This story was originally published on LincolnChronicle.org and is used with permission.
Wednesday’s Lincoln County commission meeting turned chaotic and tearful after a routine bi-monthly meeting was followed by heated public comment.
Last week the Oregon Government Ethics Commission voted to unanimously investigate commissioners’ votes on hiring decisions done outside public meetings after receiving a complaint from Commissioner Casey Miller. Commissioners may have broken several public meeting laws when they voted for exceptions to a budget-triggered hiring freeze using a private online system rather than a public meeting, the state agency’s staff found in their preliminary investigation.
The hiring freeze has been a contentious topic, with District Attorney Jenna Wallace placing increasing pressure on the board to approve exceptions as the number of affected positions in her 33-member department increased to nine.
On Wednesday, the board seemed to conduct business as usual until the very end of the meeting, with Commissioner Walter Chuck assuming the role of chair because of Commissioner Claire Hall’s continued absence for health reasons. During the time for commissioners’ remarks, Miller proposed discussing a resolution related to the ethics commission’s investigation.
“We will not be entertaining that; it is not on the agenda,” Chuck said.
Later, Miller told the Lincoln Chronicle that he wanted to propose a temporary suspension of the disputed digital voting practice amid the state’s investigation. But he did not send an agenda request ahead of time.
Some outspoken audience members shouted “shameful” at the decision before the public comment period opened. Many expressed their concerns with communications by the board while others criticized Miller and Wallace for airing their grievances in public.
When Wallace rose to speak during the comment period, however, Chuck said that she had signed up to speak too late and adjourned the meeting. Directions at the bottom of the sign-up sheet direct commenters to sign in before the start of the meeting.
But when it appeared someone attending the meeting via Zoom was not given a chance to speak, Chuck then reopened the meeting. The commenter promptly criticized Chuck’s decision to not let Wallace speak.
Some members of the public rallied in Wallace’s support while others said that she was acting disgracefully. After the meeting had adjourned, some of them comforted Wallace, who had become tearful.
The district attorney later told the Chronicle she had hoped to again advocate for five exemptions to the hiring freeze.
“Over the past six months, I have repeatedly requested freeze exceptions citing public safety necessity,” her statement read. “However, those requests have been denied or ignored without any discussion and without public hearing.”
