The Oregon Lottery has been stirring up concerns among the public ever since they were to launch the infamous OR cade, the website designed for second-chance drawings that for some it is clear that the lottery is targeting the youth.

Bill Crane from Northwest Portland is one of residents that is very concerned about this piece of news and he really wanted to give the Oregon Lottery a piece of his mind. US lottery

His plan was to  attend one of the commission´s meetings since they meet Friday morning and Crane thought that he would simply drive to Salem and sign up to comment.  However there was one tiny weeny detail he didn´t know about, the commission doesn´t allow public opinion at its regular meetings which made Crane very very upset. 

“When the government is preparing to do something that terribly wrong, you should be able to look them in the eye and tell them so,” Crane said. Lottery results

This of course is a bit weird since testifying in front of a public agency is, after all, something of a cultural pastime in Oregon.  People have the chance to speak their minds and more than a couple of commissions including the Transportation Commission and even Portland Mayor Sam Adams. Most public institutions set aside a few minutes so that people can air their opinions.  However this is not the case of the lottery.

“That’s just how we’ve always done it,” said lottery spokesman Chuck Baumann. He said the agency is working on a process that will allow public comment on its future marketing strategy, and that Crane would be welcome to make his points then. Furthermore, Baumann said, the Oregon Lottery at times invites witnesses to testify before the commission if members see the need.

“As far as someone just coming in off the street, it’s not the way our commission meetings are run,” he said.

 According to the Attorney General’s public meetings manual, public boards and commissions are required to allow public attendance, but not necessarily public participation.

 Among the boards that set aside time for public testimony are the state Board of Higher Education, the Oregon Board of Education, the state Transportation Commission, the Oregon Liquor Control Commission, the Portland City Council and the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners.  So why not the Lottery?  It simply isn´t logical, right?

It is clear that as an angry resident, Crane would simply go nuts with this situation and go home feeling that everything has been fixed by the government and that residents have no chance to either air their opinions nor have any role in the community.  Until the lottery actually accepts opinions of the public, more and more confusion and discord will result from the implementation of the OR cade.