OGRE

The Daily Astorian is reporting that members of the Jewell School Board each face up to $17,000 in fines for allegedly meeting in secret for more than a year. The Oregon Government Ethics Commission said Wednesday that an early review showed cause for further investigation of 17 of 20 executive sessions in question.

Washougal volunteers who exposed secret dealings at the Port of Camas-Washougal were recently honored by “a nonpartisan group that bird-dogs Washington’s open meetings law,” according to a report in the Columbian. The volunteers, known as Concerned Citizens in Action, “filed public records requests that showed Camas-Washougal port leaders excluded the public from debate over the controversial, 65-acre proposed riverfront project before they signed an agreement with RiverWalk LLC in 2005.” The Concerned Citizens are set to receive an award in September from the Seattle-based Washington Coalition for Open Government.

On Sat. Oct. 25, SPJ of Oregon/Southwest Washington will again join with the University of Oregon journalism program to offer a web-heavy training event. The more than 100 of you who braved sketchy weather for the spring training in Portland caught an impressive array of speakers, leading to a lot of great feedback. This fall’s conference looks to be even more focused on new media, and will have the added benefit of access to some great j-profs and facilities of the U of O (the key ingredients to a very fun and action-packed event last fall). The training will be distilled to one day, making it easier to barnstorm the good stuff without springing for a hotel. Stay tuned and bookmark the SPJ training page; we’ll be posting more information as the lineup gets finalized.

Yuxing Zheng of The Oregonian recently wrote about a development in Lake Oswego that should be of interest to every journalist that covers Oregon government. Specifically, a blogger has demanded access to the executive session of Lake Oswego City Council meetings, citing the section of Open Meetings Law that lets reporters attend the sessions. He argues that he does reporting and has been credentialed by the Obama campaign. The blogger is Mark Bunster, who publicly identifies himself under his screen name, “Torrid Joe” or TJ. His site is devoted to political news, issues and advocacy.
Given the potential for this situation to be exploited by pro-secrecy officials, journalists need to track this closely. Already, SPJ Oregon/SW Washington has heard several anecdotes in the last year about abuse of executive sessions to unlawfully keep the public’s business from the public. The anecdotes concern instances in which quorums of elected officials have secretly discussed contracts, public relations strategy, and just general griping— none of which had statutory justification. In at least one instance, journalists have taken action to correct the abuse. But if journalists lose any access to these sessions, restricting the ability to monitor them, it could further jeopardize the integrity of the law.

A public records request made by a Cave Junction man could save him money on fees he owes the city. The Illinois Valley News reports that Holger T. Sommer, who appealed a Cave Junction land use decision to the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals and lost, wants to see the bills from the city’s attorney. Sommer may be asked to pay $7,600 toward the cost of fighting him in court, a sum he finds unbelievable for “a small motion.” Apparently Sommer has already paid the city of Cave Junction $7,936 for a previously failed land use appeal. He’s hoping a little sleuthing might cut his costs.

Looks like the vote on a federal shield law fell short of success today in D.C. Leaders of the Society of Professional Journalists are expressing disappointment in the Senate’s vote, which stalled S. 2035, the Senate version of the Free Flow of Information Act.
A majority vote in favor of ending talks on 2035 would have sent the shield law to the senate floor. It received only 51 of the necessary 60 votes. The 43 senators who voted against cloture, mostly Republican, cited a pending energy bill as motivation. Senate Republicans are threatening to block most Senate business to push through the vote on increased domestic fuel production.
SPJ President Clint Brewer said the organization will continue to encourage a climate where journalism can be practiced freely and will push others to do the same.
The Society and its leaders encourage journalists across the country to contact their senators and voice their support for the bill. Contact information can be found at Senate.gov.

Leaders of the Society of Professional Journalists are urging members nationwide to take an active role immediately in the passage of S. 2035, the Senate version of the Free Flow of Information Act, also known as the federal media shield law.

SPJ headquarters learned Thursday that the federal shield law bill will likely hit the Senate floor for a vote today. The Society’s leaders are urging journalists to take part in one final push for action from the following Senators by encouraging them to vote “yes” on S. 2035.

“It is critical this final push for Senate action has national support because a federal shield law will benefit the public as a whole,” SPJ President Clint Brewer said. “The passage of this bill in the Senate is the final step in protecting confidential sources in federal cases, and the public’s right to know.”

To voice your support of a federal shield law, contact the following senators. Those below are either undecided or a member of the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. Their votes are vital to the passage of this important law:

Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Phone: (202) 224-3841; Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), Phone: (202) 224-5274; Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), Phone: (202) 224-3521; Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), Phone: (202) 224-4774; Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Phone: (202) 224-2541; Susan Collins (R-Maine), Phone: (202) 224-2523; Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), Phone: (202) 224-5344; Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), Phone: (202) 224-4654; Carl Levin (D-Mich.), Phone: (202) 224-6221; Norm Coleman (R-Minn.), Phone: (202) 224-5641; Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), Phone: (202) 224-5054; Christopher Bond (R-Mo.), Phone: (202) 224-5721; Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.), Phone: (202) 224-4224; John Sununu (R-N.H.), Phone: (202) 224-2841; Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Phone: (202) 224-3154; George Voinovich (R-Ohio), Phone: (202) 224-3353; Gordon Smith (R-Ore.), Phone: (202) 224-3753; Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), Phone: (202) 224-4944; John Warner (R-Virginia), Phone: (202) 224-2023; John D. Rockefeller IV (R-W.Va.), Phone: (202) 224-6472

Oregon’s legislative council committee voted yesterday not to claim copyright over the state’s laws, ending a legal skirmish with web sites Justia and Public.Resource.Org. As it turns out, the decision may also cost the public till a few bucks. The committee’s decision came five days after the Register Guard published this story, which notes “ ... state law requires that legislative counsel charge to recoup the costs of publishing the statutes — set at $390 for a printed set and $30,000 for the electronic version. The latter sum has been paid by companies such as Lexis-Nexis and Westlaw, which in turn provide searchable databases and charge clients a subscription for their use.” Public.Resource.Org has posted video of the committee meeting online.

I want to point to a unique project by the former mayor of Lafayette, Oregon, Darrell Flood. Flood was elected mayor in 2006 and resigned after a dispute about some unsavory political practices. He and his wife later started a web site dedicated to keeping government in Lafayette – and beyond – open. As part of a recent project, they uploaded five years of correspondence between Oregon city and county managers from a public listserv to his web site.

Flood summarizes his own findings this way: “There are items that we found particularly insulting. Like when they refer to their citizens in demeaning ways. And discuss how they can make it more difficult for citizens to get public information.”

Flood’s upload of the listserv contains a spreadsheet of members sorted by city and county contact. It’s useful for anyone who wants a behind-the-scenes look at how at how their government reps weigh in on various topics. I understand the project has caused a bit of a stir but Flood maintains the listserv is public and should see daylight.

I learned about the project through Ellen Miller’s post on the Sunlight Foundation blog. She prints a letter from Flood, detailing the project’s origins and aim.

Easily the most significant result of the May primary for open government was John Kroger’s victory in the Democratic primary for Oregon Attorney General. With no Republican opposition on the November ballot, he is slated to assume the role of chief interpreter of Oregon public records and meetings law. It’s obviously too soon to say how Kroger will be once he takes office. But in terms of the candidates’ statements on the campaign trail, at least, he appeared to be more conversant with the issue, as well as more aggressive. For those advocates who saw Hardy Myers as becoming increasingly pro-secrecy over his tenure, Kroger could be a nice change.

A workshop at the University of Idaho Saturday offers some basic public records training that’s geared at writing for ethnic audiences and working with ethnic groups. Learn the basics about federal and state Sunshine laws, tips to navigate a denial on a records request and how to build relationships and use records while reporting in ethnic communities. The event takes place between 9:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. in the Whitewater Room, Idaho Commons, at the University of Idaho. Cost of $10 includes lunch. It is hosted by the University of Idaho and Washington State University student chapters of SPJ. For more information, contact Becky Tallent at 208-885-8872 or e-mail rtallent@uidaho.edu or register at http://www.spj.org//emt-form.asp.

A bill promoting spending transparency at the federal level could be good news for reporters nationwide. The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press is reporting the bill “will provide online access in both PDF and searchable text formats to all federal contracts, audits and actions taken against federal award recipients, among many other details” at USASpending.gov, if passed.

The Jackson County Sheriff’s Department continues to fight a court order to release records related to handgun permits. Instead, the agency is appealing a judge’s ruling that a list of concealed handgun licenses must be provided to the Mail Tribune. The newspaper requested the records “about nine months ago as part of an investigation into news that a South Medford High School teacher had such a license and wanted to carry her gun to school.” Read more on the Mail Tribune’s web site.

The state of Oregon continues its skirmish with web sites Justia and Public.Resource.Org. Oregon officials sent letters to the web sites in April telling operators not to reproduce sections of Oregon’s copyrighted laws online. The Citizen Media Law Project is reporting that a proposed licensing agreement intended to resolve the fiasco appears headed for disaster.

A recent story by Ashbel Green and Harry Esteve at the Oregonian used a police report and internal documents to expose corruption at a youth detention facility. According to the story, Darrin Humphreys, a former superintendent at the RiverBend youth detention center in La Grande, stole property, abused inmates for labor, took a kickback from a contractor and threatened potential whistle-blowers. Humphreys is also accused of misusing a public cell phone and falsifying travel to leverage mileage reimbursement. A nice second look at an agency that promised cultural overhaul two years ago after a scandal involving sexual abuse of boys by a probation officer.