Sound Politics: A $55,800 Whitewash?

August 31, 2005

A $55,800 Whitewash?

Buried in yesterday's news reports about the expected termination of mail ballot supervisor Nicole Way were these tidbits --

P-I:

Logan's move to fire absentee-ballot supervisor Nicole Way comes after an independent investigation into blunders by his staff ... The investigation, by the local law firm of Williams, Kastner & Gibbs, found no evidence of fraud or intentional misconduct, but did disclose neglect of elections procedures, [etc.]

The Times:

An independent, investigative report released yesterday placed much of the blame for lost and mishandled ballots in the 2004 election on absentee-ballot supervisor Nicole Way.
...
The $55,800 Williams, Kastner & Gibbs report said ...

[Emphasis added in both quotes]

So the county spent $55,800 of taxpayer funds for an "independent" report. You have to wonder why they went to an outside law firm to conduct an internal investigation without the power to subpoena anybody or file criminal charges. My hunch is that when I make a public records request for the law firm's work product (including notes that weren't part of the final report), the request will be denied on the grounds that it is protected by attorney-client privilege. That will tell us just how "independent" was this report that found "no evidence of fraud or intentional misconduct", and primarily blamed Nicole Way but not her superiors.

Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at August 31, 2005 10:59 AM | Email This

Comments

1. Good point. How disappointing these people are.

Posted by: Michele on August 31, 2005 11:08 AM

2. Another example of how poor a job the "reporters" at Seattle's two major newspapers are doing. They should be standing on the side of Stefan and Armen Yousoufian in squeezing more information from the County, but instead they just regurgitate the press releases.

I agree that the County will probably claim attorney-client privilege, but you will at least get another jab at them when you publish their response.

Posted by: Regret on August 31, 2005 11:37 AM

3. We just need a simply worded law stating whenever taxpayer money is used for "investagations" or "fact finding", the results are public; regardless who did the investagating or compiled the report.

Posted by: Ted Bundy on August 31, 2005 11:37 AM

4. It's like paying for a wildlife survey with a pre-determined outcome.

Directive: Look for spotted owls in old growth only. Do not look for them anywhere else.

Result: Spotted owls are found only in old growth trees.

Amazing how it works.

Our situation: It would appear that moonbats are not an endangered species. And those that are appear to have no trouble putting forth scape goats.

Posted by: scott158 on August 31, 2005 12:16 PM

5. Hey they don't need to go 'outside' to get a whitewash job done. Let's hear from all of you out there that have any faith in the State Patrol's "findings" regarding their 'independent investigation' into the Brame murder, corruption etc scandal?

IMHO the "findings" were no less predetermined in that fiasco as this one. This State is a nothing but a scandal and a disgrace to western civilization.

Posted by: JDH on August 31, 2005 01:01 PM

6. Get over it.

what a useless blog.

Posted by: Amy Tonga on August 31, 2005 01:25 PM

7. Yea, it was just a little murder. I should just 'get over it.'

Posted by: JDH on August 31, 2005 01:59 PM

8. Why does this witch hunt against Nicole Way remind me of Christine Gregoire's former deputy...her name escapes me, but she was the scapegoat upon which Ms. Gregoire tried to pin her $18 million blunder a couple years ago.

Also...

As a "former" journalist who, among other things, used to bug the hell out of public entities in a certain very large Southern state, I hold one premise very dear:

You're a public agency and you spend public money, every bit of what you do should be public.

Alas, I know it is easier to be an alligator dentist than to get these folks to release this stuff. Hence my admiration for Stefan and others who keep these folks on their toes. Hang in there, Stefan. What you are grasping at is not straws - its information that should be made much more readily available to all of us.

If this is an independent study (as they say), then it should already be out there.

Posted by: SnoCo Voter on August 31, 2005 02:00 PM

9. Ah, that old-timey punk rock group, "Amy and the Regressives" is back in town.

Posted by: Johnh on August 31, 2005 02:01 PM

10. Amy !!!!

I am amazed you can read!! Too bad you can't comprehend what this blog is trying to relate to the normal person.....

But Amy, keep up the good work of "Get over it"....It has such a superior, educated ring to it, don't you think?

Posted by: Chris on August 31, 2005 02:20 PM

11. Gosh Amy, I'm sure sorry that we don't offer more articles on the really relevant stuff like curing abscesses as a result of home-made nipple-rings, or which bridges are safe(er) to sleep under.

Hey, I gotta idea.....why don't you try Portland?

Posted by: alphabet soup on August 31, 2005 02:41 PM

12. Amy, why don't you try that blog with the word 'horse' in its name. they would probably like having you as a reader. Then you can read all the whitewashed, defend-KCE-at-all-costs articles you could ever want.

Posted by: Michele on August 31, 2005 03:04 PM

13. Amy,

Why do you turn a blind eye towards corruption in government? Do you believe that our officials are doing what is best for the city by wasting taxpayers money both by their inability to perform their job correctly or their failure to uphold the law?

If you're saying get over the fact that the last election was shown to be a farce and totally screwed up, yet that's what the law allows, well most on this blog have. What they won't get over is the fact that the people that are supposed to fix the problems are the ones that created them and still will not do what is right by enacting meaningful reform.

Please get over your hatred for decency and accoutability and join a society that believes in prosperity and longevity....not debauchery as it seems you currently do.

Posted by: Dengle on August 31, 2005 03:08 PM

14. It's unfortunate that Nicole Way is being run out of King County on a rail.
During my six-week tenure as an observer at the MBOS facility I found that Nicole was very professional and courteous to me and oberservers from both parties. While many King County election staff viewed us with annoyance and suspicion or simply treated us like we were some grade-schoolers on a civics class field trip, Nicole took the time to explain many of the details then happening. When "the cage" was opening and closing. When ballots were being delivered. What precincts were being sorted and other topics which I won't divulge. Not only did she field questions but she volunteered information ahead of time so that there wouldn't be any confusion or misunderstandings; a novel approach that has been rarely copied by the King County Elections Department.
This is counterposed by the actions of, for instance, Mr. Huennekens who would skulk into the facility, remove ballots and paw through them unobserved without even bothering to alert the supervising observers from either party and who refused to even pretend to communicate or answer querries in a forthright manner.

I wish Nicole good luck in finding better employment opportunities in the near future. There are a heck of a lot better places to work and spend your life than at some backwards, provincial, backwater county agency.

Posted by: Reporterward on August 31, 2005 10:08 PM