O Editorial: A watershed year for clean government in Oregon

Posted by Carla Axtman on March 31, 2008

The editorial page of today's Oregonian tackles the issue of clean government and the importance of public servants disclosing possible conflicts of interest.

That might be just enough to make your eyes glaze over or send you to counting sheep, but think on it a moment. The privilege of making civic decisions on our behalf comes with the responsibility of informing the public in order to have the public's trust.

While the main idea of the piece tackles the difficulties and necessities of disclosure, one section in particular caught my eye:

In 1974, voters here passed a ballot measure to form an Ethics Commission. In what may be a first -- and a last -- in Oregon history, communities that didn't much like the sound of the new law were allowed to exempt themselves. Almost 100 communities and six counties opted out.

The ethics law has often been tweaked -- and regularly been circumvented -- ever since. Last year, legislators finally made long overdue substantive changes to it. They put strict limits on gifts to public officials. They increased fines for ethics violations. And they banned certain kinds of entertainment. No more luaus with lobbyists.

Then, capping what turned out to a watershed year for clean government in Oregon, they swept into the system all those communities that had been left out for 33 years.

One of the leaders in this clean government movement has been Jeff Merkley. Jeff helped push through those ethics laws, strengthening the commitment of government at all levels.

Washington D.C. needs leaders like Jeff, who will bring that kind of commitment to integrity and ethics with him as Oregon's U.S. Senator.