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FOI Advocate Blog

The NFOIC open government blog is a compendium of original concepts and analysis as well as ideas, edited excerpts and materials from a variety of sources. When the information comes from another source, we will attribute it and provide a link. The blog relies on the accuracy and integrity of the original sources cited; we will correct errors and inaccuracies when we become aware of them.

For Advocate posts prior to July, 2011, visit http://foiadvocate.blogspot.com/.
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Editorial: Bring transparency to King County Housing Authority’s shadow agency
May 6, 2013 8:44 AM

Editorial from The Seattle Times:  Last November, the King County Housing Authority quietly granted a 30-year lease on 509 of its apartment units to an obscure nonprofit agency called Moving King County Residents Forward.

The deal happened in an open meeting, as required by the state Open Public Meetings Act, since the housing authority is a public agency. But since then, getting information about how this nonprofit operates has been difficult, since nonprofit agencies aren’t required to operate with the same level of transparency.

[...]

A decade ago, when three daily newspapers covered King County government instead of one, a reporter may have noticed these actions. Today, there are many fewer eyes. That makes it even more incumbent on government to function in the daylight.

For more on this lawsuit, see NFOIC supports lawsuit accusing government agency of repeatedly violating Washington state’s open government laws.

 

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FOIA lawsuits, King County Housing Authority, Knight FOI Fund, open government, Washington Open Public Meetings Act, Washington Open Public Records Act
NFOIC supports open government lawsuit in Washington state
April 24, 2013 2:40 PM

Resident claims that King County Housing Authority has established a nonprofit shadow organization to carry out its programs while circumventing the Open Public Meetings Act and Public Records Act.

COLUMBIA, Mo. (April 23, 2013) - With support from the National Freedom of Information Coalition (NFOIC) and Knight FOI Fund, a public housing resident in suburban Seattle filed a lawsuit today accusing a local housing authority of repeatedly violating Washington state’s public disclosure and open meeting laws.

Cindy Ference, who lives in a King County Housing Authority complex for senior and disabled people in Shoreline, Wa., brought the action after discovering that the Housing Authority has set up an allegedly private nonprofit organization to carry out its programs without public oversight. The shadow organization, called Moving King County Residents Forward, has the same governing board, the same staff and the same offices as the Housing Authority.

The lawsuit alleges that the scheme results in repeated violations of Washington state’s Open Public Meetings Act and Public Records Act, and seeks an injunction to stop the Housing Authority Board of Commissioners from meeting privately in its dual capacity as a nonprofit organization’s board.

See the release in its entirety and link to lawsuit here.

 

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Knight FOI Fund, washington open government, Washington Open Public Meetings Act, Washington Public Records Act
Open government group honors Clallam County Quality Care Coalition
December 12, 2012 9:46 AM

From Sequim Gazette:

For their efforts to demand proper open government practices, the Clallam County Quality Care Coalition recently was awarded the Key Award from the Washington Coalition for Open Government (WCOG).
 
WCOG bestows Key Awards to recognize a person or organization who has done something notable for the cause of open government.
 
Bill Kildall and Pat Slaten, organizers of Clallam County Quality Care Coalition, were nominated for the award by Patience Rogge of Port Townsend, a WCOG board member, for their work to monitor the actions of Olympic Medical Center (Public Hospital District No. 2), for recognizing that the board and administration of the hospital district had strayed from strict observance of the Washington state Public Records Act and Open Public Meetings Act, and for taking positive steps to rectify the situation.
 
[...]
 
“Clallam County Quality Care Coalition is a great example of the kind of group we need across the state,” said Toby Nixon, WCOG president. 
 
[...]
 
Washington Coalition for Open Government is an independent nonpartisan nonprofit organization founded in 2002 by a group of individuals representing organizations with a broad spectrum of opinions and backgrounds, all dedicated to the principles of strengthening the state’s open government laws and protecting the public’s access to government at all levels.

Washington Coalition for Open Government is a member of NFOIC. -- eds.

 

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washington coalition for open government, washington open government, Washington Open Public Meetings Act, Washington Public Records Act
Freedom Foundation releases best practices for Open Public Meetings Act
November 28, 2012 5:00 PM

From The Freedom Foundation:

OLYMPIA (Nov 28, 2012) - The Freedom Foundation today released Best Practices for Public Agency Compliance with the Open Public Meetings Act, a go-to source of information on a number of issues related to Washington State’s Open Public Meetings Act (OPMA).

The state does not have an official set of model rules for the OPMA. Questions that are not directly addressed in the OPMA are sent to Tim Ford, the Open Government Ombudsman at the Attorney General’s office.

The publication has already received praise for its clarification of the law and addressing a number of frequently asked questions pertaining to the OPMA. One of the first to comment was Attorney General Rob McKenna.

“I commend the Freedom Foundation for its efforts in addressing common questions about the Open Public Meetings Act,” he said, “and for providing guidance on a sometimes complicated law governing public officials. This document provides good basic information and suggests best practices for new public officials subject to the OPMA.”

Click here to download the Best Practices for Public Agency Compliance with the Open Public Meetings Act (PDF/575KB)

The Freedom Foundation is a member of NFOIC. The publication was made possible by a grant from NFOIC. -- eds

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The Freedom Foundation, washington open government, Washington Open Public Meetings Act
How Washington State uses Legislative privilege to stifle Right to Know
November 19, 2012 2:00 PM

From Sunlight Foundation:

When approved by the voters in 1972, the Public Records Act granted government only 10 exemptions from public disclosure. Since then, more than 300 exemptions have been added. State courts have further weakened the public’s access to information with various legal rulings.
 
Along with the Public Records Act, citizens are provided access to the activities of government through the state Open Public Meetings Act (OPMA). ...
 
[...]
 
Due to the massive expansion in the number of exemptions from public disclosure and numerous violations of the Public Records Act and Open Public Meetings Act, as identified by the State Auditor in his 2008 Performance Audit, meaningful open-government reforms are needed to restore the people’s power to remain “informed so that they may maintain control over the instruments that they have created.”

 

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Washington Open Public Meetings Act, Washington Public Records Act
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