Lawsuit contends Redistricting Commission withheld public records to hide offensive texts
A lawsuit has been filed in Thurston County Superior Court alleging the Washington State Redistricting Commission violated the state’s Public Records Act.
Arthur West, an Olympia resident and open government advocate, filed the complaint on Monday.
The lawsuit alleges that the redistricting commission committed a series of violations and that Redistricting Commissioners “deliberately failed to make a reasonable search, and further acted in bad faith with ulterior motives to conceal offensive, ribald, and politically damaging records and information.”
Additionally, the lawsuit further alleges that the Redistricting Commission “failed to make a reasonable estimate for disclosure, failed to reasonably disclose responsive records, failed to conduct an adequate search, and has silently withheld records in the absence of an adequate privilege log, and plaintiff is entitled to the relief sought.”
The Washington State Redistricting Commission, like all state entities, is required to abide by the state Public Records Act. West submitted a records request in November that he argues was not satisfied, and added that he believes the Redistricting Commission intentionally withheld information he sought.
West also submitted texts from the commission that were withheld, including some “politically damning communications.”
“In some of the communications, staff and Commissioner (April) Sims drop enough ‘f-bombs’ to rival Vladimir Putin’s shelling of the Ukraine,” the complaint said.
The complaint also noted concerns between staff members and commissioners questioning whether or not “our f-bomb texts are going to be released too, or just your texts with the other commissioners. You might want to check in with (AAG) Terra too .... we should figure out now what you can can’t (sic) say.”
The complaint also noted other instances where texts were withheld.
West is seeking monetary relief in the lawsuit for the commission’s “unreasonable withholding of records and other violations of the PRA described herein.”
The Redistricting Commission meets once every 10 years to redraw districts. In February, the Redistricting Commission admitted to breaking the law when it conducted the redrawing of state districts secretly, and without any public deliberation. The commission came to a settlement agreement by adopting rules that would prevent them from conducting the process behind closed doors in the future.
A hearing has been scheduled for 9 a.m. Sept. 9, according to the Washington Courts online case search.
This story was originally published August 16, 2022 at 11:04 AM.
