Lawyer vies to replace judge

Open government is likely to rear its head in a judicial race for the Court of Appeals that pits former builders' lawyer Tim Ford of Olympia against two-term Judge Joyce "Robin" Hunt of Bainbridge Island.

Ford is a public-records advocate in the office of Attorney General Rob McKenna and has a long background in challenging governments for access to their records — including lawsuits during his employment by the Building Industry Association of Washington early this decade.

"Obviously I feel passionate about the open government laws. That's not the only reason I'm running," said Ford, 43. He said he also believes in accountability and ensuring that individuals, businesses, public agencies and even courts follow the law.

Hunt said she also expects open government to be an issue in the campaign — including a pipeline records case. Ford mentions another case where the state Supreme Court reversed a decision by Hunt that had blocked the release of a school's bus videotape to parents of a bullied child.

Until joining the attorney general's solicitor general unit in 2005, Ford worked for the BIAW. Last year, he became McKenna's public-records ombudsman, and he also serves as vice chairman of a Legislature-appointed "sunshine" committee that is reviewing the worthiness of exemptions in the Public Records Act.

The BIAW has drawn criticism for its hardball tactics including hard-hitting independent ad campaigns in state Supreme Court races. But the first financial stone in this race was thrown by sitting chief appellate judge Elaine Houghton; she donated $1,000 to Hunt's campaign shortly after Ford announced his campaign last month.

BIAW isn't likely to play much role in the race, unlike the Supreme Court races of 2006 where its ads drew notice. And Ford, who is concerned there will be perceptions he's a builders' candidate, hasn't raised any money except the $10,000 of personal funds he said he put in.

BIAW leader Tom McCabe said his group stays focused on Supreme Court races, deferring to local builder groups to get involved in lower-court races. But McCabe personally plans to help Ford, who he describes as thoughtful, honorable and "on the right side" on disclosure issues — "getting our government to tell us things they are doing."

Hunt, meanwhile, held off on fundraising until she learned that Ford is her opponent.

Before joining the bench 12 years ago, Hunt worked as a Bainbridge Island hearing examiner and municipal pro tem judge. She said others would report that she offers "well-reasoned, balanced, moderate" decisions and that she defers to the Legislature to fix conflicts between government policies.

Hunt defended her decisions on public records, calling herself a supporter of open government. She said the controversial Northwest Gas Association case still is undecided on appeal and that her ruling threw it back to the trial court for a decision.

The case dealt with pipeline interests trying to keep secret data on file with the state Utilities and Transportation Commission about specific pipeline material thicknesses and locations; the pipeline companies cited a terrorist-threat exemption in public records law as a reason not to disclose data.

Hunt allowed a temporary injunction and ordered the case back to trial in Thurston County, finding the lower court had erred. The suit against the UTC drew newspapers as third parties.

"We still don't know ultimately whether or not this particular information would fall under the terrorist exemption" in public records law, Hunt said. "We thought the pipeline companies should be allowed to show evidence why it should fall under the exemption and go to trial."

Despite his advocacy on open records, Ford said he would set aside that agenda and try to apply the law in an impartial and principled way, something he thinks Hunt has not done, particularly on government accountability.

Ford has a Web site, www.timford2008.com, lives in Olympia, is married and has one daughter. His campaign announcement said he served in the Navy as a lieutenant, was a helicopter pilot and earned his law degree from Gonzaga University.

Brad Shannon is political editor for The Olympian. He can be reached at 360-753-1688 or bshannon@theolympian.com.