Council will not support Othello’s bid to erode Public Records Act

The City of Othello, asserting it has recently experienced an abnormal increase in requests for public records, plans to ask state legislators for “…relief for cities relative to the increasingly onerous compliance issues in regards to the Public Records Act,” according to Mayor Tim Wilson.

Wilson sent Mayor Linda Kadlec a letter in August asking for the Ritzville City Council’s support of Othello’s request. The local council addressed the request Tuesday, Sept. 4, opting to not support Othello’s effort.

Wilson writes in his letter to Ritzville that Othello fully supports the First Amendment and transparency of government, before asking Ritzville to support a legislative request that aims to diminish transparency based on local interpretation of harassing public records requests.

“However, there are those who would endeavor to harass, interfere and strive to create a dysfunctional government rather than joining in constructive participation through the Public Records Act,” Wilson wrote.

The Ritzville Adams County Journal submitted a letter to the City of Ritzville encouraging them to avoid supporting any effort that would work to erode the Public Records Act in an interest of preserving open government.

“Mayor Tim Wilson refers to compliance issues experienced by the City of Othello as ‘onerous,’ in other words, burdensome. Government officials should not alter the Public Records Act simply because the act makes life difficult or uncomfortable for them,” Publisher Stephen McFadden told the council. “The City of Othello’s proposal seeks to alter the Public Records Act in a manner that will allow them to determine when a requestor of records is being a nuisance or harassing the agency, effectively creating loopholes that will delay the release and access to public records. Altering the Public Records Act is a slippery slope. Any effort to erode the Act is a reduction in Open Government.”

Council member David Grove, who previously served as Ritzville’s city clerk treasurer, voiced his opposition to supporting Othello’s request based on his years of working for city government.

“I agree that to tamper with the law that has been pretty well proven is fraught with potential error,” he said. “I’m not in favor of issuing a letter of support.”

Freshman council member Ben Friederichs agreed.

“It leaves way too much room basically for someone to deny a request because it was onerous,” he said.

The council did not vote on the matter. Instead they agreed by consensus to not lend their support.