Job applications for city managers, university presidents and top-paid positions at other government agencies would be open for public review under a proposal from the state’s “sunshine committee” that reviews exemptions in state public records law.
The measure, which received a Senate committee hearing Tuesday, would require that finalist applications for a job be subject to public disclosure after finalists are selected but before a hire is made.
“You want government to be accountable in who they’re hiring,” said Tim Ford, an assistant state attorney general and a member of the sunshine panel. “I think if several individuals are selected as finalists, then you should be able to see all their applications to determine which is the best.”
Senate Bill 5049 carries nine recommendations from the sunshine panel that date to 2008. The panel, made up of legislators, lawyers and media representatives, reviews a portion of the more than 300 public-records exemptions each year to determine if they are necessary.
Universities are among the state institutions that use the exemption that protects the identities of job applicants.
The University of Washington Board of Regents hired Michael Young as president last year in a closed process that the university says is important for attracting qualified candidates. It says some potential applicants would be deterred if their names could become public during the process.
“If they didn’t get the job, that could affect the way that they’re viewed at their current institutions,” said UW spokesman Norm Arkans. “It’s hard enough to search for the right people for jobs like this. If you make that pool smaller … you’re just making it that much harder to find good leadership.”
The proposal also would apply to top positions in local government departments and counties, but would not affect unpaid board or commission offices.
Other recommendations in the bill include disclosing medical malpractice claims, protecting personal financial information from public disclosure, and exempting records of local gang databases compiled by law enforcement.
The future of the legislation is uncertain. It is not yet scheduled for a vote of the Senate’s government operations committee.
Most of the sunshine committee’s suggestions haven’t become law since the panel was created in 2007 at the request of Attorney General Rob McKenna.
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