By SHAYLA ESCUDERO/Lincoln Chronicle
Wednesday’s Lincoln County commission meeting turned chaotic and tearful after a routine bi-monthly meeting was followed by heated public comment.
Last week the Oregon Government Ethics Commission voted to unanimously investigate commissioners’ votes on hiring decisions done outside public meetings after receiving a complaint from Commissioner Casey Miller. Commissioners may have broken several public meeting laws when they voted for exceptions to a budget-triggered hiring freeze using a private online system rather than a public meeting, the state agency’s staff found in their preliminary investigation.
The hiring freeze has been a contentious topic, with District Attorney Jenna Wallace placing increasing pressure on the board to approve exceptions as the number of affected positions in her 33-member department increased to nine.
On Wednesday, the board seemed to conduct business as usual until the very end of the meeting, with Commissioner Walter Chuck assuming the role of chair because of Commissioner Claire Hall’s continued absence for health reasons. During the time for commissioners’ remarks, Miller proposed discussing a resolution related to the ethics commission’s investigation.
“We will not be entertaining that; it is not on the agenda,” Chuck said.
Later, Miller told the Lincoln Chronicle that he wanted to propose a temporary suspension of the disputed digital voting practice amid the state’s investigation. But he did not send an agenda request ahead of time.
Some outspoken audience members shouted “shameful” at the decision before the public comment period opened. Many expressed their concerns with communications by the board while others criticized Miller and Wallace for airing their grievances in public.
When Wallace rose to speak during the comment period, however, Chuck said that she had signed up to speak too late and adjourned the meeting. Directions at the bottom of the sign-up sheet direct commenters to sign in before the start of the meeting.
But when it appeared someone attending the meeting via Zoom was not given a chance to speak, Chuck then reopened the meeting. The commenter promptly criticized Chuck’s decision to not let Wallace speak.
Some members of the public rallied in Wallace’s support while others said that she was acting disgracefully. After the meeting had adjourned, some of them comforted Wallace, who had become tearful.
The district attorney later told the Chronicle she had hoped to again advocate for five exemptions to the hiring freeze.
“Over the past six months, I have repeatedly requested freeze exceptions citing public safety necessity,” her statement read. “However, those requests have been denied or ignored without any discussion and without public hearing.”
- Shayla Escudero covers Lincoln County government, education, Newport, housing and social services for Lincoln Chronicle and can be reached at Shayla@LincolnChronicle.org
Wallace was elected, Chuck was appointed. Chuck, let her speak.
Lincoln County Public Comment Rules are available for all to read. There is a notable Casey Miller signature endorsing these rules at the bottom of the page.
The very first sentence of the first paragraph says, “Individuals who wish to address the Board must write their name and address on the speaker’s sign in sheet prior to the start of the public meeting.”
Our DA clearly arrived late to the last BOC meeting. She and Commissioner Miller then engaged in a joint public attack on the chair, Commissioner Walter Chuck, for not recognizing her public demand to speak. The audience chimed in yelling at Commissioner Chuck also. It is inexcusable for elected officials to act like they are above the rules. They should be ashamed of themselves for the unprofessional ‘Out of Order’ behavior they put on display. Casey Miller can be heard saying “Is the video still recording ?” Our county residents are suffering some very serious issues right now that need a unified effort instead of their chaos that is obviously divisive.
What was inexcusable during the meeting was how the author of this comment repeatedly exclaimed “Point of Order” and openly mocked the district attorney while in the audience. A proper presiding commission chair would have had the person removed. Also, the chair was not “attacked” by Commissioner Miller, he simply requested the opportunity to respond to comments. To any objective person, it was clear the chair had no intention of letting the district attorney speak, and he was called on it during other public comments.
A – An Attorney should know better.
B – This a public hearing and the public stated they wanted to hear the DA speak. While Point A may stand, the public interest was also clear and acting in their roles they had the capacity to allow her to speak. Not doing so did not benefit the public interest in any way and only shows the incompetence of the commission chair.
Would you have the same feelings if it were a “regular” citizen who wanted to speak?
Hi, Carmen,
In the April 16 meeting, a “regular” citizen who did not sign up for public comments BEFORE the meeting, was allowed to sign in for public comment just minutes before the public comment time without objection from any of the commissioners. It’s on video for anyone to watch at the 56:35 mark.
In the 6/4/25 meeting after public comments were finished, Commissioner Hall spoke to the audience and said, “That brings us to a close of the list of the folks who have signed in. Is there anybody who didn’t sign in who would like an opportunity?” A “regular” citizen raised his hand, was acknowledged by Commissioner Hall and was allowed to speak for three minutes even though he hadn’t signed in at all, let alone before the meeting started. This can be found in the video at the 40:48 mark.
It would appear that public comment rules are only enforced when the duly elected District Attorney wants to speak.
When each of them is up for re-election, Wallace and Miller need to go. Their antics are unacceptable and ridiculous.
It was a miscalculation on Wallace’s part to sign up to speak well after the meeting started. She had been sitting in the audience for the entire meeting but didn’t submit her request to speak until near the end of the meeting when the public comment period was just beginning. Good for Commissioner Walter Chuck for not bending to her performative antics.