Back to Eastern Oregon, Where Local Government Is Working Again ... Transparently
Six weeks after<a href="http://www.cityethics.org/node/410" target="”_blank”"> my blog
entry</a> 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 <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,358524,00.html" target="”_blank”">Fox News</a>)
have turned out to be highly exaggerated.<br>
<br>
<a href="http://www.cityethics.org/node/447">Click here to read the rest of this blog entry.</a>
<br>
<br>
According to <a href="http://www.lagrandeobserver.com/News/Local-News/Councils-back-in-busine…; target="”_blank”">an
article in the La Grande <span>Observer</span></a><span>,</span> 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.<br>
<br>
In a <a href="http://www.lagrandeobserver.com/Opinion/Letters/Letters-and-comments-fo…; target="”_blank”">letter
to the editor</a>, a local citizen made an excellent observation in
response to the resigning council members' favorites argument:<br>
<br>
<p>'Allow me to make additional comments
regarding the ethics disclosure law that’s been prompting so much
protest from the smaller towns. </p>
<p>'Some have stated that “everybody knows
what everybody else is doing anyway,” which to me underscores the law’s
positive value. </p>
<p>'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? </p>
<p>'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.”
</p>
<p>'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. </p>
<p>'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.' </p>
<p>Sharon K. Schiller, La Grande<br>
</p>
<p>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.<br>
</p>
<p>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.<br>
</p>
Robert Wechsler<br>
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics<br>