Belfair Water District manager Dave Tipton dislikes satisfying requests for official documents.
Over 35 years ago, citizens of Washington State found their voice, in what was possibly their finest hour since Washington was admitted to the Union of sister states, when they overwhelmingly voted for an initiative worded in the strongest language possible requiring transparency in government.
The introduction to the statute explains the reason for the PDA: “The people of this state do not yield their sovereignty to the agencies that serve them. The people, in delegating authority, do not give their public servants the right to decide what is good for the people to know and what is not good for them to know. The people insist on remaining informed so that they may maintain control over the instruments that they have created.”
Suit Prompts Mason County to Re-Examine PDA Procedure
Since the voters’ overwhelming support of this initiative was recorded, the State’s legislature has endeavored to emasculate/kill its impact with the death of 1,000 cuts, i.e. dozens upon dozens of amendments to it eliminating whole ranges and entire categories of government documents subject to citizen review. Nevertheless, the courts have consistently upheld the initiative’s provisions, fining scofflaw agencies to discourage non-compliance as the law’s language intended. Political science analysts have applauded the law’s introduction of ‘sunshine’ into government and the democratic process.
Belfair Water District manager Dave Tipton
But District Manager Dave Tipton sneers at the law as he answers questions regarding a lawsuit filed by Bonnie Pope and Greg Wagget alleging non-compliance by the Belfair Water District in responding to their records requests. “This is a huge abuse of the antiquated law that allows people to demand information for no specific reason and then sue if they do not get it. I would encourage every voter to contact their legislators to demand this law be changed now,” he says. Presumably Mr. Tipton would prefer aggrieved citizens be limited to holding their breath until they turn blue…or that Jay Hupp be placed in charge of responding to such requests?
A History, Analysis, and Notable Cases/Requests invoking PDA authority
