11:01 AM Wed, Oct 17, 2007 | Permalink
Pat Dooris
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By, Pat Dooris
I don't know about you---but I don't really like confronting people. It makes me uncomfortable---and I worry about how they'll react---will they say or do something they would not ordinarily do and make themselves look like something they are not?
Which is not to say I won't do it if I have to.
Tuesday I began a second day of trying to get a comment from Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski. I wanted him to respond to a complaint letter filed with the Oregon State Bar which basically charged the governor had lied to the public about what he knew and when he knew former Governor Neil Goldschmidt had sexually abused a 14 year old girl.
He'd told us on tape in 2004 that he did not know anything about that until it became public in 2004. But Goldschmidt's former speech writer says that's a lie---that he personally told Kulongoski about the abuse in the early 90's---because Kulongoski was about to run for Attorney General and Goldschmidt was going to be part of the campaign team.
I thought the public deserved an updated answer in light of the bar complaint.
I'd talked to his press secretary Monday and she said he was not available because he was taking part in the Top Off drill.
I called and talked to her twice Tuesday and was told the same thing. My assistant news director and I called one more time on Tuesday and made it clear that if the governor did not make time for us, even five minutes, we would have to ask him about it during a news conference scheduled to talk about Top Off.
We suggested talking about it a moment before or after the press conference to keep the two separate. His staff refused.
So, after the news conference began, and after the Governor and others had a chance to say their piece about top off---I waited. I wanted other journalists to get a chance to ask the governor or others what they wanted about the drill. But I also worried his staff would whisk the governor away without giving me a chance to ask my question.
After three questions to the federal guy running Top Off---I asked my question. " Governor---the state bar is reviewing a complaint that you lied to the public about the Goldschmidt abuse---is that true sir?"
Half way through the question the moderator, who had warned us twice that they would not allow any questions off the topic of Top Off began to cut me off. He told me to refer my question to the press secretary. I cut him off---stating this was the only place the governor was available. There was no other time.
With that the governor turned on his heel and said "lets go!" and walked off the stage.
The reason I ignored the "no questions off the topic" rule is because I had no choice. I believe the public has a right to hear from the top elected official in the state on this topic. I personally like and respect Ted Kulongoski and expected him to easily brush off the question---noting he'd answered it before and the answer had not changed.
I have no idea why he walked off without answering.
I hope he answers the question soon.
Since you were told three times that the Governor was too busy with the TOP-OFF drill to answer any other questions, you should have waited until Wednesday when the drill was over. Butting in with a question anyway is not only unproffesional, it is rude. The governor's response was completely appropriate -- you ignored repeated requests to simply wait until the drill was over and blurted out your question anyway. He simply ignored you and walked away. He's the one trying not to be confrontational, not you.
I applaud you for seeking Kulongowski's comment on this. Regardless of what side of the political line you're on, accusations as serious as this need to be addressed.
His walking off the stage makes him have "guilty" written all over him!!
Good Job Pat! You represent us as the public people who put him into the office he is in. We all know that being the "top dog" so to speak comes with pros and cons. One of which is having to answer the tough questions. The fact is that if he did indeed have knowledge of this situation, and he did lie, then he should answer for it. If not then we move on- either way the voters should remember this when it comes time for Governor Kulongoski's re-election.
I sincerely hope you will continue to do your job and press the question. Refusing to answer is an unacceptable arrogance.
It is about time the media called this poor leader of Oregon to task. You never get an answer or at least the truthful answer. Thats just Ted being Ted
Pat you did the right thing by asking that MORON that question. You are the only reporter with the guts to ask that inept phony of a govenor a tough question. He represents US the taxpayer. He needs to get off his ass and quit worrying about the unions and focus on we OREGONIANS.
A person is under investigation and you expect a public comment? No matter who you are, guilty or not it's stupid to make a public comment about something that's being investigated. My question is what's Pat Dooris's real agenda? I don't believe it was to gather news.
Interesting, Pat, that you neglect to tell the viewers that conservative talk show host Lars Larson is the one who's filed the complaint. I imagine you left out this key detail because you're somewhat embarrassed to be doing his bidding, as you should be.
What I don't understand is how long would it have taken the governor to say "I have no comment at this time." A total of three seconds? I disagree with the earlier comment about you being rude, I think the governor was being rude. It will be interesting to see in the coming days if he finally answers you, Mr. Dooris.
Well, what can you do? When an elected public official repeatedly denies a constituent a chance to ask a question, when else can they do it? Kudos to you for wanting an answer. I would like one, too. It makes me wonder what he is hiding, walking off like that.
Sounds to me like the Gov. has some unresolved issues himself. Maybe we should be looking into his past.
As a reporter I think you have every right to ask my governor the question you had asked. If his staff would not schedule you private time to discuss the matter, asking him in the public is the only way to do.
Seeing my governor walking off the podium, did not give me confidence on his honesty. He could say I would direct my press secretary to give you private interview time later.
Our U.S. Constitution, gives us, including my governor, a right to remain silence. But we need to exercise it. I encourage my governor to say he wants to exercise his constitutional right in public. Until my governor did so, Pat, I think you still have a right to ask him.
So who's being a liar now? Did the station suggest you write this ridiculous blog to try to salvage their reputation? You were absolutley trying to be confrontational, Pat. You were deliberately trying to publically embarrass the governor and undermine his authority in front of state and federal agency leaders. The fact that you warned his staff and you were told he wouldn't answer that question during the conference, goes to show that you had no intention of obtaining a real answer. For the record I am not a fan of Kulongoski, and I am a fan of Lars, but that doesn't mean I condone your behavior. You could have simply broadcast that the governor's staff said he is "too busy with TOPOFF to address your questions" and he still would have looked like he was avoiding the topic. What you did was bad journalism. How does it feel knowing you've created a bad reputation for yourself and burned your bridges with many future news sources? Ouch! I hope the extra cash, or whatever else you are getting out of this, was worth it. Hey, why not, it wouldn't be unreasonable to think you could be accepting rewards, since your journalism ethics are already questionable.
Pat, thank you for taking the oppotunity to try to get to the truth. I myself have questions that I would like to ask Ted about things that have had a direct negative impact on my children and I. But, even one chance to be able to confront him won't happen in my lifetime because he is so isolated from the real world and the true hard working Oregonians like me. You gave me hope that, even though he is a 'good ole boy', he is not untouchable and can still be held accountable for his actions. We should all have the courage to question authority...and respect authenticity.
Thanks again Pat! It's nice to know all is not lost.
PAT I HAVE TO SAY GOOD JOB.IT'S OBVIOUS THAT TED KNOW'S SOMETHING OR HE WOULD HAVE MADE TIME TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION BEFORE THE PRESS CONFRENECE.ONLY THE GUILTY RUN AND HIDE BEHIND TERROR DRILLS.GOOD JOB ON PUSHING THE QUESTION.IT'S WHAT REPORTERS ARE SUPPOSED TO.
Pat Dorris,
I was upset at and embarrassed for you at the inappropriate timing of confronting Kulungoski about old business.
Perhaps there needs to be further investigation into what he knew about Goldschmidt's on-going totally inappropriate and illegal sexual relationship with a 14 yr.old girl, but it feels to me you were grandstanding for your own ego, your own purpose, and you were not concerned about the reason the press conference was being given.
Shame on you. This Homeland Security drill took incredible planning and execution by state and national organizations,involving hundreds of people-hours and thousands if not millions of dollars, and all that effort was sharply tainted by your lack of judgement, your lack of concern for the higher good of the citizens of Oregon and the citizens of the USA.
Sincerely,
Patricia
No one really knows the whole story at this point, but Lars Larson is such a despicable troublemaker it is difficult to give credence to anything he does or says. Subject was clearly off topic at this news conference, and recalling the days of legal professionals trying to deal with the aggressive media during the Tonya Harding debacle, I strongly disagree that Dorris dislikes confrontation. He loves it. I'm withholding judgment until all the facts are in re the governor.