Hey, Look What I Just Sent To County Council...

An Open Letter to Whatcom County Council

Thursday, February 23, 2012

To: County Council

Fm: Shane Roth

Re: proposed Order of Business modification

Members of Council,

Nerditorial: I call Bravo Sierra on Wisconsin Senator Fitzgerald

VIDEOS OF PUBLIC MEETINGS

The Videos of the 42nd Legislative District mid-Session Town Hall Meeting in Lynden can be found under the Video Tab posted above. (Located directly below the Blog Title). or, click here

Pro Publica is Looking for Stories about Legislative Efforts to Curb or Open Access to Public Records

Send Pro Publica an email, if you have a story to share.

VIDEO: Highlights from Jail Public Meeting (Part Two)

VIDEO: Highlights From Jail Public Meeting

Watch County Jail Public Hearing SUNDAY at 7pm on BTV10

Update: Got the date wrong. It's Sunday night at 7 p.m. Ooops.

Must see TV for Whatcom County citizens.

It's Jail-A-Palooza!

Get Whatcom Planning: About that Jail Hearing...

VIDEO: The Whatcom County Council addresses the Public Records Act

From the October 19, 2010 Committee of the Whole meeting.

Nerditorial: A Word About Ken Mann's Blog Thread on Public Disclosure Requests

[In the interest of disclosure, my wife (Wendy Harris) is the person who filed the PDR that was the original subject of Ken's blog post.]

Ken Mann's blog (Inside Mann) has been discussing public records requests.

Department of Commerce Encourages County to Ensure Public Transparency

Dear Latte Readers:

The Washington State Department of Commerce has spoken with the County Planning Department to "encourage the County to ensure their local codes and official administrative interpretations are clear and made publicly available." Why was this even necessary? Because the County is applying a short plat vesting policy that fails to comply with the law followed by the rest of the state, and because the County has not made its policy on this matter public.

Barbara Brenner: Nosy Citizens Won't Let Us Clean Up Lake Whatcom

An excerpt from the comments thread from Ken Mann's recently posted article on Public Disclosure Requests.

...
The irony is not missed on me that [the citizen filing the PDR] writes us volumes telling us how slow we are to get anything done to protect the Lake Whatcom Watershed and at the same time she bombards the county with overly broad public disclosure requests that take up everyone’s time and lots of public money we could be spending productively on creating a Transfer of Development Rights program and other important ways to protect the lake and many other critical areas of the county.
...
- Barbara Brenner

Ken Mann's blog thread remains open for anyone who wishes to comment.

Ken Mann blogs about Public Records Requests

From Ken's blog, Inside Mann.

SEC Clarifies New FOIA Exemption Amid Uproar over Wall Street Reform Act

"Section 929I changes that wording to read that the commission if exempt from disclosing “any records… if such records or information have been obtained by the commission for… surveillance, risk assessments or other regulatory and oversight activities.” 

Latte's question for the day: Did U.S. Financial Corporations request that Senate Conference Committee members insert language that would prevent attorneys (including state Attorney Generals) from gathering evidence in consumer protection litigation?

Heads up Candidates and staff - I'm looking for PDC Violations

I will be looking at Candidate websites and PDC filings for alleged errors and violations.

Remember, I don't discriminate along party lines -- like some of my contemporaries...

Join Sunlight Live -- Financial Regulation

Later today, a conference of both House and Senate representatives will discuss how to move forward with financial regulation in our country.

It's a big deal, and once again we're going to be covering it with our Sunlight Live program.

When we broadcast Sunlight Live during the health care debate, citizens and news outlets across the country called it a true game-changer for how political news is covered. Almost 50,000 people tuned in to participate during that debate, and we hope you'll join again as we dive in with financial reform.

www.SunlightFoundation.com/Live

Our coverage will show live footage of the conference deliberations while displaying government data about the representatives as they speak. You won't just hear opinions from politicians while participating in Sunlight Live; you'll be part of a community engaging in a nationwide conversation on the issue - all while seeing real facts about who is influencing the leaders who decide the future of this issue.

The conference will continue for 6-8 days over the next two weeks (picking up again next Tuesday), and we'll be there throughout. We hope you'll join us each day for as long as you can.

And don't just join yourself. Please invite others to do the same by sharing the link on Twitter, Facebook, or by simply forwarding this information by email.

Together, we're reinventing how politicians are held to account during important debates in this country.  Let's continue to show the world that when we get raw, unbiased information about our government, we know how to use it.

See you online, in real-time,

The Sunlight Team

Nerditorial: How Many County Council Members Does It Take to Screw Up an Agenda?

Oh good Lord.

I’m becoming convinced that this County Council couldn’t pour water out of a boot if you told them the instructions were written on the heel.

How hard could it be to screw up this UGA agreement? Pretty hard. But, the Whatcom County Council is plucky and has found a way.

Video: Ken Oplinger Talks About Greg Kirsch on KGMI

Find a podcast of Mr. Oplinger's entire April 25, 2010 program at kgmi.com