Commissioner Tony Hyde along with colleague Commissioner Rita Bernhard voted to adopt Order No. 23-2007. " County Executive Session Policy" on the 21^st day of February 2007. County Commissioner Joe Corsiglia voted against this apparent assault on the 1^th amendment. Hyde and Bernhard have been at odds with Tammy Maygra, reporter for the St. Helens Update, and other news agencies over issues that she believes to be important enough to be brought to the attention of the citizens of the county. Maygra who tried to sit in Executive session at the weekly Commissioners meeting in October of 2006, was firmly told by the commission that they would not accept her at this time as being a reputable reporter. Maygra left the meeting with out incident. Evidently Hyde and Bernhard decided that they would deny selected reporters access to executive sessions.
In the past there were no specified requirements that out lined specifics, requiring any persons that were representatives of the press to show credentials. While Maygra assumed that she was to be treated the same as others that reported news in the county, she was certainly wrong, while entities such as the Port of St. Helens and Columbia County Commissioners required Maygra to belong to a media organization they did not require that of other reporters that were working for local paper media.
The two commissioners have taken it upon their selves to decide which news media that they would accept as legitimate news sources. It was obvious that the news agencies that Maygra reports for, would not be included in the elite local print news groups.
Maygra feels that the commissioners are singling her out because she has not reported favorably on many issues that both Hyde and Bernhard have supported in the past. Issues that the local print media has failed to thoroughly investigate. While the local print reporters sit in meetings and report on the surface of items of interest Maygra usually picks a topic and digs quite extensively on said subjects. Maygra has also given information that she has investigated, to the local print reporters so their stories would be more informative. These include the apparent decision of Rita Bernhard and Tony Hyde to not allow a Columbia County citizen a ¾ time job with benefits at the dog control Department, instead Bernhard and Hyde voted for two part time positions thus doing away with the higher wage and benefits. This decision contradicted Bernhard and Hyde's' stance on good paying family jobs for people in Columbia County.
Maygra felt it was news worthy for the taxpayers of the county to know how the commissioners were voting on issues. Reporting that the higher wage would have been for a local person who would spend the money in local stores, and would help support their family, citing that the Commissioners receive a wage and benefit package of well over $100,000.00 and should offer some of the same advantageous package, if they could to other county residents.
Bernhard and Hyde cited that they were saving the county $7,000.00 per year. While the commissioners vote themselves a raise every year, Bernhard and Hyde's decision was an obvious slap in the face, to the local labor force.
Maygra also took Tony Hyde to task over his involvement in Pacific Stainless where Hyde was brought in by City Administrator Brian Little to seal the deal. Maygra found out the company that was erecting the building was not union, was from Eugene, and was paying only $12.00 per hour. Maygra felt that a local erection company should have had the job, preferably union, where the package would have been around $42.00 per hour, again supplying jobs locally and supporting local labor and business. Something Hyde constituently boasts but apparently does not follow through on labor issues.
One more instance of Maygra's reporting that sets her aside from the print reporters in the area, local print reporters used a City Council meeting as their Headline, a out of town contractor "Contractors INC" who was receiving a Contractor of the Year award, from the City of St. Helens over the water treatment project in Columbia City, while that was the headline and basically the whole story. Maygra did some journalist snooping and found, while Contractors INC was receiving an award they were in violation with BOLI (Bureau of Labor and Industries), of knowingly paying improper prevailing wages to several different crafts and were cited by BOLI for the illegal infractions. Maybe if the print reporters had snooped around, they would have had, another headline that week.
Maygra has also reported on Hyde and Bernhard lack of enforcement over the Depletion Fee Ordinance, stating that the ordinance should be enforced as voted in by the voters, while Hyde and Bernhard feel otherwise, and openly state as much. Maygra felt that the voters in the County should be aware of this blatant disregard of their voice.
Maygra reported several articles on one of Columbia County's biggest boondoggles' REDCO, getting the nitty and gritty out to the public, discovering some verbiage in the county's' payback scheme, that needed to be rewritten, ensuring that if the county did return monies, collected through taxes back to REDCO, the monies WOULD GO DIRECTLY TO THE BILL AND NOT FOR OTHER DISCRETIONARY ITEMS OR PROJECTS. Verbiage, that the commissioners would of passed if it had not been for Maygra.
Maygra who supports union jobs and workers rights, has also reported on Hyde's apparent contempt of the Davis Bacon Act by remarks he made in a commissioners meeting. Not reported on by the local media, Maygra also reported on Hyde's involvement on construction issues at Wauna Mill where the implication was given that local construction workers would have the jobs. Where construction workers from Alabama, among other southern states, would move into the area set up residence, then the construction company would come to town and require a work force, hiring almost the whole work force from their own people, and it would look like local labor was being used on paper, Maygra brought this to light. Maygra felt that it was important to let her readers know what was really going on.
Along with reporting on the Abuse of Corporate welfare in Columbia County, through Urban Renewal Zones and Enterprise Zones, give a ways to Corporations, bringing to light REDCO, an on going issue, that the taxpayers will undoubtedly have to foot the bill by an increase of taxes to pay off the $3000,000.00 per year short fall. All of which is important information that the taxpayers should be made aware of.
It is apparent that Maygra is not afraid to report to the people, news worthy events that are happening in the county, news that the established local media FAIL to report. Maygra has no ties to any corporation, no elected officials; no one wines and dines her, she is not afraid to step on toes, in order to report the truth to the citizens of Columbia County.
I can see why Maygra scares' some of the elected officials in the county, and it is very apparent by the commissioners recent actions that they are scared. So I can understand why they want to exclude her from executive session, Maygra knows and understands the rules and regulations of executive sessions and would never jeopardize her ability to report to the public. If Columbia County government has nothing to hide, why all of a sudden are they out to adopt a new policy? to ban her from executive sessions? That's the million-dollar question.
Citizens should be thankful that Commissioner Joe Corsiglia supports the Constitution and by doing so voted NO on this Order.