First, thanks to everyone who understood that I had some challenges getting you an update. But at least my new travel bag is here…
Table of Contents
Deeply appreciate my recent interview w/ Rep. Skylar Rude being shared by the Washington Coaltiion for Open Government (WashCOG). In the comments was a mention that The Public Records Officer Podcast covered some of the same issues. Well worth a listen or re-listen, especially considering the other topics herein.
Quoting from the podcast…
What wandered back into the light was not just one bad email. It was an entire mindset.
A mindset that says some requesters are legitimate and some are trouble. Some are the public. Some are a burden.
Some deserve service and some deserve suspicion. That mindset is poison to transparency. The problem is not the requester asking about 1.5 terabytes of missing public communications during COVID.
The problem is a government culture that still too often treats accountability as the irritant instead of the point.
With that, there are more topics…
Winners and Sinners in Public Records…
The Center Square kindly did an interview w/ George Erb of the Washington Coalition for Open Government. The 7 minute interview about responsiveness is well worth a watch:
But that’s not the only state press interest in open govenment…
The House Press Pass Saga Reignites…
Speaking of the Washington State political press gallery… the House Press Pass Saga has reginited. Tragically predictible that Ari Hoffman and Brandi Kruse went off over the public disclosure of invoices that contractor attorneys were hired to defend the Washington State House of Representatives’ press pass policy. You can listen to Brandi Kruse’s side on the latest below:
Same Brandi Kruse whose behavior and financing has triggered let’s just say burning inquiries - some by me - into the future of grassroots lobbying regulation at the Public Disclosure Commission. But one fact I do want to clear up since Ari Hoffman with his “Ari Ire” at 3:43 of here and to a lesser extent Brandi Kruse said that the Capitol Correspondents Association (CCA) funded by mainstream media (aka institutional media) is actively fighting them is the CCA has asked to be excused. After being named as a plaintiff and therefore requiring newspapers to hire legal counsel. But that’s not all folks…
Joint Status Report & Discovery Plan In Works
Recently, there was a joint filing by the parties’ attorneys to the federal court laying out discovery timelines and also suggested timing for a full trial about these issues just waiting for judicial agreement. The full trial would resolve for some time - not just for a legislative session - Washington State House of Representatives press pass policy. The filing made clear that a trial during the 2027 legislative regular session would be unwelcome so it appears the 2016 House press pass policies will carry through into the 2027 legislative season.
Author Photo - Black and White of the Washington State Legislature Under Puffy Cloud
However, “The parties anticipate this case will be ready for trial no later than exactly one year after the filing of this Joint Status Report and Discovery Plan” which was on June 2, 2026. So we’re looking at an April or May 2027 timeframe for a trial that plaintiffs want to be a jury trial and “should be seven days” in length.
By the way, yours truly found out about this through the US Federal Court document system called PACER. I’m sure Ari Hoffman and Brandi Kruse would not appreciate this news being shared…
What’s Next In A Time of Reform
This is a two parter being I got to have coffee and brainstorm with one of the geniuses behind BC Freedom of Information and Privacy Association (FIPA). One of the things suggested to me was look at Australia & that nation’s state of New South Wales’ enacted reforms in the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 as blogged about by a law firm Down Under. I will also be researching the Aussie cultural changes there.
Author HDR of A Close-Up Angle of the BC Legislative Assembly at Sunset
This is important as we are very much in a time of reform. Below are some examples:
We have the Attorney General’s Office of Washington right now working on a revised set of model rules (guidance) regarding handling public records. Public comment ends June 30.
British Columbia’s (BC’s) Bill 9 passed with the Freedom & Information Privacy Commissioner starting work on fleshing out the bill with supporting regulations. Also, soon the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act will be reopened for a massive update. I have been reliably informed to stay tuned.
I will make a 100% guarantee based on who I’ve spoken to lately and the public records I’ve seen that the 2027 Washington State Legislative Season will include efforts to address vexatious requestors.
There is also this late-breaking story on PubliCola supported by public records that before rules were established, the novice Mayor of Seattle turned on more public cameras out of a legitimate public safety concern. Thereby creating more public records of peoples’ movements. As guest writer Phil Mocek wrote:
As Kettle approvingly noted in his statement commending the activation, the decision “connect[s] them to the Real-Time Crime Center.” There, the footage is recorded, retained, and searchable. What sets it apart from a live traffic feed is not the lens but the system behind it: images pulled into a police database, held, and made available for investigative use rather than passing through and vanishing.
Because this database is hosted by a private vendor, it can be retrieved by subpoena, including from out of state. The city’s own surveillance law already says as much: Data may be shared “to the extent required by court order, subpoena, or as otherwise required by law,” no matter what data protections the city has promised. And the footage need not wait for a subpoena in order to escape: anyone can request and receive it under the Public Records Act — including, as advocates have noted, out-of-state authorities checking who drove past a reproductive health care clinic. It is a different object from a live traffic feed, and it is the object now switched on.
Hence the privacy concerns.
With that, thank you for your patience and reading.