In my last newsletter, I talked about government transparency. You were clear in your responses to my surveys—the public has the right to know. Click on the images to view larger versions of the results:
More Government Transparency Needed
Washingtonians have been serious about government transparency for years. In 1972, the voter-driven Public Record Act was passed with just ten exemptions. The law is simple—it protects the public’s right to access public records. Easy, right? Not many things are easy in government.
Today, the law has 300 exemptions.
The Public Records Act has been in the limelight in news across the state—even the nation. Last week the Washington State Supreme Court heard an argument about the people’s right to access what should be public information. The Freedom Foundation brought the lawsuit against Governor Gregoire, alleging she abused the “executive privilege” exemption in refusing more than 500 public records requests in the last five years. The Supreme Court could make its ruling anytime in the next six months.
Certainly there are extreme circumstances when executive privilege is warranted, particularly in matters of state security. However, this is generally not the case. Americans are entitled to a representative government; a government that listens to its constituents, manages the people’s resources well and has nothing to hide.
