Portland learns secret ballot violates sunshine law
The Portland City Council will be re-taking a vote to fill an empty council seat after a secret ballot vote by council members in January violated the state’s sunshine law, Portland’s mayor said. “We’ve got no choice but to re-do the vote. I think we all just weren’t thinking,” said Portland Mayor Kenneth Wilber. “It was done in the open. We didn’t think we need to read the ballots. It was an honest mistake, no one was trying to do anything wrong.” The council cast secret ballots in an unusual process that was apparently decided in “gentlemen agreements” before the meeting. During the Jan. 7 meeting, according to The Portland [...]