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About Baker City herald. (Baker City, Or.) 1990-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 11, 2019)
LOCAL & STATE WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2019 BAKER CITY HERALD — 5A State’s first public records advocate to quit believe these actions constituted an abuse of authority on the part of the SALEM — Oregon’s fi rst-ever General Counsel, and are counter to public records advocate is resigning the transparency and accountability from her post on Oct. 11. mission that I was hired to advance.” Ginger McCall, appointed by Gov. McCall said she “made multiple Kate Brown in early 2018 attempts to fi nd a workable solution, to boost transparency but at this point I no longer believe and openness in state these confl icting visions of my role and local government, can be reconciled.” said she was stepping In a resignation letter to the state down after what she Public Records Advisory Council, of McCall called “meaningful which she was a member, McCall pressure” from the was less explicit, but alluded to her governor’s offi ce to represent its concern that the role be indepen- interests in her role on the state’s dent. public records advisory council. “This offi ce serves an essential Willamette Week fi rst reported role in connecting the public with McCall’s resignation. the government,” McCall wrote. “In McCall sent two resignation let- order to do this, though, the offi ce ters: one to the advisory council, and must be independent, operating to a second to Gov. Kate Brown. serve the public and not partisan In her letter to Brown, McCall political interests. I hope that the wrote that she believed she and the council will dedicate itself to protect- governor’s offi ce had “confl icting ing that independence and select a visions” of the public records advo- candidate who is equally devoted to cate’s role. She felt the role should that goal.” have “a high degree of independence Acting independently and serve the public interest,” she In a statement the afternoon of wrote in her letter, but said the gov- ernor’s offi ce didn’t agree. She wrote Monday, Sept. 9, McCall said that that she was pressured to represent it had been a “pleasure serving the the interests of the governor’s offi ce, people of Oregon” and expressed “even when those interests confl ict pride for the work of the council. She with the will of the council and the said she is going to take a job with mandate of the Offi ce of the Public the federal government in Washing- ton, D.C. Records Advocate.” McCall also provided two memos “I have not only been pressured of recent meetings with governor’s in this direction, but I have been offi ce staff. told that I should represent these McCall met with Brown’s general interests while not telling anyone that I am doing so,” McCall wrote. “I counsel, Misha Isaak, and Emily By Claire Withycombe Oregon Capital Bureau Matasar, the governor’s government accountability attorney on Jan. 15. Isaak told McCall that he inter- preted state law to mean that the advocate works for the governor’s of- fi ce, McCall wrote in a memo penned the day after the meeting. “None of this had previously been conveyed to me,” McCall wrote. “In prior conversations with multiple parties, including the governor’s offi ce, it had been stated that the advocate was intended to be independent. When I had asked in Spring 2018 who I would report to, the Governor’s offi ce replied that I did not report to them.” Isaak told her that the indepen- dence was limited to the day-to-day operations of the offi ce, but that “for political matters and matters of policy, the advocate worked for the governor and the governor’s offi ce is free to intercede.” Isaak also “implied” that it was McCall’s job to “control what propos- als were put forth to the council and, ultimately, what proposals were agreed upon by the council, and in doing that, I should be operating with the governor’s offi ce agenda in mind,” McCall wrote. “I stated my discomfort with being put in the position of advocating for an agenda which I was not free to disclose or discuss with the council,” McCall wrote. “This objection was not really discussed.” Toward the end of that January meeting, Isaak told McCall that “I should be less ambitious, not move so fast, and recognize that I do not know about the politics or nuance of Oregon.” “Thus, I should ‘listen’ and not attempt to propose reforms about things I did not fully understand. I should, instead, rely on the Gover- nor’s offi ce to make decisions about these things. This part of the meet- ing felt both demeaning and conde- scending. Nowhere in this discussion was an acknowledgment that I am a professional, with a decade of specialized experience in politics, reform, public records, advocacy and government. It was both disrespect- ful and unnecessarily hostile.” Isaak then told her that he was concerned that McCall would leave the meeting and call a reporter from The Portland Tribune and “tell him that the Governor’s offi ce is trying to censor me.” “This conveyed to me that I was expected to keep this meeting, including the fact that the Gover- nor’s offi ce interpreted (state law) to mean that I report to them, a secret,” McCall wrote. “This expectation of secrecy made me feel uncomfortable. It felt both unethical and dishonest.” On Aug. 30, the governor ap- pointed Isaak to the Oregon Court of Appeals, effective Nov. 1. McCall documented a second meeting, with Matasar, on June 6, at a café in Salem. Matasar “expressed extreme unhappiness” with an email McCall had sent in late May to the records council about the offi ce’s budget. Mc- Call had sought feedback from the council on her concerns about the proposed budget for the offi ce. Matasar recommended that Mc- Call not “send out emails or make statements that make it look like I am ‘opposed to’ or ‘outside’ of the gov- ernor’s offi ce,” McCall wrote. When Matasar told her she didn’t like a bill that the council had proposed, and that she didn’t think the council should have proposed it, McCall told her that the council was a “democratic body” that McCall did not have control over. McCall asked Matasar what she was supposed to do in a scenario where the governor didn’t agree with a bill the council proposed, and Matasar said to “tell them that the bill is unacceptable.” “I expressed that it was not my intention to alienate anyone or create confl ict,” McCall wrote, “But that it was my impression that I was meant to act independently.” Matasar recommended McCall meet with other state government directors who “have better managed their relationships with the gover- nor’s offi ce, especially” the head of the state’s ethics commission. In a statement issued Monday, Brown said: “I agree with Ginger that the Public Records Advocate should be truly independent. I look forward to meeting with Ginger immediately to hear directly from her how the Council will develop rec- ommendations to the legislature to create a truly independent position. Reporter Claire Withycombe: cwithycombe@eomediagroup.com or 971-304-4148. Union County searching mountains for missing plane The Union County Sheriff’s Offi ce for a single-engine airplane reported Tuesday for the Piper PA32, tail Search and Rescue team was in the missing en route from Richland, number N6300X, according to the Blue Mountains northwest of An- Washington, to Ontario. Federal Aviation Administration. thony Lakes this morning searching An alert notice was issued late Lt. Col. Mark Young, commander COUNCIL Continued from Page 1A Councilor Lynette Perry said she expects that Laakso won’t be the only resident wanting to build a deer-resis- tant fence, and she suggested the Council review the cur- rent fence standards, which limit fences to 6 feet high. Perry said she believes deer that live in town pose a potential hazard, as they walk down streets and some- times act aggressively toward people. “We do have a problem in Baker with the deer and there’s going to be other people facing the same situa- of the Civil Air Patrol’s National miles northwest of Baker City. Radar Analysis Team, said a radar Young said a relative of the male track indicates the plane went down pilot, who was believed to be alone, around 10 a.m. on Sunday about 35 reported the plane being overdue. tion,” Perry said. Similar concerns expressed last year prompted the City Council to approve in late June an ordinance prohibit- ing residents from intention- ally feeding deer. City Manager Fred Warner Jr. said residents can call the local offi ce of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, 541-523-5832, if they have concerns about aggres- sive deer. 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