Kroger wants to keep state from 'passing the trash'

Dennis Thompson • January 24, 2011
Statesman-Journal

Oregon- A state manager loses his or her job after doing something really rotten in the workplace — sexual harassment, say, or gross financial mismanagement.

But months later the villain is back working for the state, only in a new job at a new agency.

The public never finds out.

This practice occurs so often that some state workers have assigned it a nickname. They call it "passing the trash."

Attorney General John Kroger says he's never heard that term, but he knows of the practice and he wants it to end.

And he just might succeed if the Oregon Legislature enacts the Government Transparency Initiative that Kroger has put before the body.

Among other things, the initiative would eliminate more than 100 exemptions to Oregon's public-records law. These exemptions often used by officials to prevent the release of important public documents.

One such exemption seals the disciplinary records of all public employees. FULL STORY

We observed this long ago. We are not sure that CPS agents even use their real names.