Open Meeting Lawsuit

Lane County is facing an open meetings lawsuit. Marianne Dugan, attorney for Rob Handy, filed a suit on his behalf June 29. At issue is the May 3 “emergency meeting” that was held without 24 hour’s notice by Sid Leiken, Jay Bozievich and Faye Stewart, the conservative majority on the Lane County Board of Commissioners who are named in the suit.

Under Oregon law if a meeting is held without the 24 hours notice, the reason for this must be stated in the minutes. No minutes have been published and the video of the meeting does not include a statement justifying the short notice. (Warning the county videos don’t work on most Macs.)

More on the suit in this week’s EW, and for background, take a look at our previous stories on the issue, North Eugene Commish Race Gone WildCounty Stymies Public Records Request,  Big Money for Public Records and Conservatives Got Advance Meeting Notice.