Records request would cost area schools almost $2 million, superintendent says

Virginia-based group accuses Gresham-Barlow schools chief of impeding records law

By Kelly Moyer-Wade

The Gresham Outlook, Oct 28, 2006, Updated Oct 30, 2009

Ken Noah, Gresham-Barlow School District superintendent, says a libertarian group's public records request is "an abuse of the Oregon statutes."

Carole Archer / The Outlook

Gresham-Barlow Superintendent Ken Noah estimated earlier this month that it would cost $1.89 million to comply with a public records request from a group calling itself Citizen FOIA (Freedom of Information Act.)

Now Citizen FOIA, a group linked to the conservative, term limits advocacy group Citizens in Charge, has accused the Gresham superintendent of deliberately impeding Oregon open records law.

Noah, however, says his estimate is reasonable and accuses Citizen FOIA of abusing Oregon’s statutes.

He says the group’s request for all Gresham-Barlow employee e-mails relating to Oregon ballot measures 39, 45 or 48, “appears to be a way to tie up considerable taxpayer resources to comply with politically motivated interests.”

“Quite frankly, this is an abuse of the Oregon statutes on open records,” Noah said.

Citizen FOIA, which claims it is trying to “shed the light of day on government activity,” is an offshoot of the Virginia-based Citizens in Charge. This group is led by Libertarian radio show host and political columnist Paul Jacob, a man known for his staunch support of term limits and his distaste for campaign finance reform.

Citizen FOIA recently requested public records from hundreds of cities, agencies and school districts in seven different states, including more than 480 in Oregon.

Kurt Weber, a Portland member of Citizen FOIA, initiated the Oregon records requests and says on his online blog, www.oregonfoia.blogspot.com, that he is concerned that nonelected public employees are using public resources to campaign for political purposes.

The records Weber requested from Gresham-Barlow and other local school districts request e-mails that reference three ballot measures relating to private-property rights, term limits and limiting state spending.

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