Back to Eastern Oregon, Where Local Government Is Working Again ... Transparently

Six weeks after my blog entry on the mass resignations in Eastern Oregon towns due to new financial disclosure requirements, the predictions of government coming to an end (still being fanned to flames by Fox News) have turned out to be highly exaggerated.

Click here to read the rest of this blog entry.

According to an article in the La Grande Observer, state law requires that the county appoint enough members to have quorums on every council.  Many of the council members who resigned have been reappointed, and others have been appointed to replace those who still refused to serve.  Councils are meeting and getting business done.

In a letter to the editor, a local citizen made an excellent observation in response to the resigning council members' favorites argument:

'Allow me to make additional comments regarding the ethics disclosure law that’s been prompting so much protest from the smaller towns.

'Some have stated that “everybody knows what everybody else is doing anyway,” which to me underscores the law’s positive value.

'To those who say they “know” everything anyway: By what means do you “know” what everyone in town is doing? Do the rest of the citizens in town “know” what everyone else is doing?

'I’m sure many of us have gone through the exercise in middle school of sitting in a circle with classmates, having one person start with a tidbit of “news,” passing the “news” around the circle and having the person at the end announce the “news.”

'I don’t mean to offend anyone who communicates effectively with honesty and integrity. However, I have lived in the Union County and Wallowa County area for the past 15 years, except for six months in which I resided in Washington. It is amazing how quickly gossip flies, and changes along the way to the outrageous. Now we have instant messaging gadgets that really speed the process along.

'If I were a public official, I would rather have relevant information disclosed to the public, certified as true by me, rather than have people who think they know me through gossip judge me through gossip with the truth having to wait for the results of a lengthy ethics investigation (not to mention the additional expense to the taxpayers) if it were to be reported by a concerned citizen. I wonder if the fear that some relatives of public officials experience about their names being disclosed has to do with anticipated detrimental effects of gossip. I believe the gossip mill will be reduced significantly if relevant and true information were disclosed by public officials.'

Sharon K. Schiller, La Grande

Yes, not everyone knows what everyone else is doing (do we even know what our own family members' financial interests are?), and what we think we know is often wrong. I certainly want people to know the truth about me, rather than what people are saying. Those who don't are either hiding something or failing to understand the sacrifices one must make to be in a position of power.

It's good to see that responsible government officials are putting their public obligations ahead of their private interests, and that new people are stepping into the positions of those who oppose local government transparency.

Robert Wechsler
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics