WILSONVILLE – “I pledge to no longer buy bottled water for personal use. I pledge to tell my friends and family why I am making this choice and encouraging them to join me.”

These are just two of the six pledges that students, staff and community members had to make to get one of 500 new stainless steel water bottles, at a cost to taxpayers of $5,595.

BY JACOB SZETO
PORTLAND- TriMet and the Multnomah County District Attorney have denied the public access to key documents that will determine the outcome of current labor negotiations at the public transit agency.
These labor negotiations will determine such things as salary, wages and fringe benefits. In a single year these items cost around $250 million. Multiplied [...]

Part Two of Two
By JACOB SZETO
In the first part of this series, it was shown that Oregonians collectively owe at least $3 billion in Other Post-Employment Benefits (OPEB), which cost $300 million annually.
The magnitude of OPEB debt and costs were unknown, at least to the general public, until recently when the Government Accounting Standards Board [...]

Part One of Two
By JACOB SZETO
 
SALEM – New information has shown that Oregon’s state and local governments owe an additional $3 billion in benefits to their retirees.
Other Post-Employment Benefits (OPEB) debt has reached at least $3 billion statewide but will not be found on government balance sheets. The annual cost for OPEB is $300 million, [...]

BY JACOB SZETO
PORTLAND – It has been a tight race between the two largest employment sectors over the last year in Oregon, but the “trade, transportation and utilities” sector continues to beat out the government sector by a narrow margin.
A table from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that the government employed 299,000 Oregonians [...]

BY JACOB SZETO
SALEM – In 2009, Oregonian taxpayers paid $152,317 for Service Employees International Union activities, according to records provided by the State Controllers Division at the request of Oregon Politico.
State workers represented by SEIU are given paid time-off for certain union activities. This time amounted to a total of 6,706.17 hours in 2009.
As agreed [...]

BY JACOB SZETO
PORTLAND – In an Oregon Politico effort to obtain city records, a city staffer revealed that the highest paid staff is usually the one fulfilling the low-level records requests.
Public records requests are requests made by citizens to their government for information. In Oregon, the citizen is charged for the staff time to make [...]

BY JACOB SZETO
Portland – On Saturday morning, the Portland Public Schools (PPS) approved a labor contract with the Portland Association of Teachers.
The agreement has yet to be published online but Oregon Politico has obtained a copy and posted it for the public to examine.
When Oregon Politico asked PPS last week when the board would vote [...]

BY JACOB SZETO
PORTLAND- Portland Public Schools (PPS) and the Portland Association of Teachers union have come to a tentative collective bargaining agreement (CBA), but the public will not be allowed to see it until it is approved by both the district and the union.
This agreement will run for three years, retroactive to July 2009. Among [...]

BY JACOB SZETO
SALEM- An Oregon Politico investigation has revealed that state agencies and local governments are claiming their unclaimed property.
The Unclaimed Property office is a division of the Department of State Lands. This division’s goal is to “reunite as many people as possible with their money or possessions.” Often this brings to mind only individuals [...]