Public Meetings complaint to the Government Ethics Commission

11/27/2011: The Oregon GEC is charged with enforcing Oregon law regarding public meetings. We believe the OUS decision to fire President Lariviere in secret without public notice of their meeting and to then call a sham meeting to rubber-stamp their secret decision violates that law. We have emailed have the complaint below to GEC Director Bersin and Chancellor Pernsteiner and the OUS Board. It is signed by more than 75 UO faculty so far. To make your participation official you must download, sign the last page, and mail this convenient 13 page pdf of the complaint to the GEC. Do this by Monday AM. Complete instructions are on page 1.  Email me at [email protected] if you want your name added to the list below.

Anyone can download and file the complaint. For complete news on Lariviere firing go here. The RG has reposted our complaint here and has a comprehensive story on it by Jeff Wright, here. The Oregonian has this:

State board President Matt Donegan said Saturday he is aware of the complaint. “I have no reaction other than to say we have made every step in conjunction with legal council to ensure that all appropriate processes have been followed,” he said.

11/26/2011: 

Dear Oregon Government Ethics Commission Director Bersin, and GEC Members:

This is a request that you investigate a potential violation by the Oregon University System Board and OUS officials of the Oregon Revised Statutes regarding public meetings and executive sessions. Public officials that may have been involved in this potential violation include OUS Chancellor Pernsteiner, OUS Board Chair Matt Donegan, and the other OUS Board members listed at the bottom of this complaint.

The circumstances involve the apparent decision by the OUS Board not to extend UO President Richard Lariviere’s employment contract past June 2012, and to ask for his resignation. This decision has been widely reported in the press as a done deal, initially by Nigel Jaquiss of the Willamette Weekly at http://www.wweek.com/portland/blog-27915-breaking_lariviere_out_as_u_of_o_president.html Mr. Jaquiss reported:

WW has learned that Oregon University System board members met with University of Oregon President Richard Lariviere on Monday, telling him that when his contract expires in June, it will not be renewed.


University of Oregon President Richard Lariviere this morning said he was disappointed the State Board of Higher Education has asked him to leave a job that he considers a good fit by the end of the school year. “It comes down to a disagreement about the future of the University of Oregon,” he said. “It is a disappointment.” Matthew Donegan, board president, told Lariviere Monday that his one-year contract would not be renewed.

The Register Guard report by Greg Bolt at http://projects.registerguard.com/web/newslocalnews/27222208-41/board-lariviere-university-state-decision.html.cspis describes a process of polling of board members by Chair Matt Donegan:

Lariviere was told of the decision in a meeting Monday with Matt Donegan, the board president, and board member Allyn Ford.
Donegan stressed Wednesday that no final action has been taken. That is expected to come in a special meeting that has been called for Monday in Portland, although no notice of a meeting was posted on the board’s website Wednesday. The state board issued a press release Wednesday, saying it will vote in a public meeting “regarding the status of the employment agreement of Dr. Richard Lariviere as president of the University of Oregon.”
But Donegan said he had polled the board before speaking to Lariviere and also consulted with Gov. John Kitzhaber.
This polling process is of particular concern, given the recent ruling by Coos County Circuit Judge Michael Gillespie on a case regarding Lane County commissioners who had used emails and other methods to agree on decisions privately, before public meetings. This situation, and the ruling which involved substantial legal costs for all parties, is described in this RG story by Karen McCowan: http://special.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/web/updates/25788932-55/commissioners-county-case-gillespie-judge.csp

OUS Board Chair Donegan explicitly states his regret that the public learned of the board’s secret decision, in his most recent interview with Oregonian reporter Helen Jung, posted 11/26/2011 at http://www.oregonlive.com/education/index.ssf/2011/11/state_board_of_higher_educatio_1.html

He said the decision has not been voted on, but he has talked individually or with a couple board members as a contractual Dec. 31 deadline to notify Lariviere approaches. Those discussions made clear there was “no support” to continue his contract. He also consulted the governor, he said.

Donegan said he decided to talk with Lariviere on Monday. He proposed spending the week to work with him on a separation both could be happy with, Donegan said, before going to the board for a formal vote. He also encouraged him to speak with Gov. John Kitzhaber.

“Unfortunately, things became publicly known almost immediately, and so that ended the opportunity to have a quiet process,” he said.


A decision of this importance to the state is supposed to involve public input – not be made as part of a “quiet process” between insiders.

A search of the OUS Board’s public notices and agendas at http://ous.edu/state_board/meeting/notices and http://ous.edu/state_board/meeting/dockets shows no sign of a public announcement of an executive session of the board on the topic of President Lariviere’s contract renewal before the Monday 11/21/2011 meeting between President Lariviere and Mr. Donegan. Public notice for a decision of this sort is clearly required by ORS, as explained in the Oregon Attorney General’s Public Records and Meetings Manual (available online at http://www.doj.state.or.us/public_records/manual/public_meetings.shtml) which notes:

ORS 192.620 establishes Oregon’s policy of open decision-making by governing bodies:
The Oregon form of government requires an informed public aware of the deliberations and decisions of governing bodies and the information upon which such decisions were made. It is the intent of ORS 192.610 to 192.690 that decisions of governing bodies be arrived at openly.

This open decision-making policy is given effect by the law’s substantive provisions. These provisions are intended to ensure, among other things, that the meetings of governing bodies, at which decisions about the public’s business are made or discussed, are open to the public, ORS 192.630(1), (2); that the public has notice of the time and place of meetings, ORS 192.640; and that the meetings are accessible to persons wishing to attend, ORS 192.630(4), (5).

The manual then goes on to explain:

The Public Meetings Law requires that public notice be given of the time and place of meetings. This requirement applies to regular, special and emergency meetings as those terms are used in ORS 192.640. The public notice requirements apply to any “meeting” of a “governing body” subject to the law, including committees, subcommittees and advisory groups. See discussion above of Governing Bodies and of Meetings. A governing body’s notice must be reasonably calculated to provide actual notice to the persons and the media that have stated in writing that they wish to be notified of every meeting.[26]

If a meeting will consist only of an executive session, notice still must be given to the members of the governing body, to the general public and to news media that have requested notice. The notice also must state the specific legal provision authorizing the executive session. ORS 192.640(2).

Notices for meetings that will include both an executive session and a nonexecutive session should give notice of both and state the statutory authority for the executive session.

The Attorney General’s manual (and ORS) then directs citizens to your commission for redress:

A citizen who believes that a governing body has violated the provisions permitting an executive session may file a complaint with the Oregon Government Ethics Commission.

After the news stories on the Board’s decision regarding non-renewal of President Lariviere’s story broke, the OUS did finally issue a notice of meeting of sorts, on Wed 11/23/2011, at http://ous.edu/news/112311. This notice says that President Lariviere’s employment status will be discussed at a public meeting from 3PM-5PM Monday 11/28/2011, but it reads as if the news stories above are correct, and the decision has been made, that the decision will be rubber-stamped, and the question for the board now is just a search for a replacement:

“The Board’s priority is an effective transition in leadership for the benefit of the University of Oregon and the Oregon University System.”

Then, sometime late Friday (6:16 PM, by the time stamp on the pdf ) on 11/25/2011 the board posted a new announcement of this meeting, on the regular meeting agenda webpage. The file is at http://www.ous.edu/sites/default/files/state_board/meeting/letters/call111128-spec.pdf . This announcement includes an even vaguer description of the meeting agenda than the initial one. The announcement states there will be an executive session from 2PM-3PM on an undisclosed topic involving “a record otherwise exempt from public disclosure” followed by a public meeting “to address employment of the University of Oregon president” from 3PM-5PM.

This notice, apparently posted the evening of the Friday after Thanksgiving, on a UO holiday, less than 5 working hours before the meeting, seems deficient in terms of the relevant ORS requiring reasonable notice in terms of time, and a public agenda “reasonably calculated to give actual notice to interested persons” – especially given the many news stories on this issue, the meeting with President Lariviere a week prior, and the apparent polling of OUS Board members about this meeting that preceded all this. What’s the sudden rush? Why not be more explicit about the agenda?

The leadership of the University of Oregon is of vital interest to the UO community and the state at large. As the Oregon Attorney General says: 

“The Oregon form of government requires an informed public aware of the deliberations and decisions of governing bodies and the information upon which such decisions were made.” 

This principle is fundamental to legitimate representative government. The most famous quote is by James Madison, author of the Bill of Rights. Ironically, it is from an 1822 letter commending the new state of Kentucky for funding public education – at the time a rare thing: (http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/documents/v1ch18s35.html):


A popular Government, without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a Prologue to a Farce or a Tragedy; or, perhaps both.

The OUS Board appears to have broken that principle, and the Oregon law designed to implement it, by arriving at a decision of large public importance behind closed doors and or by using private email communications. There was no means for the public to acquire information, no public input into the process, and not even any public notice before the decision regarding President Lariviere’s contract was apparently made and announced. The OUS arrangements for the rushed executive and public meetings on Monday 11/28 appear to be prologues to a farce set up to approve a decision that they have already made in private.

Therefore we ask you to use your authority under ORS and investigate this situation. 

As a first step we ask you to request all records, including emails (using OUS or non-OUS addresses) phone logs, and notes involving Chancellor Pernsteiner, OUS General Counsel Ryan Hagemann, OUS Board Chair Donegan, and other OUS officials and board members involving the decision not to renew President Lariviere’s contract, in order to obtain sufficient documentation to determine if the ORS rules on executive sessions have been broken by the OUS Board and OUS officials.


The Oregon Government Ethics Commission’s official complaint form at http://www.oregon.gov/OGEC/docs/Forms/Fillable_Complaint_Form_8-11.pdf explains that complainants must sign the form and provide contact information, affirming this statement:

I understand that upon receipt of this complaint, the public official subject to this complaint will be notified of the nature of the complaint, my identity and will be provided copies of this complaint and any enclosures.

We the undersigned, will provide a copy of this form with the information above, and with our signatures and contact information, by pdf and mail to your office by Friday, 12/2/2011.

Sincerely,

Jennifer Ablow, Associate Professor of Psychology
Holly Arrow, Associate Professor of Psychology
Dare Baldwin, Professor of Psychology
Neil Bania, Associate Professor of Planning, Public Policy and Management
Dietrich Belitz, Professor of Physics 
Louise Bishop, Associate Professor of Literature, Clark Honors College
Doug Blandy, Professor of Arts and Administration, AAA Assoc Dean for Ac Affairs
Bruce Blonigen, Knight Professor and Head, Economics
Marcin Bownik, Associate Professor of Mathematics
Greg Bothun, Professor of Physics
Lowell Bowditch, Professor and Head, Department of Classics
Elisabeth Chan, Associate Professor and Department Head, Landscape Architecture
Anita Chari, Assistant Professor of Political Science
Jennifer Craig, Associate Professor of Dance
Paul Dassonville, Professor of Psychology
Victoria J. DeRose, Professor of Chemistry
John B Fenn III, Assistant Professor, Arts and Administration
Jennifer Freyd, Professor of Psychology
Maradel Gale, Professor Emerita of Planning, Public Policy and Management
Mark Gillem, Associate Professor of Architecture
Sangita Gopal, Associate Professor of English and Cinema Studies
Jo Anna Gray, Professor of Economics
Marina Guenza, Associate Professor of Chemistry
Ben Hansen, Assistant Professor of Economics
William Harbaugh, Professor of Economics
James Harper, Associate Professor of History
Mary Jaeger, Professor of Classics 
Lamia Karim, Associate Professor of Anthropology
Lauren Kessler, Professor of Journalism and Communication
Steve Kevan, Professor and Head of Physics
Peter Keyes, Associate Professor of Architecture and past UO Senate President
Harinder Khalsa, Senior Instructor of Italian
Peter Laufer, James Wallace Chair in Journalism, School of Journalism and Communication
Laura Leete, Associate Professor, Planning, Public Policy and Management
Katharina Loew, Assistant Professor of German and Scandinavian
Joe Lowndes, Associate Professor of Political Science
Ulrich Mayr, Professor of Psychology
Ian F McNeely, Associate Professor of History 
Brian McWhorter, Associate Professor of Music
Jeffrey Measelle, Associate Professor, Psychology
Robert Z. Melnick, Professor and former Dean of Architecture and Allied Arts
Deborah Morrison, Chambers Distinguished Professor, Journalism and Communication
Lou Moses, Professor and Head, Psychology
Mikhail Myagkov, Associate Professor of Political Science
Julianne H. Newton, Professor of Journalism and Associate Dean for Undergraduate Affairs
Jon Palfreman, KEZI Distinguished Professor of Broadcast Journalism
Jeremy Piger, Associate Professor of Economics
Rita J Radostitz, OA, Institutional Equity and Diversity and Instructor, PPM
Geraldine Richmond, Professor of Chemistry
Tina Rinaldi, OA, Arts & Administration
John Rowell, Associate Professor of Architecture
Gordon Sayre, Professor of English and past UO Senate President
Benjamin Saunders, Associate Professor of English
Kim Sheehan, Professor of Journalism and Communication
Carol Silverman, Professor and Head, Department of Anthropology
Dev Sinha, Associate Professor of Mathematics
Christopher Sinclair, Assistant Professor of Mathematics
Nicholas Sly, Assistant Professor of Economics
Priscilla Southwell, Professor and Head of Political Science
Sanjay Srivastava, Associate Professor of Psychology
Frank Stahl, Emeritus Professor of Molecular Biology
H. Leslie Steeves, Professor of Journalism & Communication
Joe Stone, Miner Chair Professor of Economics, former CAS Dean
Andrew Verner, Assistant Dean, College of Business
Ying Tan, Associate Professor of Art
Marjorie Taylor, Professor of Psychology
Ed Teague, Head, Architecture & Allied Arts Library
Daniel Tichenor, Philip Knight Professor of Political Science
William C. Terry, Assistant Professor of Political Science
Roxi Thoren, Associate Professor of Architecture and Landscape Architecture
Nathan Tublitz, Professor of Biology and past UO Senate President
Kartz Ucci, Associate Professor of Art
Laura Vandenburgh, Associate Professor and Head, Art
Glen Waddell, Associate Professor of Economics
Peter A. Walker, Professor and Department Head, Geography Department 
Dean Walton, Science Librarian
Tom Wheeler, Professor of Journalism and Communication
Lisa Wolverton, Associate Professor of History
Kyu Ho Youm, Jonathan Marshall First Amendment Chair of Journalism and Communication


OUS Officials and Board Members potentially involved in this situation:

George Pernsteiner
OUS Chancellor
Chancellor’s Office
1431 Johnson Lane
Eugene OR 97403-0175
(541)346-5703

Ryan Hagemann
Legal Counsel
Office of Legal Counsel
1431 Johnson Lane
Eugene OR 97403-0175
(541) 346-5716

Matthew (Matt) W. Donegan,
Board President
c/o Forest Capital Partners, LLC
111 SW 5th Avenue, Ste 3850
Portland OR 97204
503.200.2730 (main office number)

Jill W. Eiland, Board Vice
President
c/o Intel Corporation
5200 NE Elam Young Parkway
Hillsboro OR 97124
503.264.5667

Lynda M. Ciuffetti
2082 Cordley Hall, OSU
Corvallis OR 97331
541.737.2188

Allyn Ford
c/o Roseburg Forest Products
PO Box 1088
Roseburg OR 97470
541.679.3311

James (Jim) L. Francesconi
c/o Haglund Kelley, LLP
200 SW Market, Ste 1777
Portland OR 97201
503.225.0777

Paul Kelly, Jr
c/o Chancellor’s Office, PSU
PO Box 751
Portland OR 97207-0751
503.702.8268

Dr. Rosemary Powers
116 Ackerman Hall, EOU
One University Blvd
La Grande OR 97850
541.962.3819

Dr. Preston Pulliams
President, Portland Community
College
PO Box 19000
Portland OR 97280-0990
503.977.4365

Kirk E. Schueler
Chief Administrative Officer
St. Charles Health System
2500 NE Neff Road
Bend OR 97701
541.382.1662
Or 541-350-3730

David (Dave) V. Yaden
275 North Shore Rd
Lake Oswego OR 97034
503.863.4924

Kitzhaber elected Oregon CEO: 11/26-11/28 news roundup

11/26/2011: Public meetings complaint on Lariviere firing here.

In the Oregonian Kitzhaber finally explains why he fired Lariviere: Kitzhaber is the CEO, and the rest of us are his employees:

In my opinion, should the Board of Higher Education decide to terminate Dr. Lariviere’s contract on this basis, it would be fully justified from an executive management standpoint. Any private sector CEO, faced with a division manager who was totally dedicated to his or her specific department but willfully and repeatedly undermined the needs and goals of the overall company would, I expect, fire the manager – and probably after the first instance of such behavior; not the second.

Funny, I thought Oregon was a democracy, and we had elected Kitzhaber governor of it – with a few checks and balances like the public meetings law. If the state is going to be run by a CEO, I would have voted for Phil Knight – a man who knows how to make things and create jobs in Oregon.

In his Sunday column Steve Duin of the Oregonian rips into Governor Kitzhaber for autocratic decisions and mentions this ethics complaint. Jeff Wright of the RG posts notice of a story coming tomorrow on it.

Autzen Hat Event, Senate Web site, Deeper hole, Caravan to Portland

Ali Bongo Ondimba adds his voice to the list of Lariviere supporters. A good reminder that this fight should be about process, faculty governance, and transparency – not “We Love Our President”.

Steve Duin of the Oregonian rips into Kitzhaber: Death penalty for UO faculty and students, but not for murderers.

Word down at the faculty club is that there’s a football game tomorrow and some folks – maybe lots of folks – are going to demonstrate at Autzen in support of President Lariviere. See http://weloveourpres.blogspot.com/ for details.

Also check the UO Senate website at http://senate.uoregon.edu/content/update-uo-presidential-situation for info on the UO Senate’s efforts to resist Chancellor Pernsteiner’s attempts to usurp the faculty’s rights and responsibilities. Irene Aleshire has more in the RG. 

Meanwhile OUS Board chair Matt Donegan digs himself a deeper hole in this Helen Jung story in the Oregonian. No way this was firing was consistent with the public meetings law.

We’ll post more over the weekend on the OUS Portland meeting, scheduled 3-5 PM Monday. OSBHE Boardroom, PSU Academic and Student Recreation Center, Suite 515, Portland. I have heard from many, many UO faculty who plan to attend. Word is that Phil Knight and Howard Slusher will buy the first round after the meeting closes. In this secret video provided by a helpful OUS staffer, Pernsteiner and Donegan reconsider their decision to try and limit attendance by choosing a small room:

Will the OUS Board renew his contract?

11/25/2011: No, I don’t mean President Lariviere’s contract. I mean Chancellor Pernsteiner’s.

Governor Kitzhaber can’t be too happy with Pernsteiner, after he sold him a simple plan to get rid of a man he described as troublemaker with no faculty support, which then blew up in Kitzhaber’s face. Time is running out for Dr. Pernsteiner. Read his contracts – the 2010 one starts on page 15:

By December 31, eh? Now that’s going to be one fun OUS Board meeting. Read the whole contract – his giveaway perks are astounding. I wonder what he’ll get this time – new hot tub? Say, has OUS GC Ryan Hagemann posted public notice yet? Just curious.

The sham OUS meeting to ratify the closed door decision about Lariviere starts with a private executive session at 2PM Monday. Agenda is finally posted, here. The public part starts at 3pm in PSU’s Academic & Student Recreation Center, Suite 515 (1800 SW 6th Avenue, Portland). Be there.

Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?

11/25/2011: Did the OUS Board break the public meetings law by using a secret poll of its members to decide to fire Lariviere? Jack Bogdanski repeats the question on his popular Portland blog. No one can figure out how Dr. George Pernsteiner convinced Matt Donegan and the rest of the board to go along with his scheme to kick Lariviere off campus and take over UO. But as a US Senator and former UO student once said, “Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell No! And it ain’t over now. This is over when *we* say it’s over.” The road trip to Portland for Monday’s OUS Board meeting will go down in history.

Lariviere Links

11/25/2011, updated obsessively:

Basic info:

The commissioners “… willfully violated Oregon’s public meetings law in 2009 and are personally liable for hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal expenses.” The judge wrote: “It was orchestrated down to the timing and manner of the vote so as to avoid any public discussion.”

Sound familiar? Given that “personally liable” part, I’m wondering what lawyer advised OUS board chair Matt Donegan that he could privately poll his board and have them make a secret decision to fire Lariviere. OUS Counsel Ryan Hagemann? Dave Frohnmayer? Melinda Grier? Both the latter were part of recent proposals to provide legal advice to OUS.

    Nobody is happy about Donegan and Pernsteiner’s power grab – especially not Ms Gerlingher:

    The faculty, the union, the jocks, and Phil Knight all agree? Too bad, it’s a done deal – Pernsteiner’s OUS press release is all about the search process for the next UO President. There is no way anyone competent is going to take this job with this history. The last search took a year and there was one credible candidate after the airport interviews: Richard Lariviere. But the fix is in. Who will Kitzhaber stick us with, and why? Follow the money:

    • Dave Frohnmayer. Kitzhaber owes Frohnmayer, who filed the Bar complaint against Sean Riddell, the state prosecutor who went after Kitzhaber’s girlfriend Cylvia Hayes for a shady energy consulting contract. And of course Frohnmayer and his pal Neil Goldschmidt helped Pernsteiner get the OUS job back in 2004. Pernsteiner reciprocated with this 2009 golden parachute contract for Frohnmayer. A bit too golden, as the state audit of that contract points out. Why does Frohnmayer hate Lariviere? Read his new 2011 UO contract with specific performance requirements regarding teaching and research expectations. Another year as UO President would mean $550,000 to top off Frohnmayer’s $252,000 PERS payout – and give him a chance to get even with the UO faculty. Bring it on Dave.
    • OUS Chancellor George Pernsteiner – sure, he’s a few bricks shy of a PhD, but this would double his salary, and put him in good position for a serious PERS increase on retirement. Means, motive, and opportunity.
    • Underneath rock #3 we find Lorraine Davis. 
    • Robin Holmes
    • Bob Berdahl
    • Phil Knight

    Any other suggestions for interim President?

      Was Donegan and Pernsteiner’s decision legal?

      11/23/2011 with updates. I like the “personally liable” part.

      Here’s the deal as I understand it. The Board is now claiming they have *not* made a decision about renewal of Lariviere’s contract. They cannot do that without issuing public notice and having a meeting. Instead, OUS Board Chair Matt Donegan polled the members, then met with Lariviere Monday and told him he did not think the contract would be renewed. He asked Larivere to go quietly.

      Lariviere went to the Governor for help. Tuesday at 4PM, Kitzhaber told Lariviere no, he would stand by the board and their decision. Tuesday night Lariviere then told the UO leadership via conference call he would not go quietly.

      The OUS board and their ace legal counsel Ryan Hageman have now written a press release serving public notice of a public meeting to ratify the decision they have already made without a public meeting. This is the situation Donegan had hoped to avoid by convincing Lariviere to resign.

      Given that “personally liable” part, I’m wondering what lawyer advised OUS board chair Matt Donegan that he could poll the board and make a secret decision to fire Lariviere. OUS Counsel Ryan Hageman? Or Dave Frohnmayer or Melinda Grier – both of whom were part of recent proposals to provide legal advice to OUS regarding employment law.

      So, was it legal? Read this RG story on a very similar recent case:

      Lane County Commissioners Rob Handy and Pete Sorenson willfully violated Oregon’s public meetings law in 2009 and are personally liable for hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal expenses in the case, a judge said in a ruling released Tuesday.

      Handy lined up votes to approve personal assistants for commissioners and worked with Sorenson in advance to script a vote, making the resulting public process a “sham,” Coos County Circuit Judge Michael Gillespie wrote in a 44-page opinion. “It was orchestrated down to the timing and manner of the vote so as to avoid any public discussion.”

      That sounds familiar. Here’s Oregon’s public meetings law:

      ORS 192.620 establishes Oregon’s policy of open decision-making by governing bodies:

      The Oregon form of government requires an informed public aware of the deliberations and decisions of governing bodies and the information upon which such decisions were made. It is the intent of ORS 192.610 to 192.690 that decisions of governing bodies be arrived at openly.

      This open decision-making policy is given effect by the law’s substantive provisions. These provisions are intended to ensure, among other things, that the meetings of governing bodies, at which decisions about the public’s business are made or discussed, are open to the public, ORS 192.630(1), (2); that the public has notice of the time and place of meetings, ORS 192.640; and that the meetings are accessible to persons wishing to attend, ORS 192.630(4), (5).

      There are provisions allowing executive sessions, for example for personnel decisions. These also require public notice:

      II.D.1. Notice
      The Public Meetings Law requires that public notice be given of the time and place of meetings. This requirement applies to regular, special and emergency meetings as those terms are used in ORS 192.640. The public notice requirements apply to any “meeting” of a “governing body” subject to the law, including committees, subcommittees and advisory groups. See discussion above of Governing Bodies and of Meetings. A governing body’s notice must be reasonably calculated to provide actual notice to the persons and the media that have stated in writing that they wish to be notified of every meeting.[26]

      If a meeting will consist only of an executive session, notice still must be given to the members of the governing body, to the general public and to news media that have requested notice. The notice also must state the specific legal provision authorizing the executive session. ORS 192.640(2).

      Notices for meetings that will include both an executive session and a nonexecutive session should give notice of both and state the statutory authority for the executive session.

      OUS’s public notice page is here. OUS meetings docket page is here. I can’t find any notice that Lariviere’s contract was up for review. If that’s true, what’s the recourse?

      A citizen who believes that a governing body has violated the provisions permitting an executive session may file a complaint with the Oregon Government Ethics Commission.

      Their website is here.The same issue came up with the board’s 1987 decision not to renew President Olum’s contract. I’m still searching for a copy of the AG opinion on that, written by, you guessed it, our friend and then AG Dave Frohnmayer.

      Here’s a 1988 opinion reaffirming the OUS’s obligation to follow the open meetings law.

      OUS board member phone numbers

      11/24/2011:

      Not content with violating Oregon’s public meetings law by making a secret decision to fire Lariviere, the OUS Board members have now had all their phone numbers removed from the OUS website.

      Good luck with that. A helpful reader passes along their browser cache. I assume these are work numbers. Phone away!

      Matthew (Matt) W. Donegan,
      Board President
      c/o Forest Capital Partners, LLC
      111 SW 5th Avenue, Ste 3850
      Portland OR 97204
      503.200.2730
      [email protected]
      Matt Donegan bio
      2013

      Jill W. Eiland, Board Vice
      President
      c/o Intel Corporation
      5200 NE Elam Young Parkway
      Hillsboro OR 97124
      503.264.5667
      [email protected]
      Jill Eiland bio
      2013

      Lynda M. Ciuffetti
      2082 Cordley Hall, OSU
      Corvallis OR 97331
      541.737.2188
      [email protected]
      Lynda Ciuffetti Bio
      2012

      Hannah Fisher
      c/o Disabilities Advocacy Cultural
      Association
      SMSU #118
      PO Box 751
      Portland OR 97207-0751
      student member use email
      [email protected]
      Hannah Fisher bio
      2011

      Allyn Ford
      c/o Roseburg Forest Products
      PO Box 1088
      Roseburg OR 97470
      541.679.3311
      [email protected]
      Allyn Ford bio
      2013

      James (Jim) L. Francesconi
      c/o Haglund Kelley, LLP
      200 SW Market, Ste 1777
      Portland OR 97201
      503.225.0777
      [email protected]
      Jim Francesconi bio
      2012

      Farbodd A. Ganjifard
      149 Snell Hall, ASOSU
      Corvallis, OR 97330
      student member use email
      [email protected]
      Farbodd A. Ganjifard bio
      2013

      Paul Kelly, Jr
      c/o Chancellor’s Office, PSU
      PO Box 751
      Portland OR 97207-0751
      503.702.8268
      [email protected]
      Paul Kelly Bio
      2011

      Dr. Rosemary Powers
      116 Ackerman Hall, EOU
      One University Blvd
      La Grande OR 97850
      541.962.3819
      [email protected]
      Rosemary Powers bio
      2011

      Dr. Preston Pulliams
      President, Portland Community
      College
      PO Box 19000
      Portland OR 97280-0990
      503.977.4365
      [email protected]
      Preston Pulliams bio
      2012

      Kirk E. Schueler
      Chief Administrative Officer
      St. Charles Health System
      2500 NE Neff Road
      Bend OR 97701
      541.382.1662
      [email protected]
      Kirk Schueler bio
      2013

      David (Dave) V. Yaden
      275 North Shore Rd
      Lake Oswego OR 97034
      503.863.4924
      [email protected]
      David Yaden bio
      2012