In 2017, the announcement of a major project caught the attention of Les Zaitz, the publisher and editor of the Malheur Enterprise.
“We were watching this rail center project pretty closely, because of the amount of money and the promise for Malheur County, which is one of the poorest counties in Oregon. So, an industrial development bringing a bunch of promised jobs is big news and good news, right?”
The project could have been life-changing for the residents of Malheur County, 14.9% of which live in poverty — more than any other county in Oregon.
The Treasure Valley Reload Center project received a hefty amount of state funding — $26 million — and included a robust plan for the build-out, with a start date in 2020. It was expected to be completed in the fall of 2023. But seven years later, the rail center is still in a state of disarray, its funds exhausted. Zaitz estimates it will require millions more to get the project to completion.
“(The local government) has no idea where that money is coming from and it is an incredible public works fiasco,” Zaitz said.
With a close eye on the project’s progress, Zaitz was able to quickly pinpoint that it was unraveling.
“We started to really dig in when the engineering firm, we learned, was having trouble getting federal and state permits to build in the wetlands. And the engineering firm wouldn’t explain to us what the problems were.”
Zaitz and his team, including reporters Pat Caldwell and Steven Mitchell, turned to public records to piece together what was happening. Through those records, they learned that the engineering firm’s applications were deemed “inadequate” because their design standards didn’t meet requirements for building on a wetland, which confused Zaitz. “That raised new questions for us about, well, wait a minute? This is a major design firm. How can they not be doing the right paperwork?”
He also learned that the engineering firm was trying to dump rocks, millions of dollars worth, into the site to try to fill the wetland, a clear signal that they did not know what they were doing.
Zaitz started digging in further, questioning the engineering firm and the man overseeing the project, Greg Smith. Smith had long worked with the county commission on various projects. That’s when Zaitz started running into roadblocks.
“The more questions we asked, the harder it became to get records. Greg Smith would not talk to us. He would not respond to written questions. He wouldn’t even respond to fact checks.”
But, Smith never questioned the accuracy of the information in the Enterprise’s stories, either.
As the Enterprise continued to publish updates about the project, backlash from the county ensued, and records requests either went unanswered or took several weeks or even months to come through. Zaitz said Malheur County commissioners staunchly stood behind Smith even though they didn’t understand the project. “They were very vocal in the community about attacking our reporting, and said that we were against the project, that we didn’t know what we were talking about. But again, they could never identify a single factual error in any of our coverage.”
Zaitz committed to publishing updates on the project. It was bleeding money with no real results and about to go into debt, which was never part of the original plan design, and Zaitz knew the community stakes were high.
Since the reporting unfolded over years, Zaitz wanted to make sure the public had all of the information they needed and understood why the Enterprise was pursuing the story with such fervor. He opted to provide a behind the scenes perspective to compliment the reporting. He published pieces that drew back the curtains on the journalistic process, letting readers know how the reporting was going, what documents had been acquired, what documents were still in question, who the team spoke with regarding the project (and who they wanted to speak with but received no response from) and the methods they employed to ensure the accuracy of the information they received.
As the public records fights continued, Zaitz published editor’s notes to the community.
“I’d explain to people why this fight is occurring, and that this is not the Malheur Enterprise’s information. (The public records) are your information, and this is how you judge what your public officials are doing.” The results of these extra efforts were heartening.
“I found that people really appreciated someone to sort of stop and explain in plain terms,” he said, noting that the everyday taxpayer might not understand public records law and their rights to the information availed through these records. “I think along the way, both those things were elements of our building the trust of the community, that we were on the right track.”
In September 2022, five years after the start of the Treasure Valley Reload Center project, the Malheur Enterprise and Zaitz sued Smith, citing that the paper was repeatedly denied access to public records and that Smith had knowingly tampered with, and even destroyed documents. All the while, the paper continued reporting on the progress, or lack thereof, of the project.
In spring 2023, the county settled the lawsuit and agreed to pay the Enterprise $40,000. The payout was arguably the least substantial aspect of the settlement.
The county committed to more transparency on public projects and said that Oregon Public Records Law training, paid for by the county, would be required for county employees.
Additionally, the county’s lawyer, in a rare legal move, admitted to the county’s wrongdoing. “You know, most of the time a settlement says, well, we’re going to pay you some money, but we’re not going to admit any, any liability, right? So, this was an extraordinary element of this settlement, particularly on a public records issue,” Zaitz said.
Once again, the community rallied behind the paper. “When we won the lawsuit, person after person called, emailed, went on Facebook and said, ‘Thanks for keeping on out here.’”
The extensive effort and reporting on the Treasure Valley Reload Center project and the public records debacle earned the Malheur Enterprise The First Amendment Award for 2024 from the Poynter Institute. Judges pointed out that the Enterprise’s public records reporting was, “A fantastic example of a small paper doing big work to effect real change in the local community.”
Today, the Treasure Valley Reload Center project is still in limbo. The jobs and revenue promised to the community have yet to be seen, and Zaitz and his team are still committed to reporting on the progress. Zaitz hopes his experiences with the public records reporting reinstills the value of patience for fellow journalists and editors.
“Journalists, particularly in small communities where there’s not a lot of press, have to just stay on the job and keep reporting, regardless of the public heat that you might take. Do not give up because you think nothing’s happening. There may be things happening that we’re not aware of and it’s our job to get the information out there. It’s not our job to make somebody do something.”
He also hopes that journalists make a concerted effort to learn and understand their rights when it comes to public records, and that they use public records to their full advantage when reporting.
“In this day when all of our newsrooms are short-staffed, the public records law is almost like having another reporter on staff, right?”
It’s a muscle that has to be trained, and using public records is a duty to the community, he said
