The Herald and the Washington Coalition for Open Government will present a special program focusing on Washington's Public Records and Open Meetings laws from 6:30 to 8:30 PM on Wednesday, January 9 at the Monroe/Sky Valley Family YMCA, 14033 Fryelands Blvd. in Monroe.

A panel of expert presenters will fuel the discussion on securing and preserving the public's legal right to access the records and proceedings of the government agencies created to serve the people of the state. The panelists include: former State Representative Toby Nixon, Monroe City Council member Chad Minnick, The Herald reporter Scott North, and State Archivist Jerry Handfield. The Herald executive editor Neal Pattison will moderate the discussion.

The forum is free and open to all, and questions and comments from the audience are welcome.

Neal Pattison, who was named Herald executive editor in October 2007, has a distinguished career as a reporter and editor. He spent a decade as assistant managing editor and city editor at The Spokesman- Review in Spokane. He served as managing editor at the Albuquerque Tribune from 1992 to 1996, including in 1994 when the paper won a Pulitzer Prize for reporting on government plutonium experiments conducted on uninformed civilians. Pattison was assistant managing editor at the Seattle Post- Intelligencer from 1996 to 2002. In recent years, he has also worked as a journalism instructor and newspaper design consultant.

Toby Nixon, current President of the Washington Coalition for Open Government, served as State Representative for the 45th District from January, 2002, through January, 2007. During his term in the legislature, Nixon distinguished himself as a leading advocate for the public's right to know what its government is doing. He introduced a long list of open government bills and served as ranking member of the House Government Operations committee. As a community activist, Nixon serves on the boards of several non-profit organizations. In his professional life, he works as Senior Standards Program Manager in the Windows Device Platform Group at Microsoft in Redmond; he's held various positions with Microsoft since January of 1993.

Chad Minnick was first elected to the Monroe City Council in 2003, having run on a platform of making Monroe a better place to live and raise a family. Minnick has been a strong advocate for open and accountable city government during his time in office. Along with fellow council member Mitch Ruth, he has pushed for a four-point Open Government Ordinance for the city. The ordinance will require that council meetings be broadcast on cable or online, that every city document be publicly available online, that the council establish a blog so that the public can access council members' thoughts on issues facing the city, and that the idea of campaign financing limits be addressed. Minnick and his wife Julie own and operate a marketing and advertising company and are active in youth and mission work through their church.

Jerry Handfield is Washington's State Archivist. Handfield, who served as Indiana State Archivist until accepting this position in 2001, joined the state of Washington with more than 25 years of experience in archives, history, and records management. The State Archivist is responsible for documenting the history of state government and ensuring records created by Washington's state and local government offices are efficiently managed and stored Handfield is a national leader in the effort to ensure the retention and accessibility of government documents that are published in electronic form. He has also served as the open government group's president.

Scott North, assistant city editor and a reporter at The Herald, recently marked his 20th anniversary at the newspaper he read growing up in Snohomish County. He is an Ochberg fellow through the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma at the University of Washington. His crime reporting is featured in "Covering Violence," a journalism textbook, and he's spoken on panels at Investigative Reporters and Editors national conferences. He's used public records laws and computer-assisted reporting to raise questions about government actions. Examples include the safety of cable median barriers along I-5 near Marysville and Washington State Ferries' reliance on leaking 80-year-old boats

The Washington Coalition for Open Government is a statewide non-partisan, non profit group of individuals and organizations dedicated to strengthening and preserving the public's right to know what its government is doing. The Coalition has presented a series of similar programs around the state to educate the citizens of Washington on their rights of access.

For more information, visit our website at www.washingtoncog.org or contact the Washington Coalition for Open Government, 6351 Seaview Av NW, Seattle, WA 98107-2664, phone 206.782.0393 or by email at info@washingtoncog.org

WCOG is building a network of citizens who support open government laws and practices. Please send to info@washingtoncog.org your name, address, phone, and e-mail address. We will notify you, as they arrive, of threats to open government and opportunities to strengthen it.