OKANOGAN – The Washington Coalition for Open Government presented Okanogan County Watch with a Key Award for advocacy of open government in Okanogan County. The award was presented at Tuesday, April 10 at the county commissioners’ hearing room in Okanogan. The Washington Coalition for Open Government (WCOG) is an independent non-partisan non-profit organization, with membership […]
Read More… from Okanogan Watch honored by Washington Coalition for Open Government
From HeraldNet.com: OLYMPIA — Leaders of local governments frustrated by the growing amount of time and tax dollars spent satisfying those with a voracious demand for public records shouldn’t count on help from the state anytime soon.
A House member who sought changes in the public records law to fend off what are perceived as exorbitant requests from those with questionable motives now says the state must gather more information on the magnitude of the problem.
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Read More… from Washington lawmaker calls for study of public records law reforms
From The Olympian: Former Washington attorney general Rob McKenna says he favors a constitutional amendment as a way to counter last week’s state Supreme Court ruling that upheld a governor’s claim of executive privilege. Former governors Chris Gregoire and Gary Locke had invoked such a privilege claim in refusing to release certain sensitive public records, and Olympia-based Evergreen Freedom Foundation (now The Freedom Foundation) sued to strike down that claim.
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Read More… from Former AG McKenna favors constitutional amendment to bar govt-records ‘privilege’
From The News Tribune: I wasn’t as shocked as some last week when the state Supreme Court found that governors have a constitutional exemption from disclosing certain documents to the public.
Since I’d been denied records by a former governor who cited executive privilege, a decision backed up by a past attorney general, I assumed there was a strong likelihood the court would side with those who felt executive privilege existed.
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Read More… from Peter Callaghan: A bad open government ruling 14 years in the making
From NFOIC: In the ruling that open government groups view as a setback, the Washington state Supreme Court has ruled that constitutional separations of power gives that state's governor an "executive privilege" to withold government documents from disclosure that is broader than what might be recognized under a statutory open government law.
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Read More… from Wash. Supreme Court: Governor can claim ‘executive privilege’
From The News Tribune: I guess I could understand one or two candidates failing to complete the questionnaire that seeks their views on open government issues facing the state.
The Washington Coalition for Open Government’s questionnaire is one of many that candidates receiving during campaign season.
But of the 15 Tacoma candidates the coalition sent invitations to, just two replied.
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Read More… from Tacoma candidates less than open with Washington Coalition for Open Government
From NFOIC: A few state FOIA and local open government news items selected from many of interest that we might or might not have drawn attention to earlier in the week. While you're at it, be sure to check out State FOIA Friday Archives.
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Read More… from NFOIC’s State FOIA Friday for October 11, 2013
From The Olympian: When handing over public records, government agencies routinely censor Social Security numbers, driver’s license numbers and sometimes even dates of birth.
A state court ruling this month suggests that often there may be no legal basis for keeping such nuggets of personal information secret.
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Read More… from Court ruling might open door for making personal info public
From The News Tribune: The Washington Coalition for Open Government honored two Tacoma men for their lifelong dedication to open government principles Friday morning at the Washington Athletic Club in Seattle.
Dave Seago, a former editorial page editor for The News Tribune, and former state Auditor Brian Sonntag were given standing ovations by the crowd of attorneys, journalists and other open government supporters.
Seago earned the James Andersen Award for his volunteer work with WCOG.
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From The News Tribune: The Washington Coalition for Open Government honored two Tacoma men for their lifelong dedication to open government principles Friday morning at the Washington Athletic Club in Seattle.
Dave Seago, a former editorial page editor for The News Tribune, and former state Auditor Brian Sonntag were given standing ovations by the crowd of attorneys, journalists and other open government supporters.
Seago earned the James Andersen Award for his volunteer work with WCOG.
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