Quote of the Day

Troutdale City Councilor Robert Canfield -- noting a Medford Mail Tribune article asking if the Medford City Council was violating the state's open meeting laws -- claims that the Troutdale council tries to follow the letter of the law. But, he notes, it hasn't always been that way (emphasis mine, because it made me laugh):

I've heard that once upon a time, previous Troutdale city council members did indeed decide issues prior to public meetings. There were many 7-0 votes. Some people say that 7-0 votes are a sign of a smoothly running city council. Consensus and all the huggy feely sentiments that go with that kind of thinking are, with all due respect to you consensus fans, a load of crap. A consistent pattern of unanimous votes is evidence that decisions are being made prior to a public meeting.

As someone who sometimes worked as a reporter covering small city councils, I can say that it's easy for them to violate such "Sunshine" laws if they want, because there's really not too much oversight by citizens or the Fourth Estate. I also believe most small-town councils want to follow the law and don't have enough power to tempt them to do otherwise, but for those few ne'er-do-wells, the law (and the oversight) is important.