Got a minute?
Public records sleight of hand
Jessie Burke, who ran for Multnomah County Council last year, remains president of the Old Town Community Association, which is obligated to comply with Oregon Public Records Law. She also chairs the District 4 Coalition of neighborhood associations, which recently affirmed that recordings of meetings must be available to the public, though the period of time these records are stored can be limited by an approved retention policy.
Burke has a way to get around the whole requirement, as she explained at today’s OTCA board meeting. She favors a retention policy of keeping recordings “just for the secretary” for the purpose of preparing board minutes, after which they are erased. So these public records would never actually become public in the sense that a member of the public could hear them.
And she’s the person responsible for ensuring that all 30 neighborhood associations in the coalition comply with Public Records/Meetings Law.
Perhaps it is time for a change in how neighborhood leaders do business.
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These meetings are all open to the public. If you’re concerned about what is happening just show up!
Those minutes the "secretary" types up had better be full-on transcripts then! That is so weird for someone in her position to do.