Wednesday, May 19, 2021
A4
OPINION
VOICE of the CHIEFTAIN
Another push
in Oregon
government for
more secrecy
S
haring someone’s personal information
with intent to harm them could soon
get you sued in Oregon. A bill in the
Oregon Legislature would permit a lawsuit
for what’s commonly called doxxing.
The bill may help fill a gap in Oregon
law. What’s worrying is a proposed amend-
ment that would create more secrecy in Ore-
gon government.
House Bill 3047 has more detail than we
will summarize here. It ticks off a long list of
things it defines as “personal information,”
including address, email address, phone
number, photographs of children, identifica-
tion of children’s school and more. It says if
a defendant with the intent to harass, injure
or stalk knowingly discloses such informa-
tion and knew the person didn’t want the
information disclosed and a plaintiff was
harassed, injured or stalked, a plaintiff can
seek damages. You can read the bill yourself
on the Legislature’s website.
One important thing to note: The bill does
not specify the personal information dis-
closed is or is not already publicly available.
So it may not matter if anyone could find the
information if they went looking. What can
matter is the intent of the disclosure and if
the person was harassed, injured or stalked
and if a reasonable person would have been,
as well.
Let’s look at the amendment. Members
of the public and journalists can get into bat-
tles with government agencies over pub-
lic records. The proposed amendment aims
to expand the list of things exempted from
disclosure.
The Oregonian reported the “amendment
was introduced on behalf of the League of
Oregon Cities.” Scott Winkels, the organi-
zation’s lobbyist told that newspaper: “We
were just trying to align the language to
what a lot of people in the state had always
felt like it meant.”
Part of the amendment may do that. It
also would throw a shadow over much gov-
ernment activity.
Just one thing the amendment does is
exempt from disclosure communications
within a public body or between public bod-
ies if “they cover other than purely factual
materials and are preliminary to any final
agency determination of policy or action.”
The communications may still be released,
but a member of the public might have to go
to court to get them.
It’s easier to understand with an example.
An Oregon secretary of state audit found in
January 2018 that Oregon’s Department of
Human Services has been slow, indecisive
and inadequate in fixing recurring problems
with foster care. In April 2018, The Bulle-
tin in Bend asked DHS what it was doing to
make progress. When the paper didn’t get a
response, it made a public records request
for DHS emails connected to our request.
It turned out DHS had written up a memo
to answer the questions. The Bulletin only
ever received the memo because of the pub-
lic records request. Other emails the paper
received showed the agency was more con-
cerned with how the information might be
seen than informing the public what it was
doing. It wanted to hold off releasing any-
thing and roll it into a media campaign.
That’s an example of how your state gov-
ernment works. Its priority can be con-
trolling information, not informing the pub-
lic. And under the amendment such as the
one to House Bill 3047, we may never have
received those emails.
The amendment doesn’t simply line up
state law with what people think state law
says. It’s also a move to suppress the peo-
ple’s ability to understand how their govern-
ment behaves behind the scenes.
LETTER to the EDITOR
Support for improvements to
cemetery appreciated by all
As Memorial Day Weekend
approaches and families have a long
weekend to enjoy spring outings, we also
turn our thoughts to those who gave their
lives for our freedom. The Chieftain gives
excellent coverage of the military obser-
vances at Wallowa County cemeteries
honoring our military heroes preceded by
the schedule of each ceremony for those
wishing to attend.
This is also the time of year that the
Friends of Enterprise Cemetery appeal for
donations that bridge the gap of an out-
dated tax base and the actual expense of
operating and improving this cemetery.
It is with deep appreciation that so many
have been instrumental in meeting the
original goal of a green, manicured ceme-
tery. Many other improvements have been
realized by this generosity.
Our groundskeeper and volunteers do
a great job of mowing the grounds and
trim around and in between each stone
CONTACT your REPRESENTATIVES
U.S. PRESIDENT
Joe Biden
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
Comments: 202-456-1111
U.S. SENATORS
Ron Wyden
221 Dirksen Senate Office Bldg.
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-5244
La Grande office: 541-962-7691
Bobby Levy, District 58
900 Court St. NE, H-376
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1458
Rep.BobbyLevy@state.or.us
Member Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association
Published every Wednesday by: EO Media Group
P.O. Box 338 • Enterprise, OR 97828
Office: 209 NW First St., Enterprise, Ore.
Phone: 541-426-4567 • Fax: 541-426-3921
General manager, Jennifer Cooney, jcooney@wallowa.com
Editor, Ronald Bond, rbond@wallowa.com
Reporter, Bill Bradshaw, bbradshaw@wallowa.com
Multimedia Journalist, Alex Wittwer, awittwer@eomediagroup.com
Advertising Assistant, Cheryl Jenkins, cjenkins@wallowa.com
Designer, Andy Nicolais, anicolais@eomediagroup.com
• • •
Contents copyright © 2021. All rights reserved.
Reproduction without permission is prohibited.
To submit news tips and press releases, call 541-426-4567
or email editor@wallowa.com
SENATOR
Greg Smith, District 57
900 Court St. NE, H-482
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1457
Rep.GregSmith@state.or.us
EDITORIALS: Unsigned editorials are the opinion of the Wallowa County Chieftain
editorial board. Other columns, letters and cartoons on this page express the opin-
ions of the authors and not necessarily that of the Wallowa County Chieftain.
LETTERS: The Wallowa County Chieftain 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 letters that address concerns
USPS No. 665-100
Cliff Bentz
1239 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
202-225-6730
Medford office: 541-776-4646
REPRESENTATIVES
GOVERNOR
Kate Brown
160 State Capitol
900 Court Street
Salem, OR 97301-4047
503-378-4582
U.S. REPRESENTATIVE
Jeff Merkley
313 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-3753
Pendleton office: 541-278-1129
Wallowa County’s Newspaper Since 1884
VOLUME 134
where mowers cannot reach. As a gen-
tle reminder, the upkeep of the stones are
the responsibility of the families. Dirt and
moss can obscure the etching on stones,
especially those that are flat.
Outstanding support the past six years
for the improvements to Enterprise Pio-
neer Cemetery is appreciated by all.
Best wishes for a safe Memorial Day
Weekend.
Ella Mae Hays
Friends of Enterprise Cemetery
Newberg
Bill Hansell, District 29
900 Court St. NE, S-423
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1729
Sen.BillHansell@state.or.us
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