A4
Opinion
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, May 13, 2015
The remodeling
continues on
public records law
J
ust how public are
Oregon’s public records?
Public records and
open meetings are two of
the foundational elements of
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The crash-and-burn
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administration opened our
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his own office there was a
subsidiary operation run by
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who was styled as first lady
to heighten her political
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Kate Brown immediately
grasped the need for Oregon
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address, the principal topic
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Last week the state
Senate passed Senate Bill
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enactment by the House, this
law will set in motion an
audit of all state agencies’
response to public records
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Promoting her legislation,
Brown told a Senate
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public records law is like a
Victorian house that has been
remodeled one room at a time
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spread throughout our 838
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We in the media
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We deal with those myriad
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The other two elements
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package are about the state
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would do three things:
shorten the amount of time
the commission has to take
action, increase penalties
for using public office for
personal gain and change
how commission members
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To some lawmakers, this
ethics package might seem
like niggling, bothersome
concerns – not the sort of
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represent the essence of
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lot to do with how efficiently
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sector know candor is the
smartest way to deal with
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of candor is what state
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E DITOR ’ S NOTEBOOK
A new stage – retirement
– beckons Eagle editor
By Scotta Callister
Blue Mountain Eagle
Years ago I had an editor who de-
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My younger, career-oriented self
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Ask me about it in a couple of
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I plan to retire at the end of June,
after 42 years in the newspaper busi-
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drawn to Grant County by two unde-
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on the jewel of a ranch my husband
Les and I bought in 2004, and the op-
portunity to continue working in my
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For a unabashed news hound
like me, the county has offered a
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elections, recall elections, mill clo-
sures, mill resurrections, economic
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– who could forget them? – the Ary-
Kudos to CC duo
Blue Mountain
EAGLE
195 N. Canyon Blvd. • John Day, OR 97845
541-575-0710 • Fax 541-575-1244
USPS 226-340
Grant County’s Weekly Newspaper
John Day, Oregon
MEMBER OREGON NEWSPAPER PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION
P UBLISHER
E DITOR
A DMINISTRATIVE A SSISTANT
E DITORIAL A SSISTANT
C OMMUNITY N EWS
S PORTS
M ARKETING R EP
C USTOMER S ERVICE R EP
Marissa Williams, marissa@bmeagle.com
Scotta Callister, editor@bmeagle.com
Kristina Kreger, kristina@bmeagle.com
Cheryl Hoefler, cheryl@bmeagle.com
Angel Carpenter, angel@bmeagle.com
Angel Carpenter, angel@bmeagle.com
Kim Kell, ads@bmeagle.com
Lindsay Bullock office@bmeagle.com
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Grant County
Elsewhere in Oregon
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POSTMASTER — send address changes to
Blue Mountain Eagle
195 N. Canyon Blvd.
John Day, OR 97845-1187
Copyright © 2015 Blue Mountain Eagle
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to get to get to know you, and to call
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tions – well, let’s be honest, almost
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ysis will show I helped in some way
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community, and a path toward solu-
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not entering it with any illusions
about loitering in the hammock or
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I plan to continue supporting
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county library board, the New Hope
animal rescue group, the Chamber of
Commerce, and the Boulder Creek
Ranch Pie Social planning commit-
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And then there are the ranch
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horses to spoil, the goats to contain,
the weeds to kill, the trees to plant
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ey-do” lists taped to the fridge and
the computer screen, I’m sure Les
is looking forward to returning the
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As for the rest of you, I’m just
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Scotta Callister joined the Eagle
staff as editor in January 2007.
L ETTERS TO THE E DITOR
Still saying no to pot
To the Editor:
I am writing to offer credit to Can-
yon City’s maintenance men, Lester
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They take time out of their busy
days to pay special attention to my
10-year-old grandson, who is capti-
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PHQW 7KH\ DOORZ KLP WR ZDWFK DV
they perform their tasks, engaging
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ly seen us walking, and Lester and
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When the chain on his go-cart comes
off occasionally, these wonderful
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truly do care and take time to show
it! Kudos to Tim and Lester – You
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Debbie Bloom
Canyon City
Washington, D.C.
The White House, 1600
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Phone-comments: 202-456-
1111; Switchboard: 202-456-
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Email:
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an Nations interlopers we booed out
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Today, the county remains at the
crossroads of a number of public
lands issues, and much of what is
happening here will chart a course
for natural resources-based econ-
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change may stir angst and frustra-
tion at times, this has been – and will
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My successor has not yet been
chosen, but I hope the communi-
ty will put out the welcome mat as
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continue to play an important role,
empowering the community through
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with a great crew at the Eagle, folks
who are truly dedicated to the com-
munity and quite simply work their
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Marissa, Cheryl, Angel, Kim, Lind-
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Before I step away from the key-
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ant group of people: you, the read-
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generous, opinionated and full of
heart – you are what makes Grant
To the Editor:
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City I stopped by a mini-market to
buy a few things, including the May
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what’s ailing Ontario has affected
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The use of marijuana is nothing
new; it was in the public schools
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The arguments for its use were old
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to marijuana to make it sound more
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lowing Washington and Colorado to
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ised by Washington’s politicians did
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now sold by people who know how
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ing on the streets increased, especial-
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words, the number of people who
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California found that the number
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In truth, about 9 percent of mar-
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And, yes, for some it is a gateway
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And the younger a person starts us-
ing it, the more detrimental effect it
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As for the Internet being full of
sites proclaiming marijuana’s pos-
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for putting up misleading sites and
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ijuana now and recreational marijua-
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Bill Williams
Ontario
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Portland, OR 97204; and 310
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etters policy: Letters to the Editor is a forum for Blue Mountain Eagle readers to express themselves on local, state, national or world issues. Brevity
is good, but longer letters will be asked to be contained to 350 words. No personal attacks; challenge the opinion, not the person. No thank-you letters.
Submissions to this page become property of the Eagle. The Eagle reserves the right to edit letters for length and for content. Letters must be original and
signed by the writer. Anonymous letters will not be printed. Writers should include a telephone number so they can be reached for questions. Deadline is 5
p.m. Friday. Send letters to editor@bmeagle.com, or Blue Mountain Eagle, 195 N. Canyon Blvd., John Day, OR 97845; or fax to 541-575-1244.
