Oregon Black Affairs commission emails, letters point to meltdown
SALEM -- Gov. John Kitzhaber presided over a Capitol gathering on Feb. 6 that celebrated the state's African American community. Behind the scenes that month, the state's Commission on Black Affairs was melting down into nasty accusations and threats.
By mid-June, Kitzhaber took the highly unusual step of firing two of the volunteer commissioners. The governor's staff still declines to say why the two men were dismissed, citing legal concerns. Both men say they've done nothing wrong.
But disputes within the Black Affairs commission have revived talk of the need to re-examine the role and purpose of the state's myriad boards and commissions.
Sen. Jackie Winters, a Salem Republican who helped create the Oregon Commission on Black Affairs, questions whether it, along with other state "advocacy commissions," should continue to exist.
"What was done 20 or 40 years ago may not be relevant or applicable today," said Winters, who helped establish the Commission on Black Affairs in 1980 while working for former Republican Gov. Vic Atiyeh.
By law, the commission is supposed to advise the Legislature and state agencies on the most pressing issues within the African American community. Winters, who is the only African-American serving in the Oregon Senate, says she can't remember getting any reports from the group lately.
http://www.oregonlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2012/06/oregon_black_affairs_commissio_1.html
