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PRESS RELEASE February 26, 2004 EFF records hearing moved to 2:30 p.m. tomorrow AG asks judge not to review redacted information OLYMPIA – The court hearing for a public records lawsuit filed by the Evergreen Freedom Foundation (EFF) against the governor and state agencies involved in negotiating the Boeing deal has been moved to 2:30 p.m. tomorrow in the Thurston County Superior Court.
The hearing was originally scheduled for 9:00 a.m., but was moved after the attorney general’s office (representing the governor) filed hundreds of pages of new exhibits last night asking the judge not to review redacted information related to the deal. EFF has asked the judge to determine whether or not the material contains sensitive trade secrets, as Boeing and the governor claim.
On Tuesday, the state released previously redacted details of a multi-million-dollar taxpayer-funded employee training center promised to Boeing. Those details had been withheld since EFF first requested them in mid-December, on the grounds that they contained trade secrets.
“The documents we received Tuesday didn’t have any trade secrets, though that’s the reason Boeing and the governor used to justify their two-month refusal to provide the information,” said Bob Williams, EFF’s president. “We have no desire to force Boeing to release sensitive trade secrets, but it’s clear we need an impartial review to determine if the information is being legitimately withheld from the public.”
According to documents filed in court, Boeing officials would not object to a judicial review of redacted information if it assists the court.
The attorney general is also asking the judge to throw out declarations of support for the lawsuit signed by four state legislators and a former State Supreme Court Justice. Her office argues that statements from the legislators are not relevant. In a filing yesterday her office stated that “legislators have not expressed concerns to [the state agency involved]” about how the records request has been handled.
Tomorrow’s hearing will be held at the Thurston County Superior Court
(2000 Lakeridge Dr. SW, Olympia) in Building 2 – Room 229 at 2:30 p.m. Contact: Marsha Richards | Communications Director | 360.956.3482
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1 Part Honesty; 2 Parts Arrogance At a March 23, 2005, House Appropriations hearing on a bill to gut the voter-approved I-601 spending limit, Rep. Jim McIntire (D) asked a supporter of I-601’s two-third supermajority requirement for the legislature to raise taxes the following question: "Can you name a time when we [legislators] have actually not just set it [supermajority requirement] aside by majority vote? I mean, this is in many respects a procedural motion that has no bearing. It’s a statutory constraint that cannot constrain any legislature that chooses as a majority to set it aside . . . have we ever used a supermajority [to raise taxes]?" - Rep. Jim McIntire (D - 46) Despite the arrogance of some state officials, Washington's constitution is clear: "All political power is inherent in the people..." |
