Oregon officials quit over ethics rule

From KansasCity.com:

By JOSEPH B. FRAZIER
Associated Press Writer

In tiny Elgin, six of the seven City Council members are quitting. The entire five-member planning commission resigned last week.

In Enterprise, four planning commission members left their jobs, as did one in Rogue River and some in Canyonville. Three City Council members in North Powder weren't far behind, and a Roseburg planning commission member says he, too, is out of there.

Many local officeholders across Oregon are resigning rather than fill out financial-disclosure forms, saying the new ethics requirement is an invasion of privacy.

"Big Brother is watching," grumbled Enterprise City Council member Sharon Sherlock.

More may quit by Tuesday, when the forms are due from elected or appointed public officials in 97 towns and six county governments that exercised their right to opt out of a 1974 Oregon law requiring officeholders to disclose their business interests. The Legislature voted in 2007 to end that exemption, reasoning that everyone should play by the same rules.

Most of those resigning are volunteer officeholders from small towns, often in conservative inland areas with a strong mind-your-own-business attitude and a mistrust of flatlanders, as people from the urban areas around Portland and Salem are known.

But many of the politicians also appear to be reacting to misinformation circulating in the countryside, where rumor spreads quickly.

Some of them mistakenly think that their financial information is going to be posted online, or that they must list the incomes and addresses of their adult children.

"One man called from Keizer and said he thought he had to list all of his business' customers," said Ron Bersin, executive director of the Oregon Ethics Commission.

He said the commission has been setting people straight, and "many are not really pleased, but they are filling out the forms. We are getting hundreds in each day."

Bersin said Wednesday that he knew of about 30 resignations so far. More than 5,000 forms are due next week.

Officeholders must list businesses in which they have an interest, sources of income (though not specific amounts), names of relatives over 18, and property held in their jurisdictions. The forms do not seek information about mortgages, personal bank accounts or credit cards.

The disclosure statements are on file in the state capital, Salem, and can be checked by anyone, though they very rarely are.

"I thought I lived in America, where I had a right to privacy," Elgin City Council member Sue Moore fumed.

Elgin City Recorder Joe Garlitz likened the departing officials to frogs dropped in boiling water and jumping out: "They have never seen this before and have an instinctive understanding that this is wrong."

Oregon has a long history of clean and transparent government and is among just a few states that require local officeholders to disclose their holdings, a measure aimed at revealing potential conflicts of interest. For example, a politician's husband might own a company that is bidding on a big contract from City Hall.

Officials in most Oregon towns and counties have been filling out the forms since 1974, though the listing of adult relatives is new.

Democratic Gov. Ted Kulongoski wrote on Tuesday to those required to file, saying Oregonians are entitled to an open government.

Drew Foster, city administrator of Adair Village, said two planning commission members and a councilman may leave. He said he fears a chilling effect on the volunteers who govern most Oregon towns.

In Summerville (pop. 105), Mayor Sherri Rogers said all four City Council members quit. She said she would like to join him, but then no one would be in charge. In the meantime, she said, the town cannot pay electricity and other bills now because checks require two signatures.

North Powder City Administrator Sue Harris said she actually may have a conflict of interest - her husband works for an engineering firm that does business with the town. But she said she is leaving over the state's requirement that she list her children: "I don't think that's any of their business."

http://www.kansascity.com/440/story/571701.html

Officials give up jobs, not details

From OregonLive:

Disclosure - Dozens of town leaders quit rather than report income sources, interests

Tuesday, April 15, 2008
RICHARD COCKLE and ERIC MORTENSON
The Oregonian Staff

ELGIN -- John Stover leaned against the counter in Elgin City Hall as the seconds ticked down Monday on his 14 years on the City Council. When the clock hit noon, Stover -- looking annoyed -- resigned along with the eastern Oregon town's five other council members and mayor.

The resignations are the latest twist in a largely rural rebellion. At least 89 officials have quit rather than file by today a list of their sources of income, family members and business interests with the Oregon Government Ethics Commission.

"You are just watching the disintegration of local government in eastern Oregon," said Joe Garlitz, Elgin city recorder and the last elected official in town. The city's planning commission quit earlier this month.

Government services could be interrupted in some communities, said Scott Winkels, spokesman for the League of Oregon Cities. City councils and planning commissions approve budgets, act on development requests and often oversee water, sewer, street and police services.

"In a couple communities I can think of, they don't have a quorum on their planning commissions anymore," Winkels said. "Or, in case of Elgin, there's no city government. It's tragic to see."

Many state and local officials have filed Statement of Economic Interest forms since 1974. But the vote that created the Ethics Commission and established financial disclosure rules allowed local jurisdictions to opt out -- and six mostly rural counties and 97 small cities did.

The 2007 Legislature ended that patchwork system. Now nearly 5,000 officials, ranging from the governor and state agency heads to planning commission members in tiny Eastern Oregon towns, have to file the annual reports, along with quarterly reports that list trip expenses paid by third parties, honoraria and certain forms of income.

The change -- especially to include family members -- caught many rural officials by surprise, resulting in a flurry of resignations over disclosure they say is invasive and unnecessary.

"It's none of their business what I'm doing," said the 64-year-old Stover, a retired log scaler.

The veteran Elgin councilor isn't alone in his thinking. All six members of the North Powder City Council -- but not the mayor -- and four Summerville city councilors have resigned, as did planning commissioners in Enterprise, Maupin, Canyonville, Rogue River and Roseburg, and in Grant County. A member of the Keizer Planning Commission quit Monday.

Gov. Ted Kulongoski has convened a group to review the reporting requirements. But in a letter to officials, he said Oregonians are entitled to open government and the assurance that officials are "making decisions based on the public's best interest, rather than for personal gain."

Ron Bersin, executive director of the Oregon Government Ethics Commission, predicted the 2009 Legislature will change the reporting requirements. "I don't think it's going to blow over," he said.

In some cases, officials misunderstood what the forms required. Some believed their financial information would be posted on the Internet. Bersin said that is not true, and the form does not ask for account numbers or income amounts. Some think candidates filing for city council elections in November have to file disclosure forms. That's not correct; only candidates for major state offices, judgeships and district attorney have to file.

Many see no point in listing household and family members. Others simply contend ethics problems are less likely in small towns where everyone knows everyone else.

Troutdale City Administrator John Anderson, who has been filing the forms for years, said he had to e-mail 21 relatives -- including some in New York -- and tell them they would be listed on the forms.

The intent was to make ethics reporting consistent and to clarify potential conflicts of interest, said Wendy Johnson, deputy director for the Oregon Law Commission, which worked out the changes at the request of the Legislature. Public officials are not allowed to act in a way that benefits family members, for example, and lobbyists are not allowed to give gifts over a certain value to an official's relatives.

"People don't know, sometimes, who these relatives are," Johnson said. Listing officials' relatives and household members over 18 gives lobbyists and the public the ability to avoid or track potential conflicts.

"It was never about small towns vs. big towns," she said. "It was about government making decisions that affect people economically."

Vacancies on city councils may be resolved by county commissioners, who have the authority to appoint a quorum of city officials. Those newly appointed officials can choose other members. But in sparsely populated towns and counties -- Wheeler County has 1,500 residents -- volunteers can be hard to come by.

In Elgin's case, Union County commissioners are expected to appoint a quorum of four councilors, who then will name three others to keep Elgin operating until Jan. 1. A county commission-appointed city council won't be required to file the financial data for the rest of this year, Garlitz believes.

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1208229906247410.xml&coll=7&thispage=1

Showdown In K-Town 2006

Area "C"

There's a lot of discussion at the moment about "Area C", the next phase of development at Keizer station. Should the council allow a building up to 120,000 square feet in this area? There is certainly much to debate. The homeowners nearby have valid concerns. But as a councilor, I represent ALL of Keizer.

What do you think? Make your thoughts known. I want to hear from the people. Send me an email.

Carlson Skate Park

What should be done about the problems at Carlson Skate Park?

Head over to Keizertimes.com to vote in their online poll.

Library Survey

Via Keizertimes.com

If you receive a telephone call about a new library in Keizer, please take 5 minutes to answer the questions. Decisions are made by those who show up.

Keizer Author's Latest Book

Via Amazon.com: It's a Long Way to Oregon

Jerry McGee is a Keizer resident, historian, author, and former City Councilor.