or their stakeholders.
It is not required to take into consid-
eration the rights of other stakehold-
ers. In Eastern Oregon depletion of
groundwater in Harney County, in part
caused by a corporate farm controlled
by an out-of-state private equity firm
and lax state oversight is drying up the
wells of smaller operations. There is a
need for equitable government inter-
vention.
For example, in recent years state
representatives have worked to address
the need for better data on water use
and allocation. According to Oregon
Public Broadcasting, “last year,
lawmakers approved a historic public
spending package on water, with some
$538 million for projects statewide.”
The impacts from climate change
are multi-dimensional. All actors in our
region, be they state, county or private,
need to work together to address the
complex issues we will continue to face
as we confront climate change.
Ron Fonger
Pendleton
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
U.S. REPRESENTATIVE
Cliff Bentz
2185 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
202-225-6730
Medford office: 541-776-4646
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
SENATOR
Bill Hansell, District 29
900 Court St. NE, S-415
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1729
Sen.BillHansell@state.or.us
EDITORIALS
Unsigned editorials are the opinion of the East Oregonian editorial
board. Other columns, letters and cartoons on this page express
the opinions of the authors and not necessarily that of the East
Oregonian.
letters that address concerns about individual services and products
or letters that infringe on the rights of private citizens. Letters must be
signed by the author and include the city of residence and a daytime
phone number. The phone number will not be published. Unsigned
letters will not be published.
LETTERS
The East Oregonian welcomes original letters of 400 words or less
on public issues and public policies for publication in the newspaper
and on our website. The newspaper reserves the right to withhold
SEND LETTERS TO:
editor@eastoregonian.com,
or via mail to Andrew Cutler,
211 S.E. Byers Ave., Pendleton, OR 97801