Where’s the line between transparency and abusing WA state public records law?

Citizens should be able to find out what their government representatives are doing, especially when those officials are trying to hide something.

That principle is the basis of the Washington State Public Records Act, which states that “full access to information concerning the conduct of government on every level must be assured as a fundamental and necessary precondition to the sound governance of a free society.”

In 1972, state voters passed Initiative 276, which provided this wider public records access. The law is rooted in distrust of government and misuse of government power during the civil rights movement and Vietnam protest era.

Public agencies and officials who wanted to cover up embarrassing facts found themselves facing individual citizens or the press demanding public records — now including officials’ emails and texts.

Anyone can request a record without stating a reason. Records are presumed open unless specifically exempted. And the law has teeth: It provides for penalties of $100 per day that a record is improperly withheld — which in some cases has amounted to thousands of dollars.

But while the law has often exposed official misconduct or ineptitude, it also has been abused. Some people have bombarded agencies with records requests to harass them because of personal vendettas or in attempts to cash in on fines levied under the act.

Public agencies in Pasco, Prosser and Mesa have faced substantial fines because records were improperly withheld or not provided in a timely manner. Some agencies have had to hire extra staff and attorneys to review and handle extraordinary numbers of public records requests that may or may not be legitimate.

The struggle to balance the public’s right to know while avoiding abuses will be the topic of the Columbia Basin Badger Club’s April 21 online Zoom forum. We have two speakers with considerable experience on these issues. They are:

▪ Terry Nealey, a well-known former state representative who served his Eastern Washington district for nine years beginning in 2009. He worked to reform the Public Records Act to address abuses, and co-sponsored HB 1595 which passed in 2017. A native of Walla Walla who now lives on Mill Creek, he was raised on a farm in Whitman County, attended Washington State University and attended Gonzaga Law School. After graduation, he moved his family to Dayton where he was in diversified law practice for 40 years, including 16 as Columbia County’s prosecuting attorney.

▪ Mike Fancher, who is president of the Washington Coalition for Open Government, an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to the people’s right to know. The coalition is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. Fancher retired from the Seattle Times in 2008 after 20 years as executive editor, and during that period the Times frequently went to court to ensure public access. He was founding director of the University of Oregon’s Agora Center for Journalism Innovation and Civic Engagement in 2014-2015. He has a degree in journalism from the University of Oregon, a communication master’s from Kansas State University and a MBA from the University of Washington.

The forum will begin at noon. A 30-minute presentation by the speakers will be followed by a question and answer session. Attendees can also join an informal “Table Talk” session immediately after the forum for further discussion.

You can register to attend at columbiabasinbadgers.com to receive a link to connect to Zoom. Club members are not charged for the meetings, while non-members pay $5.