[Libs-Or] petition response

Fri Sep 30 08:29:39 PDT 2016

Our city has had election violation complaints upheld by the State for, as Cindy said, very narrow reasons.  One was for saying the Council voted unanimously in favor of something related to an election rather than saying it was 9-0.  So you have to be super, super careful in this regard.  Our city has taken down from our website pretty much all info related to levies during the election cycle, except for the actual ballot language at times—anything that could be construed as advocacy.

On another point, I believe in Oregon the only elected library boards are those in special districts (not service districts, though), so the Douglas County Library Board are likely appointed by the County Commissioners.  And while elected officials are free to advocate (much more so than staff), that does not mean the institution they serve can advocate officially.

The other thing to keep in mind is that penalties for violating election laws are levied against the individual, not the institution.  So our City Manager had to pay fines out of his own pocket for items found on the city’s website that were found to be violations.   And multiple violations amps up the penalties.  It tends to make one more paranoid.

I don’t know the whole story, here, but there is good reason to err on the side of caution.

Carolyn

Carolyn Rawles
Library Director
Corvallis-Benton County Public Library
Corvallis, OR  97330

(541)766-6910

Enrich|Excite|Explore

From: Libs-Or [mailto:libs-or-bounces at listsmart.osl.state.or.us] On Behalf Of Cindy Gibbon
Sent: Thursday, September 29, 2016 10:58 PM
To: Karen Hill <karenh at wccls.org>
Cc: libs-or <libs-or at listsmart.osl.state.or.us>
Subject: Re: [Libs-Or] petition response

Best practice would be to have anything being distributed by the library regarding the election vetted by the Secretary of State to make sure that it meets the requirements of Oregon election law.  Those parameters are fairly narrow--much more narrow than we might wish.  I am fairly certain there have been rulings that, for example, you cannot say what will happen if the measure does not pass.

Anything on the library website would need to meet these criteria, as would any printed material the library distributes.

The campaign committee, a separate entity from the library, can have its own web site and distribute material in favor of the measure.  Library staff can work on the campaign as long as they do it on their own time and with no use of public resources.

Other libraries that have been down this road before can provide examples of the type of
material that we have used that did pass the vetting process, if that would help.

We can also point to resources that would help with better und
I am pre
erstanding election law.

On Thursday, September 29, 2016, Karen Hill <karenh at wccls.org<mailto:karenh at wccls.org>> wrote:
Assuming that the Board is elected, they can advocate for the library. Have they?

Karen Hill, Cornelius Library Director
Sent from my smartphone.

-------- Original message --------
From: Diedre Conkling <diedre08 at gmail.com<javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','diedre08 at gmail.com');>>
Date: 9/29/16 8:50 PM (GMT-08:00)
To: libs-or <libs-or at listsmart.osl.state.or.us<javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','libs-or at listsmart.osl.state.or.us');>>
Subject: Re: [Libs-Or] petition response

The viewpoint from EveryLibrary and OLA:  Important Update:   upon our review this evening, the library website still lacks any information about the upcoming vote, what appears on the ballot, and what the plan is for the community if it passes or fails.  It is not just news articles and pro comments that have been removed.  This was as of 9/29/16 at 4:33 p.m.

I'm suggesting that people might want to read more about Commissioner Boice's position on the formation of a library district.  Here is one piece that popped up in my Facebook news feed:
http://ijpr.org/post/group-tries-save-douglas-county-libraries#stream/0.

On Sep 29, 2016 8:43 PM, "Traci Willey" <tracij1031 at gmail.com<javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','tracij1031 at gmail.com');>> wrote:
This is the email I received in response to signing the Douglas County petition:

The information that you received regarding the removal of voter information is inaccurate.  There was a link from the library’s webpage to news articles and letters to the editor regarding the proposed library taxing district in Douglas County.  However, only links to “pro” articles and letters to the editor in the paper were included while no links to “con” arguments were included.  This is representative of a partial perspective which is contrary to State Law.  The website was temporarily disrupted while the IT department at the library was asked to either remove the link to the news stories, or modify it to be all inclusive.  There was no suppression of information by the commissioners.  The steps taken were in an effort to create exactly what you are advocating for, a free and fair election by an informed electorate.  Please don’t make false accusations without verifying the facts in the future.

Thank you,

Chris Boice
Douglas County Commissioner
Courthouse Rm 217
1036 S.E. Douglas Av
Roseburg, OR 97470

Michelle L. Endicott, Board Assistant
Commissioner Chris Boice
Douglas County Board of Commissioners
1036 SE Douglas Ave. – Room 217
Roseburg, OR 97470
Direct Phone:  (541) 440-6104<tel:%28541%29%20440-6104>
Office:  (541) 440-4201<tel:%28541%29%20440-4201>
Email:  michelle at co.douglas.or.us<javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','michelle at co.douglas.or.us');>

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--
Cindy

Cindy Gibbon
Access and Information Services Director
My schedule: Monday through Friday
Multnomah County Library
503.988.5496
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