Local Open Government Blog : Open Government Law : Foster Pepper Law Firm : Northwest, Seattle, Spokane, Portland Lawyer & Attorney

On The Willis Report (FOX NEWS, July 29, 2010), a regular FOX Business News broadcast, host Gerri Willis reviewed some of the issues surrounding efforts to gather information about the salary of public officials in Bell, California. Gerri interviewed Steve DiJulio, a Foster Pepper lawyer and regular contributor to this blog. Steve discussed that many cities, before the Bell scandal, publicly posted salary information on their websites. He also discussed the process for gaining access to salary information of public officers and employees. Watch the interview here.  

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Yesterday, Governor Gregoire signed an executive order that eliminated 17 boards and commissions and she has asked lawmakers to eliminate 78 other boards, which according to the Spokesman-Review includes the Public Records Exemptions Accountability Committee, also known as the “Sunshine Committee.”  The Sunshine Committee  reviews and recommends changes to exemptions in the Public Records Act.

Here is a link to the list of eliminated boards and commissions.

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Earlier today, the United States Supreme Court in an eight to one vote blocked the public release of documents showing names and contact information of Washington Referendum Measure No. 71 (“R-71”) petition signers. This action stopped the Ninth Circuit’s ruling last week that ordered the release of the documents. See our October 16, 2009 blog posting for more information regarding the Ninth Circuit’s ruling. 

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported that the Supreme Court will now consider whether to hear the merits of the case, but the action to block the release of documents means the petitions most likely won’t be released before the November 3, 2009 election. 

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