Sunshine makes government stronger, accountable

By Rob McKenna | • Published March 16, 2008

As a former King County councilmember and now as the state’s attorney general, I’ve encountered hundreds of hardworking and dedicated public servants who bring a passion for good government to work with them every day.

While much of the work we do is available for inspection by the public through the Open Public Meetings Act or through the Public Records Act, some of that work also is highly sensitive. Because of this, the Public Records Act provides exemptions for specific types of personal information and the Open Public Meetings Act allows elected officials to hold closed-door discussions regarding specific issues such as pending litigation, personnel matters and real estate transactions.

When we take jobs in state or local government, government officials do so with the understanding that the public is our employer. Ultimately, we are all governed by the sentiments of voters more than 30 years ago who said “the people, in delegating their authority, do not give their public servants the right to decide what is good for the people to know and what is not good for them to know. The people insist on remaining informed so they may maintain control over the instruments they have created.”

That’s why I was puzzled at the strong opposition state Auditor Brian Sonntag and I faced when we requested legislation to require an audio record of executive sessions. This legislation not only improved accountability, but provided government an additional protection against claims of improper executive sessions and gave officials a backup document should disputes arise later.

Last year, The Seattle Times reported that Port of Seattle commissioners had argued about whether some of them, in executive session, had promised their outgoing port executive a severance package upon retirement. According to The Times, there was a document, but commissioners disagreed on exactly what it meant. Had our legislation been law, commissioners could have returned to their recording of that session for an easy answer.