Two weeks after Mrs. Gregoire was soundly criticized for apppointing an open records foe to chair the 'Sunshine Committee', she committed another open records boner:
[Mrs.] Gregoire has refused to reveal the identities of some people who weren't picked for seats on the state's new "Sunshine Committee."Mrs. Gregoire's handling of the Sunshine Committee is even funnier than my 'Ask the Governor' parody last April Fools Day. Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at August 30, 2007 03:57 PM | Email ThisGregoire, responding to an Associated Press public records request, has kept secret several resumes, letters and e-mail exchanges from unsuccessful applicants to the committee.
In her reply, the Democratic governor cited an exemption to public records law that says applications for public employment can be kept secret.
Open government experts [including Toby Nixon] scoffed at that reasoning, pointing out that compensation for Sunshine Committee service is limited to travel reimbursements that several members don't actually qualify for.
I'm always real suspicious when elected official (or rather unelected ones!) don't want to reveal information. Looks like they have something to hide and in this case, it's fairly clear that Chrissy didn't want anyone on the committee who didn't toe her line.
It's already becoming apparent that the committee will be ineffective since no one will trust whatever it eventually reports. Another waste of time and money by an ineffective government employee, aka as the governor-in-name-only.
Posted by: Clean House on August 30, 2007 05:32 PMClearly 49.999999% of the voters WANT this kind of government.
Posted by: Andy on August 30, 2007 07:46 PMThe question "why do you want to know?" is NEVER a reasonable question, because the public doesn't need a reason to find out what its government is doing.
For the government, there's only two reasonable responses to such queries, and neither of them is a question. The first is, "yes, sir, right away sir." The other is, "we cannot provide those records because the law says we can't release them."
Every query for documents must be honored unless the law says it cannot be, and the reasons why the requests are made DO NOT MATTER.
Posted by: pudge on August 30, 2007 09:56 PMSupposedly there was an address mix up, and they were going to be "overnighted" to me. Still haven't showed up...
Gregoire seems to be following the path of non-disclosure that Cantwell used in '06...stall, stall, stall...and "No Comment."
Posted by: Patrick on August 30, 2007 10:18 PMAnd it isn't Chrissy's business, either.
This boneheaded play is inexcusable, and she should be bitch-slapped for it.
Posted by: Hinton on August 31, 2007 12:45 AMBut, Bruce, while I agree with you on one hand, Stefan has a bigger point he was trying to make. Gregoire made a big mistake. You can't
One last thing, on the firing of the US attorneys, I screamed to high heaven when the oversight of the executive branch tried to infringe on the workings of the AG in the firings of McKay and others.
Can't we give Gregoire (soon to be Rossi) the same courtesy?
Posted by: swatter on August 31, 2007 06:37 AMIt should be immediately, if you value government in sunshine highly.
At some point, the "rights" of the few to get private information have to outweigh the right to privacy for private citizens.
I see no private information at issue here. Seems to me you are question-begging, assuming it is private so therefore it should be private.
Posted by: pudge on August 31, 2007 06:49 AMI remember the "Healing" (heeling?) tour after the fraud of '04 that was supposed to patch things up and make everything sweetness and light. What a crock. Now this "sunshine" thing is going down the same crooked, lousy 'Rat path.
Posted by: Interested Observer on August 31, 2007 07:41 AMThe law is the law, is it not Christine?
-Douglas Tooley
Lincoln District, Tacoma
You are acting like a liberal Democrat right now. You see the issue in front of you and you make a decision based on the most important thing in front of your mind.
It is called Instant Gratification. Next week, when Rossi is governor, you will be decrying the lack of privacy if the issue comes up again.
And next week you will be on another mission that is most important to you. You, sir, are one of the sheeples the politicians and MSM prey upon. They prey on the mindless masses that forget the last "most important issue" from 24 hours ago.
The issue is not simple, and usually there are multiple viewpoints. As Bruce and Cato keep saying, expand your horizons.
Frankly pudge, until you and the rest of the defunct R party in Snohomish County and the rest of the R and D party in general, figure it out, there can be no meeting of the two sides.
Easy to look at each issue as black-and-white and form opinions; it is harder to see things as gray. As you know from my postings, I usually agree with you about 99% of the time so you know our core beliefs are the same. But you just have to expand your thought processes.
I, for one, value my privacy. I post anonymous because of it. On google search, I have about 10 pages of stuff, maybe more now. I don't want it blasted all over the internet. When I want to go public and make a statement, I will using my real name.
Another thing, why do you think we have such lousy electeds? I won't give you the answer and leave it for you to figure out, but you won't have to go further than my previous paragraph.
Posted by: swatter on August 31, 2007 08:22 AMI was in the pool, and don't give a rat's a** if that were public. Nothing there you can't find out about me anyway. That is why I post PUBLICALLY, unlike swatter, who hides behind electrons.
Now, a high-ranking Governatrix's staffer asked me via email the other day who I might suggest for another committee. So, I exposed those excellent peeps to scrutiny, but had that key staffer just said, have them apply at the governatix's committee appointment website, then they would be confidential.
Makes me wonder if that was intentional? Or just a casual way to get names quickly.
She is WAY behind in appointing some bodies, for example the Child Support Workgroup, who has had two (now rumored to be three) meetings, and has yet to have any citizens appointed.
The Geez so spaketh.
Posted by: The Geezer on August 31, 2007 11:23 AMEveryone on earth, other than the people who were appointed, didn't get appointed.
Posted by: Bruce on August 31, 2007 01:26 PM
You are acting like a liberal Democrat right now. You see the issue in front of you and you make a decision based on the most important thing in front of your mind.
No. I am acting like a conservative: obey the law, and stand on principle.
It is called Instant Gratification. Next week, when Rossi is governor, you will be decrying the lack of privacy if the issue comes up again.
You do not not me at all. I am nothing if not consistent. You won't find me playing that sort of nonsensical double-standard game. Just yesterday at the fair I told someone who wanted a "Re-elect Rossi" bumper sticker that I didn't like the idea of it because the law was followed, and Gregoire properly won, just like Bush properly won in 2000. If your assessment of me were true, wouldn't I have said otherwise?
And next week you will be on another mission that is most important to you. You, sir, are one of the sheeples the politicians and MSM prey upon. They prey on the mindless masses that forget the last "most important issue" from 24 hours ago.
You're full of crap, swatter. Sorry, but it's true. I have a degree in journalism, and openness in government is an issue I've believed in strongly, and followed closely, for 15 years or more. To make these baseless accusations about me is really beneath you, and I had thought better of you until now.
Frankly pudge, until you and the rest of the defunct R party in Snohomish County ...
Easy to say from the cheap seats.
The issue is not simple, and usually there are multiple viewpoints. As Bruce and Cato keep saying, expand your horizons.
Right, because I disagree with you, I therefore have not thought about the issue. Who's the closed-minded one ... ?
Easy to look at each issue as black-and-white and form opinions; it is harder to see things as gray.
In this case, THE LAW IS NOT GREY. She is required to release the records. And even if she wasn't, the PRINCIPLE is not grey. Yes, some personnel records should be kept private, but not NAMES of people who applied for a government job. Absolutely not. They should never be kept private. What do you base this claim of "grayness" on? There's no privacy issue here: you applied for a government position, and I as a citizen have a right to know that. If you got the job, I'd know; so where's the privacy issue?
Personnal records to be kept private are those which public knowledge of can directly impact performance. And even those are kept private only very sparingly.
As you know from my postings, I usually agree with you about 99% of the time so you know our core beliefs are the same. But you just have to expand your thought processes.
You have to stop making asinine assumptions about me.
I, for one, value my privacy. I post anonymous because of it. On google search, I have about 10 pages of stuff, maybe more now. I don't want it blasted all over the internet. When I want to go public and make a statement, I will using my real name.
So? What's that got to do with this? I defended your use of a handle to secure your privacy, you ninny. We are not talking about soundpolitics, we are talking about people who applied to work for us.
Another thing, why do you think we have such lousy electeds? I won't give you the answer and leave it for you to figure out, but you won't have to go further than my previous paragraph.
Because people like you ignorantly attack others they agree with and draw broad conclusions without having the fortitude to actually take action themselves?
From the Everett Herald:
Her interpretation of the law is a monumental stretch, at best. Volunteers on an advisory committee are public employees? The two newspaper executives on the Sunshine Committee would chafe under that definition. Other officials who appointed members, Attorney General Rob McKenna and Auditor Brian Sonntag, said they had no problem turning over the requested records.A governor withholding documents regarding a sunshine committee is about as stark as irony gets.
http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20070902/OPINION01/109020025/-1/OPINION
I fully agree with their criticism of Gregoire here; I just find it sad that they only seem fit to criticize her when it is their own special interest that she's offending.
Posted by: pudge on September 2, 2007 09:18 AM