MEMO

From: Multnomah County Chair Ted Wheeler

To: Multnomah County Commissioners Cogen, Kafoury, Shiprack, McKeel

Subject: Advantages Of Hiding Voter Registration Data

I propose that we deny access to Multnomah county voter registration records to everyone except Multnomah County Commissioners and that we restrict taxpayer funded notification of elections to our supporters. These actions will greatly benefit those of us currently in office.

Please do not be frightened by the fact that this appears to be patently UN-American. It is. But that has not stood in the way of decisions made by our nation's elected leadership over the past eight years and the Portland city council's continuing commitment to hiding inconvenient public data and supporting illegitimate neighborhood elections.

A recent survey done by Richard Ellmyer indicated that the overwhelming majority of the Office of Neighborhood Association recognized neighborhood and business organizations OPPOSE allowing their own members access to their own neighborhood and business organizations eligible voter contact information. With ONI's and the Portland city council's blessing the Portsmouth neighborhood association:

1. Purposefully neglected to inform its member eligible voters of its annual election.

2. Purposefully withheld the eligible member voter list from those attending its annual election.

3. Allowed the PNA chair, a paid staff representative of corporate board member University Park United Methodist Church, to REFUSE when asked to identify eligible voters in attendance just prior to voting.

When informed of this behavior, leaders of the United Methodist Church indicated no problem. So, even a church is on board.

Former neighborhood activist and Coalition For A Livable Future board member Amanda Fritz was fine with hiding neighborhood and business organizations' eligible voter data from neighborhood and business organizations' membership. She had no problem allowing the Housing Authority of Portland to bury its public housing statistical data from public view. The views of Portland's tax funded commissioner are now seated at the council table.

I have invited Dick Cheney to come and speak to us (Remember I was a Republican wealth management consultant). Dick can reassure you that so-called UN-American behavior is merely a matter of perspective which can work to our advantage and confirm that other than perhaps a little bad press their are no consequences. 

Some of you may remember that when I was a candidate (following my graduate student thesis paper) I supported a single payer type solution to Oregon's moral and economic health care crisis, the Oregon Community Health Care Bill and requested public housing statistical data from HAP. However, as soon as I took office I joined the Billion dollar tax increase Senate Bill 329 gang which pays homage to the failed, for-profit, private health insurance industry. I refused to hold Multnomah county's HAP representatives accountable for any public data disclosure for the last two years. In fact, except for Richard Ellmyer, not a single person noticed that we held no public hearings on my recent HAP nominee and quietly passed his nomination on a consent calendar, assuring no public input.

I have also effectively denied legal public access to county public employee contact information by requiring citizens to come to my office and hand copy this public data under my staff's supervision. My training in the private financial sector has paid off in making sure no client, or in the current case, no citizen, gets more information than I think is in my best interests. So my colleagues you see that I have proven myself ready to take the next step in keeping our county safe from those who are not already in power.

Since most residents of Multnomah county neither know nor care about county government, including the somnambulant press, I have been able to operate under the public radar without almost anyone noticing, excepting Richard Ellmyer. Denying public, candidate and press access to voter registration records as I have with HAP public housing statistical data will be no different and no problem. My colleagues we should take advantage of this opportunity quickly before the Obama tidal wave of transparency washes away our potential personal advantage of maintaining public power through secrecy and election manipulation.


Richard Ellmyer