First Amendment Battle Heats Up: Journalists sue WA State House over denied press credentials
OLYMPIA—The Citizen Action Defense Fund (CADF) filed a lawsuit on Tuesday, February 10, against the Washington State House of Representatives and the Washington State Capitol Correspondents Association (WSCCA) on behalf of three prominent journalists—Ari Hoffman, Brandi Kruse, and Jonathan Choe—after all three were denied legislative press credentials to cover proceedings at the Washington State Capitol. […]
Lynnwood Council Chambers packed with outraged carpenters over ENSO project wage theft
LYNNWOOD—The Lynnwood City Council Chambers were flooded with orange vests Monday, October 27, from those representing the Western States Carpenters local 425 outraged over alleged unfair labor practices at the city’s downtown ENSO project. The ENSO project is receiving $6.4 million in tax breaks from the city over the period of eight years. In April […]
Washington House adds to list of government transparency assaults, auto-deletion
Our state Legislature’s march toward secrecy is speeding up, despite lawsuits, massive public outcry and even a ruling that was largely against them from the state Supreme Court. In the latest move against government transparency, the public records officer of the Washington House of Representatives sent an internal email in July to House members outlining […]
WashCOG study finds that local governments undermine Public Records Act
OLYMPIA—The Washington Coalition for Open Government (WashCOG) published an update to their special report “Your Right to Know,” that found agencies and local governments in Washington State allegedly obstruct and delay public records requests, fail to maintain, organize, and disclose records, inadequately train their staff on open government policies, and often completely undermine the Public […]
AG Brown pledges to defend open and transparent government policies
BELLEVUE—Washington State Attorney General Nick Brown was the keynote speaker at the annual Sunshine Breakfast hosted by the Washington Coalition for Open Government on Friday morning, March 14, where he pledged his commitment to maintaining an open and transparent government. “My philosophy is that open government is a bedrock for all public service. It is […]
Op-Ed: Government records belong to the public
The Washington Public Records Act (PRA), passed into State Law by citizens’ initiative in 1972, allows the public to inspect the records that elected officials create as part of doing the people’s business. That includes letters, emails, phone logs, meeting minutes and other documents submitted to the legislature and created by the elected representatives at […]
