Goldschmidt documents to be sent to Oregon state archives
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SALEM, Ore. — Three weeks after Neil Goldschmidt admitted having sex with a 14-year-old girl in the 1970s, Oregon's secretary of state said yesterday he is taking custody of official records from Goldschmidt's years as governor.
The records are stored at the Oregon Historical Society.
Secretary of State Bill Bradbury said public access to the documents isn't adequate under conditions imposed years ago by Goldschmidt — that requests for documents are subject to approval by himself or his agents.
"The public has a right to access all important government records, and it is the archives' duty to protect that right," said Bradbury, whose office has jurisdiction over the state archives in Salem.
Bradbury said people seeking the records also must pay Goldschmidt's private attorneys an hourly fee to review requests for his records.
State law authorizes State Archivist Roy Turnbaugh to take possession of public records if he determines they are being stored under conditions that make them unavailable for public use.
Bradbury said private citizens — including the former governor or his representatives — don't have authority to decide whether to disclose public records.
Turnbaugh said plans are to pick up records Tuesday at the society's Gresham warehouse.
Turnbaugh said he had requests for Goldschmidt's records well before the former governor disclosed on May 6 that he had illicit sexual relations with a girl when he was Portland mayor in the mid-1970s.
Goldschmidt spokesman Brian Gard has said he knows of nothing in the records pertaining to the sexual misconduct. Gard did not return calls for comment on whether Goldschmidt would try to block the records transfer.