Yes, you have only until 5 PM to comment on the Attorney General’s Office proposed model rules for public records. It’s important that you do.
Table of Contents
Photo: Mine of Washington State Capitol Dome Against Sunset
Introduction
First, as the Washington Coaltiion for Open Government shared on their e-mail…
Friends of government transparency: Please consider sending a few words to [email protected] by 5 p.m. Monday in support of a petition by the news media asking the Washington Attorney General’s Office to tighten up its Model Rules For Public Disclosure.
. . .
With new Attorney General Nick Brown in office, we’re hopeful that we can press forward with reforms to better match the people’s will in passing this important transparency statute. WashCOG’s comments on this proceeding are here.
Already, we’ve had the government lobby groups platoon this public process. Granted, there are some legitimate concerns with the proposed model rules - but if you don’t speak up, those who are paid to decide whether or not to tell the taxpaying ciitizens whether or not those citizens may or may not have a record will speak for you. Pardon, but I shall cue “The West Wing”…
Model Rules Have Room for Improvement
I do believe strongly that the model rules have room for improvement. Let’s start with…
Require a minimum amount before requiring payment by paper check: Public agencies that do not want to use PayPal or Stripe or another such means to collect payment for public records production should be required to set a minimum amount before requiring a check. Perhaps this amount could be $5/365 days of public records production. Or if producing public records to a requestor is less than $5 in a year, it’s de minimus. In any event, most Washingtonians have moved past paper checks for regular business.
Clarify - as in give examples - of what kind of records production is simple vs. complex: Without clarity, this kind of discretion could be abused. For instance, if a citizen wants a public employee’s resignation letter - is that a simple production when the public employee has to be notified and there is redaction required? Versus say a citizen wanting say 6 police incident reports naming a candidate for elected office that should be disclosed well before the election.
Stop auto-deletion of public records: The ultimate decision to delete public records should not be made by a bot or macro or any other form of aritificial intelligence/AI but by the guidance of a public records trained professional.
Explain how MS Teams & Slack created public records should be handled: With the ongoing saga about the automatic deletion of MS Teams, and the Public Records Officer Podcast sounding the alarm about Slack being an ongoing concern - some leadership by the Attorney’s General’s Office would be appreciated, please.
Recommend the use of a government-issued cell phone that can handle the Public Records Act: This is a simple solution to rectify many of the current issues.
Ensure the Model Rules apply to the courts: There is some concern that our state courts may be exempted from these guidelines. It needs to be clear to our courts that they are our courts, not their own preserve.
Yes, there should an index of public records: If you want public records quickly, then get an index made. Sometimes time is of the essence - such as racing to complete comments before the end of a public comment period or a campaign.
There you go. Good starting place. Just understand you got until 5 PM Monday to turn in model rules public comments…
Preview of the next regular Beehiv
In the next regular Beehiv, we’ll be addressing the Sound Cities Association. That little public affairs club our taxes contribute to has been rocked to its core and is voting Wednesday on some changes. I’ve given some input - and am about to give some more.
Photo of where the Sound Cities Association meets
Figured you’d like a little teaser…