Thanks to everybody who has hit the tip jar since last week to help me Sue Ron Sims to compel him to release the various (potentially embarrassing) public records that King County Elections keeps stonewalling me on. An experienced public disclosure attorney has agreed to take the case and we're working on a complaint brief. Please help support this effort if you can.
And speaking of suing Ron Sims over public disclosure violations, this week's Seattle Weekly has the latest on Armen Yousoufian's years-long legal battle with Ron Sims over public records, and the potential high cost to the county taxpayers from Sims' flagrant violations of the Public Disclosure Act. See Yousoufian's blog for a correction to the article and scroll down for an update and legal briefs on his case.
Thanks for the lawsuit and the fight for the truth! Stefan, you have made them confess many truths that they were attempting to hide from the public.
I will continue to contribute whenever I can because I believe you are a hero in your endeavors to bring the truth to light.
Hooah to you!
Posted by: sgmmac on August 4, 2005 10:57 AMPublic Records
One thing I constantly heard during my campaign was that access to public records has become a significant problem in our state. Although Washington has a proud history of having one of the best public records laws in the nation, citizens are very frustrated by the growing number of disclosure exemptions being claimed by state and local agencies.
My first proposal to the Legislature, HB 1758, passed unanimously in the House and Senate and went into effect last week. The new law makes it easier for citizens to access public records. It also gives agencies some common-sense flexibility mechanisms, and authorizes the Attorney General's Office to adopt voluntary model rules or "best practices" that will help agencies and local governments,with public disclosure compliance.
Since citizen input is critical to adopting the new rules, we're holding a series of open government forums around the state this summer and into early fall. The first forum, held in Bremerton this week, went very well with over 70 people attending to offer useful information and suggestions on ways improve access to public records.
I'm looking forward to upcoming meetings in Seattle, Yakima, Mount Vernon, Spokane, Olympia, Vancouver, Wenatchee, Everett, Aberdeen, Longview and Tacoma. Once we've gathered as much public input as possible, we'll begin work on the models rules, which will be adopted by the end of the year.
I hope this gives you an idea of what has been happening at the Attorney General's Office. The past six months have been amazing, and I couldn't be more enthusiastic about continuing to serve the citizens of this state in the coming years.
Best Regards,
ROB MCKENNA
Attorney General
Oops, that darn "p" key is right next to the "o" key :)