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PRESS RELEASE February 27, 2004 Judge agrees to review documents for trade secrets OLYMPIA – Thurston County Superior Court Judge Christine Pomeroy agreed today to review redacted (blacked out) documents related to the governor’s deal with Boeing to determine if they contain trade secrets or if they should be disclosed to the public. The Evergreen Freedom Foundation requested the review in a public records lawsuit filed against the state.
The attorney general’s office (representing the governor) had filed several inches of new exhibits in the case Wednesday night asking the judge not to review redacted information related to the deal.
Judge Pomeroy plans to issue her findings next Friday, March 5.
Boeing and the state released documents related to a taxpayer-funded employee training center on Tuesday evening. EFF initially requested these details in mid-December, but as recently as February 20 the company refused to provide the information on the grounds that it would reveal trade secrets.
At the court hearing today, Boeing attorneys justified their refusal to release the documents by claiming trade secrets “change over time,” and what was a trade secret in December may not be a trade secret two months later.
Judge Pomeroy also struck declarations that four legislators had signed in support of EFF’s public records lawsuit because they were not “signed under penalty of perjury.” She retained a declaration signed by former State Supreme Court Justice Phil Talmadge.
The attorney general’s office also argued that the legislative branch was provided in January all the information related to the Boeing deal because “three legislative staff members of the House Appropriations and Senate Ways and Means Committees were provided the opportunity [to] view an unredacted version of [the contract and exhibits] . . .” However, these staffers were prohibited from disclosing this information without the permission of Boeing. This may explain why so many legislators feel like they’ve been in the dark. 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..." |
