There is absolutely no doubt that the ASUO Student Senate has violated Oregon Public Meetings Law four times by failing to provide the Emerald and the public with advanced notice of its intent to hold an executive session.
Colin Andries’ contention (ODE: “Violations by ASUO senators debatable,” Oct. 18), that notice of an executive session is not required when it is part of a general meeting, is simply absurd.
The Oregon Attorney General’s Public Records and Meetings Manual, which provides general legal advice based on the attorney general’s interpretation of the Public Meetings Law, states: “Notices for meetings that will include both an executive session and a non-executive session should give notice of both and state the statutory authority for the executive session.”
We have yet to find someone willing to offer a different interpretation of the law, except for Andries, who ironically is a law student. When asked if he had received outside legal advice, Andries refused to comment.
We know what you are thinking: Why does the Emerald keep harping on this? Why should the average Joe and Jane care?
The answer is simple. It’s your money that the senate is spending — you should care what they do with it. It is the Emerald’s responsibility as a campus newspaper to be at every meeting on your behalf in order to inform you about how the senate spends your money. But for us to do our job properly, Public Meetings Law must be followed. Advance notice of executive sessions allows our reporters to ensure that public matters are not discussed in private.
The media is allowed to observe an executive session but not report on it, unless there is a violation of the law. It is in the senators’ best interest to follow both the spirit and the letter of the law, because the Emerald vows to report on the content of every executive session that is not properly called. We have stopped short of filing a formal complaint at this time, but any student on campus has the right to do so on their own.
Our goal is to see the senate achieve full compliance with the law, which doesn’t seem like too much to ask. Unfortunately, the senate has continued to rationalize its behavior with an interpretation of the law that is dubious at best and goes against the interpretation of every lawyer, professor and journalist we have talked to, as well as the interpretation of the attorney general himself.
The members of the ASUO Student Senate are either ignorant of the law or are so arrogant as to think they are above the law. Either way, it is appalling.
What the Emerald originally saw as a mistake has now turned into a flagrant disregard for state law by the officials elected to represent the University.
We again demand that the student senate cease this illegal behavior, issue a formal apology and institute an orientation session so student senators can be briefed on public meetings law.
The student senate’s best possible move at this point would be to air this whole mess out, take responsibility and get back to the business of addressing student issues instead of going through the whole “damage control” routine of denying, rationalizing and making excuses.
Seriously, there ought to be a law…