I arrived at the scheduled WBS meeting this Thursday before 10:00 a.m. only to learn from multiple county employees that the meeting had been canceled. I went to the Board of County Commissioners window, where Kassie explained that Commissioner Chris Barnett canceled the meeting at approximately 9:50 a.m. due to alleged security concerns.
That explanation quickly unraveled. I spoke with multiple county and court employees, none of whom had been notified of any credible threats. To verify whether law enforcement had been contacted, I called the Grants Pass Police Department at 12:44 p.m. and was told no reports of threats had been received involving either the Anne Basker Auditorium or the Josephine County Courthouse. I then contacted the Josephine County Sheriff’s Office and received the same response. No threats had been reported at either location.
Many residents rearranged work schedules and traveled specifically to attend today’s meeting and exercise their right to observe county business and provide public comment. Canceling a public meeting minutes before it begins, without any verifiable law enforcement involvement, is unacceptable. If the situation did not rise to the level of contacting police or the sheriff, it did not justify canceling a legally noticed public meeting.
This pattern has real consequences. County business is delayed, public trust is eroded, and residents are effectively shut out of their own government. Under the current board order, public comment at WBS meetings is suspended for weeks, covering much of December and extending into early January. That means county decisions are being made without direct public input for an extended period, a clear blow to transparency and accountability.
Josephine County residents pay for this government and expect better than last-minute cancellations based on vague, unsubstantiated claims. Commissioner Barnett, along with myself and more than 88,000 constituents, owes the public clear explanations and verifiable justification for actions that limit public participation. Public meetings are not optional, and transparency is not a courtesy. It is a legal and ethical obligation.
Sincerely,
Deb Berg