Oregon public meetings law exists to keep governing bodies fair and honest, and most importantly, to allow the media to report on public information.
By abandoning these laws we risk violating the sanctity of democracy and the integrity of journalists, who would not be able to properly without the ability to attend and accurately report on public meetings.
On Nov. 22, the news broke that Oregon
had privately discussed the termination of UO President Richard Lariviere before putting it on the agenda for a public meeting. Matt Donegan, the board president, and board member
Allyn Ford told Lariviere of the decision to terminate his contract four days before the board scheduled a meeting to publicly discuss that termination. The board also issued notice Friday, Nov. 26, the day after Thanksgiving, when all campuses were closed. The meeting was scheduled for the following Monday, and this can hardly be considered reasonable notice to the press for such an important event.
Donegan said that prior to speaking with Lariviere, he polled the board members for their opinions and consulted Gov. John Kitzhaber, who later released a statement supporting the termination.
complaint with Oregon’s Government Ethics Commission, requesting an investigation into whether the OUS’s actions violated public meetings law.
private discussion of Lariviere’s termination and the board’s failure to provide reasonable notice of their meeting violated public meetings law.
Donegan admitted to The Register-Guard that he polle board members about their stance on Lariviere’s employment status before any shows that this board doesn’t take public meeting laws seriously.
Lane County commissioners learned this lesson recently, after Coos County Circuit Judge Michael Gillespie ruled that by discussing voting matters through emails and other private means, they violated the law.
The laws are so explicit in detailing the proper methods of conducting public meetings because without these laws, governing bodies could be blackmailing or paying people off for certain votes, passing items based on hidden agendas and ruling on matters without hearing public input.
As journalists, we here at The Torch would like to see the violators of these laws held accountable in all cases. Without holding counties, and at the state and national levels.
We can’t be watchdogs without governing bodies giving proper notice of their meetings, and voting in compliance with the meetings law.
We can’t hold our college to these strict policies if that same standard is not expected from the UO, so we ask that the investigation of the higher-education board’s misconduct continue in the public eye.
