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Gorge Commission opens rulemaking hearing; staff says notice exceeded legal requirements after complaint
Summary
The Columbia River Gorge Commission opened a rulemaking hearing on a revised set of administrative rules and a disaster-relief land-use amendment. Staff told commissioners they published notices in state registers and on the commission website and defended the timing after Friends of the Columbia Gorge raised a notice concern.
The Columbia River Gorge Commission on the morning of the meeting opened a rulemaking hearing to consider two rule packages: a comprehensive rewrite of administrative rules covering open public meetings, records disclosure, conflicts of interest and administrative procedure, and a separate amendment to adopt a disaster-relief plan into the commission's land-use ordinance.
Staff member Jeff, speaking to commissioners, said the commission had published the notice and proposed rules in both the Oregon Bulletin and the Washington State Register and placed links on the commission website. "We gave far more than the minimum notice," he said, reciting publication dates and corrections staff filed after an initial filing error. He added staff had worked on drafts with legal review and a reconstituted rules committee over the last two years.
The hearing was convened after the commission received a late letter from Friends of the Columbia Gorge alleging improper notice. Jeff summarized the timeline: staff first filed a notice on April 21, filed a corrected notice on April 29, and the materials appeared in the May 1 Oregon Bulletin; Washington's publication timetable placed the draft text in the Washington register later in June, and staff posted links on May 26 when the Washington notice appeared. Under Washington timelines, he said, a hearing was allowed on or after July 7.
Why it matters: the proposed administrative rules would establish how the commission handles open meetings, public-records disclosure, conflict-of-interest procedures and other core governance matters; the disaster-relief amendment would change rules in a way that affects post-disaster rebuilding and land-use review. Staff said they prepared a 47-page explanatory report mapping each rule to relevant state laws and legal context.
Commissioners invited questions but did not take a final vote at this meeting; staff said the package is ready for adoption but that the commission may delay if members desire further review. The hearing record remains open for any public comments and the commission indicated it would proceed according to the public-notice timeline required by Oregon and Washington publication rules.
