August 30, 2005
It's in the P-I
The P-I editorial board got one right! "Public Disclosure: Penalty too small"
At the risk of sounding like spendthrifts of the public purse, we have to agree with Armen Yousoufian that the largest award ever in a state public records case is simply not large enough.
There's a poll at the bottom which asks:
Is it fair to take public disclosure fines from the taxpayers or should officials themselves have to pay?
Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at August 30, 2005
11:07 AM | Email This
1. Failure to uphold the law by a public official should result in immediate firing. Violating disclosure is a particularly egregious violation that contravenes the publics knowledge of the workings of government, and the ability for us to make informed decisions.
To withhold documents that are by definition "Public" is arrogant and show a high level of contempt for the public, as well as violations of PD laws. Such people do no belong in office.
Only in King Co. is such behavior a "Public Service" reminds one of the communist regimes.
2. The fine should be MUCH bigger and the County - meaning the voters - should have to pay it. Maybe then the voters would realize how arrogant Sims and kick him out of office.
3. Please go to the P-I article and post a comment. This is a great opportunity to give Sims negative press for what he did in my case, to hide documents for four years, literally claiming, in writing, that they did not exist, from early on in two letters in 1997 and 1998 from a prosecuting attorney to my first lawyer in this case, and right up through January, 2001, 10 months after I'd filed the lawsuit in March 2000. As the judge found in her 31 page opinion, the early letter(s) claiming the docs didn't exist were a "misrepresentation", and that the docs did exist. This may be one of the best chances yet to post comments about what Sims did. Please do it.
4. When 90% of the PI's readers think individual government officials should have to fork over fines for their own willful failure to disclose, then it's time to change to law to reflect that.
Because that's the big fatal flaw of government: Everyone owns it, and no one owns it. That's why Ron Sims couldn't care less if he incurs fines for willfully not releasing info. He just takes it out of MY pocket.
If he were a private businessperson with his own pockets to be picked for fines, he'd have handed that info over Long, long ago.
If Sims cared as much as he claims to care about King County, he would not have thumbed his nose at these records requests as he has. What does it cost him not to??? Nothing
5. Realist, I've said that before, but I've been told that the state Constitution forbids it somehow.
I don't see how that could prevent us from canning anyone who 'owes' more than their yearly salary, and reducing their paycheck based on past performance sounds fine too. Just billing them directly is out.
6. Armen,
I visited the P-I poll and voted that individuals should have to pay, not the taxpayers.
7. Thanks to Stefan for making this post available and to CC and others for visiting the P-I. The comments are running 100% anti-Sims and anti-the public paying these fines where, clearly, the conduct looks like intentionally feigned incompetence. Really, people who have masters degrees from schools like Seattle U. (from where my wife and I have MBA's), who stonewalled me, just cannot be as stupid as they claimed. It's just not credible that they could not understand what I was asking for over more than a dozen letters and 13 months of correspondence - and then suddenly 4 years later realize what I wanted, know right where to go to to find the documents, and deliver them to me two days after their supposed revelation! Thanks again to all of you for your support, and especially to Stefan for keeping up with the news on this. Shall I gush on any longer?