PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) -- Although a notice from a Portland neighborhood coalition posted three days before a Monday evening meeting between residents, businesses and Multnomah County officials on the topic of a deflection center for drug addicts and those under the influence of drugs or alcohol said the gathering was "open to the public," it was not a public meeting as defined under Oregon state law.
In our story on Monday evening, KOIN 6 News reported the meeting as a "public meeting."
A note from the county on the day of the meeting said it was no longer public, but then went on to say that public testimony would be allowed at the Good Neighbor Agreement meeting with concerned residents, including representatives from the Buckman Community Association and Central Eastside Industrial Council.
The night of the meeting, county officials stopped a KOIN 6 News reporter and photographer from attending even the public testimony part of the meeting.
The county has faced criticism over the transparency of its decision-making process on where to put the deflection center.
KOIN 6 News has previously reported some county commissioners have told our reporters they have found out about developments with the projects from the media, not from county leadership.
Even an attorney for one of the groups involved in negotiating the Good Neighbor Agreement told our Joelle Jones this week they've had concerns about the county's transparency for more than a month.
"There's also a legal question of whether the leadership team that's designed the whole implementation of the deflection program for the county has complied with Oregon's public meetings law. We've told the county we don't think they have," David Watnick, an attorney with the firm Perkins Coie and representing a daycare facility situated near the proposed site, told KOIN 6 News. "I think everything they should do from this moment forward must be in public so that everyone in Multnomah County knows what's going on and what decisions they're making."
This is an issue of vital importance to that neighborhood and the entire City of Portland.
Stay with KOIN 6 News as we continue to follow and report on the developments of the Multnomah County deflection center and holding our leaders accountable.
