The new Ethics Reform Bill has cost the City of Elgin their entire planning commission and Enterprise stands to lose some councilors and planners as well.

House Bill 2595 requires public servants across the state to submit Statement of Economic Interest forms (SEI) for eventual publication on the Internet.

As of Tuesday, March 24, the 5-member planning commission of the City of Elgin had indicated they planned to resign rather than submit an SEI. Several public servants in Enterprise say they may follow their lead.

At issue is an invasion of privacy that simply goes one step too far, according to city officials.

“The particular issue is ‘personal information,” said Joe Garlitz, administrator for the City of Elgin. “The problem that most people have is the publishing of this information on the Internet. When I ask people if they would serve on the planning commission if that were a requirement, they say, ‘No, I don’t think so.'”

Other public servants are equally alarmed and offended by the requirements of the form.

“Big Brother is watching,” said Enterprise City Councilor Sharon W. Sherlock, referring to the enigmatic, all-seeing dictator in George Orwell’s novel, “1984.” “I don’t know whether to resign or just submit a bunch of horse manure on the SEI. I think it will be difficult if all the people with ethics resign from government. And it is an ethical situation. They’re asking for information that is none of their business.”

Those information requirements include listing names of relatives, persons to whom public servants owe a private debt greater than $1,000, and the top five sources (but not amounts) of income for your family (including spouse’s job), and listing all of your real property.

Ron Bersin, executive director of Oregon Government Ethics Commission, believes that some of the reactions of city officials in small towns may be based on faulty information.

“There is some misinformation that the form calls for addresses and financial information of relatives,” he said. “It doesn’t.”

That reassurance does not impress Garlitz.

“The point is, none of my relatives gave me permission to reveal this information, nor did they know I would be revealing it if I was in public office. With a little data mining, (an unscrupulous) person could begin a scam. How long would it take you to find my brother’s address, given all these names?”

Enterprise Planning Commissioner Marc Stauffer is kicking up a fuss as well and says he has calls in to Oregon State Senator Dave Nelson, State Representative Greg Smith and the Governor’s Office. “The Governor’s Office is riding the fence pretty hard right now,” he said. “But they’re grateful for the information I’ve given them, and I’m sure there will be some discussion. Both Nelson and Smith are ready to go to bat for us.”

Other public servants are not yet certain what actions they will take.

“I have very mixed emotions,” said Enterprise City Councilor Chuck Corak. “Here you are a public servant, you make nothing, and they want to know all of this information. If it doesn’t get too invasive, I’ll go along with it, but if it does – this stuff is none of their business.”

Also on the list are individuals with whom the city official is in business, along with the business names and addresses. No income or other personal information regarding the business is listed.

“People are able to see where they own property and how they make their money,” said Bersin. “It doesn’t report the amount, it just reports the source of that income.”

Bersin contends that the information to be made available online is nothing that cannot already be found.

“This goes back to transparency in government,” Bersin said. “SEI reports have always been available to the public, they’ve just been on paper and in my office.”

That said, the Oregon Government Ethics Commission is taking the complaints of city officials seriously, Bersin said. “I’m sure we’ll be addressing these issues in the next legislative session. I know it doesn’t put people’s minds at ease now, but we are looking at these issues.”

The requirement to file SEI forms has been around since 1975, but cities and counties that were not in favor of the ballot measure could opt out, explained Bersin. However, in 2007, Ethics Reform House Bill 2595 introduced by Oregon Law Commission required the inclusion of the 97 cities and 6 counties that had opted out.

Currently, failure to file an SEI by April 15 can result in civil penalties of $10 per day for the first 14 days the statement is late and $50 per day thereafter, up to $5,000. Public servants also may be stripped of their right to serve for failing to file.

Oregon State Senator David Nelson (R-Pendleton) said that his office was already in communication with Bersin to come up with a solution before the next legislative session.

“I think unintended consequences have become apparent, and they are discouraging public participation of volunteers in the communities,” Sen. Nelson said. “The argument on the other side of that is that people have the right to know. (But) I think we need to give people who volunteer credit for trying to do the right thing. I think the law went overboard.”