Oberquell was spiteful, wrong

The Olympian • Published September 01, 2008

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Citizen activism is a right. Harassment is not.

Thurston County Commissioner Diane Oberquell has submitted two voluminous public records requests to state agencies out of pure spite. It's vindictiveness at its worst and as a public official, Oberquell should know better. She has embarrassed herself in her final days in office and her retaliatory requests for public records are yet another indication that at 20 years, she has stayed in office too long.

Her petulant behavior has cost taxpayers thousands of dollars. Yet when asked for an explanation for her actions, Oberquell declined to comment, referring questions to her attorney.

That speaks volumes.

When State Auditor Brian Sonntag did a performance audit on 30 government jurisdictions to see how agencies respond to public records requests from citizens, Thurston County was included. Oberquell was outraged and called it a money-wasting "sting" operation. She retaliated in February 2007 with a public records request to Sonntag's office asking for all documents related to the statewide performance audit.

That led to the compilation of four boxes of printed documents and untold hours of staff time. All of that time, energy and effort, and Oberquell took only 413 pages of documents and paid $41.30.

Mindy Chambers, spokeswoman for the auditor's office said Oberquell's request was the largest in the past 10 years.

The performance audit was a legitimate test of government transparency, and Oberquell's overreaction and request for records smacks of retaliation -- retaliation at taxpayers' expense.

But Oberquell wasn't finished.

This year, after Oberquell was ridiculed for her testimony on a bill requiring public officials to tape record their executive sessions, the commissioner retaliated again, this time as a private citizen. She submitted a sweeping public records request to Attorney General Rob McKenna's office, asking for all e-mails and other documents that mentioned the failed legislation. She asked the AG for related documents and e-mails from newspapers and key state legislators and Auditor Sonntag.

When state officials asked Oberquell to narrow her request, she refused. State employees spent 300 hours at a cost of $9,000 to fulfill Oberquell's request for records. There was an additional $500 spent for printing almost 10,000 pages.

What did Oberquell pay?

The county commissioner decided to take copies of only 60 pages and several CDs containing documents, for which she was charged $20.

Taxpayers were forced to make up the difference. And for what? To satisfy a retaliatory public records request by a spiteful politician.

How sad.

Rowland Thompson, executive director of Allied Daily Newspapers of Washington, said if Oberquell's effort was retaliatory, it backfired. McKenna's office, by fulfilling her request, upheld the public's right to know. "She tried to extract a pound of flesh, but all she really got was a pile of records," Thompson said.

Attorney Greg Overstreet, former open records ombudsman for the attorney general, said, "I think 99 percent of public records requests are made by well-meaning people -- this seems to be the other 1 percent."

As a county commissioner, Diane Oberquell has the same right as every other citizen to hold her government accountable. And while citizen activism is admirable, forcing taxpayers to cover the costs of retaliatory requests for public records crosses the line.

The sad reality is after 20 years of public service as county commissioner, Oberquell has ruined her reputation on her way out of office.