A4
OPINION
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, October 23, 2019
Public records
should be
affordable to
the public
G
inger McCall, Or-
egon’s first public
records advocate,
left office Oct. 11 with
some suggestions for her
successor, the Public Re-
cords Advisory Council she
headed and lawmakers and
other officials in Oregon.
Public records, she says,
should be obtainable at
prices the public can afford.
She’s right. Most of her
proposals are right on the
money. As she makes clear,
the high cost of records
requests can keep the public
and the press from informa-
tion they’re entitled to have.
McCall would create two
classes of records request-
ers. The first, including news
organizations, nonprofit
organizations and educa-
tional requesters, would pay
only for the cost of dupli-
cating requested records.
All others would pay that
charge, plus the cost of
searching for requested
records.
As McCall points out,
state law allows public bod-
ies to set their own charges,
which vary wildly from
agency to agency. Worse,
she says, they also can
charge attorney fees, some-
times $180 per hour or
more, to have those records
reviewed. The result is a
price tag that is beyond the
reach not only of the pub-
lic and media — it may well
be beyond the grasp of many
of the lawmakers who write
public records bills in the
state.
She’s right to suggest that
the state scrap the allowance
for attorney’s fees, then set
specific, low fees, perhaps
$15 per hour or 5 cents per
page, to fulfill all requests.
In addition, McCall
writes, Oregon should emu-
late the federal government
when it comes to first-party
requests for records related
to themselves or a deceased
family member, and charge
lower fees to that group, par-
ticularly if they’ve been vic-
tims of crimes. She says
charging those people exor-
bitant fees for records “is a
clear and uncompassionate
miscarriage of justice.”
McCall’s suggestions
would bring order and uni-
formity to a system that
lacks both. Lawmakers
should take them to heart,
preferably during the 2020
short legislative session.
GUEST COMMENT
Hands-on experience
O
ver the course of the last
two years, I have grown
an interest in writing
and journalism.
I recently became involved
in activities that will help
strengthen my abilities, such as
being a school newsletter author
and participating in an essay
class and English class.
In order to verify my inter-
est in this field, I was given the
opportunity to job shadow Angel
Carpenter, a reporter for the
Blue Mountain Eagle.
On Oct. 3, Angel met me at
Prairie City High School to give
some hands-on experience of
what it’s like to interview and
I learned the importance of
an aligned photo, how to edit the
photo color to make it more eye
appealing and the proper image
description.
We then had time to chit chat,
and I was able to get a little past
the professional talk and asked
about how she got where she
is and what her schedule looks
like.
Overall, the job shadow expe-
rience was very helpful, and
gave me clarification that I
indeed would like to pursue this
career in the future.
Emily Ennis is a senior at
Prairie City High School.
photograph. We
had the chance
to follow around
some lunch bud-
dies at the school
cafeteria and par-
take in the fun!
Emily Ennis
How special it
was to hear the responses from
both older and younger lunch
buddies on what their objective
was for the program.
She allowed me to take over
the camera for awhile and take
some snapshots myself, while
giving many tips on how to get
the perfect image. From there,
we traveled back to her office to
edit and discuss.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
‘Stuttering is the
only disability
people still
laugh at’
WHERE TO WRITE
GRANT COUNTY
• Grant County Courthouse — 201
S. Humbolt St., Suite 280, Canyon City
97820. Phone: 541-575-0059. Fax:
541-575-2248.
• Canyon City — P.O. Box 276, Canyon
City 97820. Phone: 541-575-0509.
Fax: 541-575-0515. Email: tocc1862@
centurylink.net.
• Dayville — P.O. Box 321, Dayville
97825. Phone: 541-987-2188. Fax: 541-
987-2187. Email:dville@ortelco.net
• John Day — 450 E. Main St, John
Day, 97845. Phone: 541-575-0028.
Fax: 541-575-1721. Email: cityjd@
centurytel.net.
• Long Creek — P.O. Box 489, Long
Creek 97856. Phone: 541-421-3601.
Fax: 541-421-3075. Email: info@
cityoflongcreek.com.
• Monument — P.O. Box 426,
Monument 97864. Phone
and fax: 541-934-2025. Email:
cityofmonument@centurytel.net.
• Mt. Vernon — P.O. Box 647, Mt.
Vernon 97865. Phone: 541-932-4688.
Fax: 541-932-4222. Email: cmtv@
ortelco.net.
• Prairie City — P.O. Box 370, Prairie
City 97869. Phone: 541-820-3605. Fax:
820-3566. Email: pchall@ortelco.net.
• Seneca — P.O. Box 208, Seneca
97873. Phone and fax: 541-542-2161.
Email: senecaoregon@gmail.com.
SALEM
• Gov. Kate Brown, D — 254 State
Capitol, Salem 97310. Phone: 503-378-
3111. Fax: 503-378-6827. Website:
governor.state.or.us/governor.html.
• Oregon Legislature — State
Capitol, Salem, 97310. Phone: (503)
986-1180. Website: leg.state.or.us
(includes Oregon Constitution and
Oregon Revised Statutes).
• Oregon Legislative Information —
(For updates on bills, services, capitol
or messages for legislators) — 800-
332-2313.
• Sen. Cliff Bentz, R-Ontario – 900
Court St. NE, S-301, Salem 97301.
Phone: 503-986-1730. Website:
oregonlegislature.gov/Bentz. Email:
Sen.CliffBentz@oregonlegislature.gov.
• Rep. Lynn Findley, R-Vale – 900 Court
St. NE, H-475, Salem 97301. Phone: 503-
986-1460. Website: oregonlegislature.
gov/findley. Email: Rep.LynnFindley@
oregonlegislature.gov.
WASHINGTON, D.C.
• The White House, 1600
Pennsylvania Ave. N.W., Washington,
D.C. 20500; Phone-comments: 202-
456-1111; Switchboard: 202-456-
1414.
Blue Mountain
EAGLE
Published every
Wednesday by
To the Editor:
Oct. 22 is International Stutter-
ing Awareness Day. Stuttering is
the only disability people still laugh
at, but we’re working to change
that. Just over 70 million people
around the world stutter, includ-
ing more than 3 million Ameri-
cans. Most people know someone
who stutters, but few understand the
condition, what causes it and how
it is treated. Many famous people,
including actors, singers, statesmen
and athletes are among those who
stutter. One in five children stutter
for a time during their development.
For more than 70 years, the
Stuttering Foundation has offered
trusted information and help for
those who stutter. For more infor-
mation, visit stutteringhelp.org or
call 800-992-9392.
Jane Fraser
President, the Stuttering
Foundation
Memphis, Tennessee
To the Editor:
Lawlessness has become the
norm! No longer enforced are
the common ordinances enacted
to prevent otherwise neglectful
property owners from practices
that threaten public safety, health,
neighboring property value and
community quality of life.
Facing lowered tax revenues
federal, state, county and city
agencies are having to focus more
on matters of urgency. Predict-
ably, behavior by those having
the lowest civic regard becomes
normative.
Prairie City is evidence of
this downward spin. The obvi-
ous question is this: Deprived of
administrative enforcement of
legally enacted ordinances, how
do the civically responsible citi-
zens counter the festering decline
by neighbors who demonstrate no
regard for the community?
Storie Mooser
Prairie City
Mala mutatio
To the Editor:
Skippy was a lady
in the valley of the strange.
There was something very shady
in her home there on the range.
A macabre grotesquerie,
specific and precise.
“Who,” would be the query,
by what reason or device?
Specific organs taken?
No blood at scene was found?
You’re sure you’re not mistaken?
No tracks upon the ground?
All sorts of holy creatures
sacrificed by whom?
So many common features,
these crimes of fear and doom.
By thousands we can count them.
No one has yet been caught.
Do anything but doubt them.
The answer we have naught.
Calvin Weaver
Boise
L
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
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can be reached for questions. We must limit all contributors to one letter per person per month. 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.
Grant County’s Weekly Newspaper
Publisher............ ......................................Chris Rush, crush@eomediagroup.com
Editor & General Manager ...............Sean Hart, editor@bmeagle.com
Reporter ...................................................Rudy Diaz, rudy@bmeagle.com
Community News .................................Angel Carpenter, angel@bmeagle.com
Sports ........................................................Angel Carpenter, angel@bmeagle.com
Marketing Rep .......................................Kim Kell, ads@bmeagle.com
Administrative Assistant ..................Makenna Adair, office@bmeagle.com
Office Assistant .....................................Alixandra Hand, office@bmeagle.com
MEMBER OREGON NEWSPAPER PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION
‘Lawlessness has
become the norm’
Online: MyEagleNews.com
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