More reforms urged for access to records

OLYMPIA - Washington's 38-year-old public-disclosure law requires governments to operate in open meetings and to keep records available for public review, but advocates say more disclosure laws are needed.

Retiring House Majority Leader Lynn Kessler, D-Hoquiam, told a forum Wednesday evening in Olympia that people need to pressure their state lawmakers to act on reforms. Others said a new disclosure initiative might be needed.

One idea Attorney General Rob McKenna plans to pitch to the Legislature in January would set up a pilot project letting administrative hearings judges hear complaints over withheld records. The goal – patterned after special offices created in Pennsylvania and Connecticut – is to provide a low-cost resolution of records disputes within 30 days, avoiding costly legal fights.

The idea emerged a year ago from a task force set up by McKenna and state Auditor Brian Sonntag, but died on the vine this year because of costs, Kessler told the forum.

“It was immediately embraced by our governor, and the Legislature was very positive about it. But we didn’t make the proposal to the Legislature until this legislative session, and we were in a free-fall for revenue …” Kessler said. That’s what spurred the idea of a pilot.

The forum drew more than 70 people to the two-hour presentation at St. John’s Episcopal Church. It was put on by the Washington Coalition for Open Government, which holds workshops around the state each year, and co-sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Thurston County and The Olympian. David Zeeck, president and publisher of The News Tribune, served as moderator.

A panel of speakers, including Kessler, McKenna, state records manager Russell Wood and WCOG president Toby Nixon, talked about recent developments in records law and efforts to cut down on the more than 300 exemptions in disclosure law.

Citizen activist Walt Jorgenson, who has won suits over the Port of Olympia’s failure to disclose records from its lease with Weyerhaeuser Co., said the presentation was useful.

Jorgenson also said McKenna’s idea for administrative hearings is good because justice delayed on a records request is justice denied.

“Getting to it quickly is extremely important. When these things go on a long time, the only thing that is settled is who was right and who was wrong,” he said.

Activist Arthur West had other concerns about agencies that withhold records or stall – knowing fines can be a cost of doing business. West, who also has won court fights over records disclosure, said local government agencies and associations are often “the strongest opponents to any reforms” of records law, and he specifically identified the associations that represent cities, counties and ports.

Nixon said there are provisions in state ethics law that let a state employee be fined up to $5,000 for knowingly refusing to disclose public records. The provision has been enforced only once, according to a member of the forum audience, and Nixon said that extending it to local officials would reduce the number of wrongful records denials.

Despite the general tone of the session, which emphasized the need to make government accountable, McKenna said “there are legitimate complaints lodged by public agencies about requesters who use the Public Records Act in ways that were probably not intended.”

His proposal to settle disputes with a hearings board could deal with those problems. His office already has won passage of legislation that limits records requests by prison inmates who use their requests as a tool for harassment.

He also has supported bills that let governments release records in installments – taking pressure off small agencies to respond within five days, as the law requires, and to make sure the requesters are serious. If a requester fails to pick up records and pay copying costs, an agency can close the books on the request.

But Kessler said that other modest legislative efforts have been killed by local-government lobbyists.

Brad Shannon: 360-753-1688 bshannon@theolympian.com www.theolympian.com/politicsblog