Whatcom council approves policy on email usage

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• Policy would discourage Whatcom council members' use of personal email accounts

  Policy would discourage Whatcom council members' use of personal email accounts

  Whatcom County Council members are "highly discouraged" from using their personal email accounts for county business, under a new policy under consideration.

  The council on Tuesday, Jan. 24, will consider approving the policy. Under state public records law, emails to and from council members are subject to public release - with some exceptions - whether they're written in a personal email account or council one.

  "Transparency is very important, and knowing what we're thinking and saying and doing is very important and the public has a right to know," council member Ken Mann said.

• Lawsuit asks judge to declare Whatcom council violated open meetings law

  Lawsuit asks judge to declare Whatcom council violated open meetings law

  A lawsuit against Whatcom County is intended to send a message to local governments that state open public meetings law is enforced, attorney Greg Overstreet said.

  The lawsuit, filed by Overstreet on Feb. 16 in Whatcom Count Superior Court, asks a judge to declare that email exchanges between County Council members in 2010 violated state open meetings law. He represents Bellingham resident and activist Tim Paxton.

  In 2010, council members sent emails to the full council, and, in two cases, one of them responded to the full group. In a 2011 letter to the county, state auditors said the exchanges met the definition of a meeting that should have been open to the public.

• Whatcom County pays $2,000 to settle meetings law challenge

  Whatcom County pays $2,000 to settle meetings law challenge

  Whatcom County paid activist Tim Paxton $2,000 to settle a lawsuit accusing the County Council of violating open public meetings law with email exchanges.

  A Whatcom County Superior Court judge on Wednesday, April 4, approved a settlement in the case, which was first filed by Paxton on Feb. 16. The county prosecutor's office made an offer to settle it Feb. 27.

  "I think it's a good result when there is a violation that was brought to the public attention and a government agency admits that there was a problem, and the attorneys' fees aren't terribly high," said attorney Greg Overstreet, who represented Paxton.

• Audit: Whatcom council email exchanges violated state meetings law

  Audit: Whatcom council email exchanges violated state meetings law

  Whatcom County Council members violated state open meetings law in 2010 because they discussed council business via email, when it should have been done in an open meeting, state auditors said.

  The state Auditor's Office on Tuesday, Dec. 27, released the results of an audit into various areas of the county in 2010. It contained no 'findings,' which are considered more serious problems. But auditors sent a letter to county management on issues they said needed to be addressed.

  Auditors looked at three instances in 2010 in which council members sent emails to the full council. In two cases, a council member responded to the whole council. Under state law, emails discussing county business sent to a quorum of the council meet the definition of "action" that needs to be done in an open meeting, the letter stated.

• Editorials, Feb. 15

  Editorials, Feb. 15

  What residents see before them in Mayor Rick Hansen’s council are seven distinct personalities through which they see Puyallup with different prisms. We believe Hansen carries a soft stick. He’s a facilitator, not a dominator.