City of Vancouver Considering Curbs on Public Testimony at City Council Meetings

The (Vancouver) Columbian has this article on the City of Vancouver's attempts to limit citizen comment at public meetings.

Public Records Show ... County Assessor-Treasurer Resisted Investigation

The (Tacoma) News Tribune has this story on the efforts of the Pierce County Assessor-Treasurer to resist an investigation.

How do we know this? Public records.

Public Records Show ... How Public Housing Authority Lost Money

The Kitsap Sun did an investigative series on the financial woes of the Kitsap County housing authority. How did they do it?

With public records, of course. This story describes how.

Tri-City Herald Pieces on Public Records

A bunch of good stuff from the Tri-City Herald this weekend:

http://www.tri-cityherald.com/2011/02/20/1375686/public-records-act-demands-cities.html#storylink=omni_popular (NOTE: This story quotes Greg Overstreet of Allied Law Group.)

http://www.tri-cityherald.com/2011/02/21/1376747/unintended-effects-of-public-records.html (NOTE: This story also quotes Greg Overstreet of Allied Law Group.)

http://www.tri-cityherald.com/2011/02/21/1376890/legislative-fixes-being-considered.html#storylink=mirelated

http://www.tri-cityherald.com/2011/02/20/1375685/whos-asking-for-public-records.html#storylink=mirelated

http://www.tri-cityherald.com/2011/02/21/1376519/when-public-records-become-stories.html#storylink=mirelated

http://www.tri-cityherald.com/2011/02/17/1372797/public-records-always-offer-reason.html (contains link to audio of NPR interview)

Legislative Transparency Bill Is Dead

Sigh.

KUOW Piece on Public Records Case Against Seattle Police

This is the transcript of a KUOW report on a Public Records Act suit against the Seattle Police Department regarding alleged police misconduct against a man named Evan Sargent.

NOTE: Greg Overstreet of Allied Law Group is assisting Sargent's counsel in the case.

Olympian Editorial on Legislative Transparency

This editorial from the Olympian urges the Legislature to make its decisions in public.

Tacoma Asks for Records Back

The City of Tacoma gave a records requestor an unredacted set of records and now wants them back.

TNT Editorial on Administrative Appeals Office

This editorial from The (Tacoma) News Tribune describes why the bill to allow an alternative to litigation in Public Records Act cases makes sense.

Op-Ed Piece on Legislative Transparency

This op-ed by Sen. Randi Becker in The (Tacoma) News Tribune describes why the public should be able to see proposed legislation on taxes and spending before it's passed.

Not Turning Over Public Records Can Be an Ethics Violation--and Potentially a $5,000 Fine Paid by the Employee

This column by Peter Callaghan at The (Tacoma) News Tribune describes a recent court ruling that RCW 42.52.050(4) of the State Ethics Act actually means what it says, which is:

"No state officer or state employee may intentionally conceal a record if the officer or employee knew the record was required to be released under [the Public Records Act], was under a personal obligation to release the record, and failed to do so. ..."

A violation of this law could lead to a $5,000 fine from the Ethics Board. The offending state employee, not the agency, must pay it.

Obama Administration to GOP: Your FOIA Investigation Is Killing Us

The GOP Chair of House Oversight Committee, Rep. Darrell Issa, asked for records on how federal agencies are handling FOIA requests.

The Obama administration responded by saying that Rep. Issa's request would significantly overburden the agencies.

So it's too much work to see how federal agencies are complying--or not--with FOIA? Then that would make actually complying with FOIA way, way too much work.

Open Gov't Laws Fight Corruption in India

This interesting piece comes from the Local Open Government Blog, which is put out by a law firm representing local governments.

It describes India's new open government law and how the poor are using it to fight corruption. One requestor was even murdered for making a request.