Beware bureaucrats bearing gripes, especially when it comes to transparency and the public interest. Meddling with the Public Records Act risks hampering freedom of information and dulling a law that has been a touchstone for Washington citizens since 1972. Lawmakers should take a card from the “Monopoly” deck: Do not pass go, do not collect $200.
As The Herald reports, a Monday work session of the House Local Government Committee spotlighted city and county concerns about work hours dedicated to meeting public records requests. Snohomish County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Sara Di Vittorio told the committee that the Public Records Act was being used as a “weapon of retaliation and a weapon of harassment.”
There are times when that’s the case and courts are compelled to intervene. But imparting motive or using frequent requesters as a vehicle to water down the law and, by extension, interfere with access to public information is inimical to the public’s right to know.
Newspapers and other media have a dog in this fight; we are opposed to monkeying with the gospel. That doesn’t mean we don’t empathize with public entities frittering time to meet requests. The best strategy is to embrace 21st century technology: index records and post data online, ideally in real time. When sweeping, time-intensive requests are made, agency honchos still can demand clarification and offer records in installments to rein in labor costs.
“The Legislature should demand they do that before infringing upon people’s civil rights,” said Toby Nixon, president of the Washington Coalition for Open Government.
Di Vittorio and other county and city officials are concerned about the hundreds of hours sucked up by requests. But the law is blind to intent, as it should be. Remedies — which won’t fully satisfy public managers — include the recently passed law requiring city, county and special district employees to undergo PRA training.
The Ruckelshaus Center, in its 2013 assessment of PRA requests to local governments, flagged several critical points: That there is a lack of available data on abusive requests, but that the vast majority of requests and requesters are reasonable. The takeaway: “The principles of the PRA are sound, and government accountability is vital.” The antidote to the tsunami of requests — and it requires dinero — is access to training, records management and best practices.
Lastly (and this is not part of the Ruckelshaus report) the PRA needs to extend to the Legislature. What’s good for the public sector is equally good for state lawmakers.
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