The Oregon Public Meetings laws sets a policy that Oregon government business be conducted in the open and that the public be informed of deliberations, decisions and information underlying those decisions. For those reasons, Oregon Revised Statute (“ORS”) 192.630 provides: “All meetings of the governing body of a public body shall be open to the public and all persons shall be permitted to attend any meeting except as otherwise provided…” A “meeting” is the convening of a public body at which a quorum is present to make a decision or deliberate toward a decision. ORS 192.610. “Deliberate” is not defined by statute, but is ordinarily understood to mean discussion and consideration.
In Lane County, Oregon the County’s Budget Committee proposes an initial annual budget. The Committee is made up of the five County Commissioners, and five County citizens who are appointed by the Commissioners. The Committee adopts a budget and recommends it to the Board, which then makes adjustments and adopts a budget with a vote of at least three Commissioners. The meetings to determine the budget are considered public meetings and therefore must comply with the Oregon Public Meetings laws.
A suit was brought by residents of Lane County in February of 2010, alleging that the Lane County Board of Commissioners, and certain individual Board members, had violated the Public Meetings laws when amending the 2009 budget to re-allocate funds from prisons to pay for personal assistants for the Commissioners. See Lane County Circuit Court Case No. 16-10-02760. On January 18, 2011, the Lane County Circuit Court entered a judgment agreeing with the plaintiffs.
The Court found that the Commissioners had met outside of public meetings on numerous occasions to discuss the budget and come to decisions regarding the budget. The Court also found that the public meeting which was held to amend the budget was a sham, and that a plan was carried out by the Commissioners to execute their personal agendas with as little public input and interference as possible. Interestingly, the Court held that electronic communications, such as emails, can be the basis for deliberation within the confines of the Public Meetings laws, and that a series of in-person discussions, each discussion between less than a quorum of officials, could constitute a “meeting” if a quorum participated in the series of meetings.
The Lane County Circuit Court additionally found that Commissioners Hardy and Sorenson committed willful misconduct and were therefore personally liable for the plaintiffs’ attorney fees and court costs. The full decision may be found at: http://media.kval.com/documents/Dumdi-Handy.Decision.2011.01-18.pdf.
Oregon’s public meetings policy is essential for government transparency and public involvement. Many water decisions are made by public bodies, and it is incredibly important that those decisions be made in public meetings that are meaningful and exposed. The Lane County Circuit Court came down hard on the Lane County Board of Commissioners, showing just how important the Public Meetings laws are, and that the Court will not tolerate attempts to circumvent those laws.
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