The Oregon Department of Justice is looking into allegations that University General Counsel Melinda Grier delayed to release public records and made “false statements” about the University’s Underrepresented Minority Recruitment Plan, according to a letter signed by Christine Chute of the justice department.
Economics professor Bill Harbaugh made the allegations against Grier in early January, he said, following what he calls significant delays in receiving public records about the University’s basketball arena and Underrepresented Minority Recruitment Plan. The letter is the first response he’s received.
The General Counsel serves as the University’s lawyer and heads an office that complies with the state’s Public Records Law. That office also obtains and redacts information from official documents so they can be released to the public upon request.
The inquiry is not an official investigation, said justice department Spokeswoman Stephanie Soden.
Chute, who declined to comment Thursday, is seeking copies of requests Harbaugh made to Grier for public records and all of Grier’s responses, according to the letter. She also asks Harbaugh to provide evidence that Grier has ever made false statements. Grier could not be reached for comment by press time.
It’s too soon to say what will come of the inquiry, Soden said.
Chute’s letter indicates her inquiry comes at the request of Oregon Attorney General Hardy Myers.
Citing legal concerns, Harbaugh declined to provide specifics about his allegations that Grier made false statements about the Underrepresented Minority Recruitment Plan.
Harbaugh said he received the letter from the DOJ about an hour after Oregonian columnist Steve Duin wrote a column and made a blog post supporting Harbaugh and accusing Myers of serving the “interests of the state’s various institutions and agencies, even when they’re on their worst behavior, and not the citizens of Oregon.”
Harbaugh has received attention recently for obtaining a 2004 report about the new basketball arena, which was based on different plans but said the project might earn $4.1 million annually. That estimation was much smaller than current estimations from private consultant CSL International that predict between $10.5 million to $16.1 million.
This isn’t the first time Harbaugh has made complaints against University administrators. In the fall of 2006, Harbaugh brought complaints against University President Dave Frohnmayer and former Vice President and Provost John Moseley to the Government Standards and Practices Commission. His complaints, which both the GSPC and the Oregon State Bar dismissed, accused the administrators of failing to disclose information on their Verified Statement of Economic Interest form.
[email protected]