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City attorney presents revised executive-session media policy; council to review three pending access applications
Summary
City Attorney Ashley Weigot presented a revised policy that incorporates Attorney General guidance on institutional media and outlined criteria for nontraditional outlets; staff recommended how three pending applications should be reviewed but no vote was taken in the work session.
Ashley Weigot, a lawyer in the City Attorney’s office, presented recommended updates to St. Helens’ policy on media attendance at executive (closed) sessions at the Feb. 19 work session, citing recent guidance from the Oregon Attorney General.
Weigot said the changes do not alter the closed-session rules themselves but add the attorney general’s criteria into the city’s application process so applicants and the public can see how staff will evaluate requests. The guidance identifies “institutional media” as generally eligible and lists factors the city may consider for nontraditional outlets: formal business structure, staff with assigned duties, regular publications, editorial separation between news and opinion, commitments to honor confidentiality, willingness to correct errors and disclosures of conflicts of interest.
Weigot reviewed three applications on the council agenda for executive-session access and said she had provided recommendations consistent with that guidance; she apologized for the late appearance of the recommendations in the council packet. Councilors asked whether small or single-person outlets — examples given included a local broadcast segment and a smaller online publisher — should apply on letterhead stating formal affiliation; Weigot said yes, and that a representative would still submit an application identifying the institutional affiliation.
One visitor, Adam, representing a watchdog outlet that identified itself as FAFO DDS, told the council he had been informed the city attorney recommended denying his organization’s request to attend an executive session and asked for the council to re-evaluate the denial. He said his organization regards itself as an investigative news entity and asked for the reasons for the recommendation. Weigot said staff would make recommendations consistent with the attorney general’s criteria and that applicants could be re-reviewed if additional information were provided.
The work session did not include a final vote on the policy or on the three access applications; Weigot said the council would consider applications on the regular meeting agenda.
