Applications for open records panel kept secret

OLYMPIA – Gov. Chris Gregoire has refused to reveal the identities of some people who weren’t picked for seats on the state’s new “Sunshine Committee.”

Gregoire, responding to an Associated Press public records request, has kept secret several resumes, letters and e-mail exchanges detailing unsuccessful applicants to the committee.

In her reply, the Democratic governor cited an exemption to public records law that says applications for public employment can be kept secret.

The Sunshine Committee’s job is to sort through the more than 300 exemptions to the state’s Public Records Act and prepare a report by Nov. 15 in which it will recommend that the Legislature keep, repeal or amend particular exemptions.

Open government experts scoffed at Gregoire’s reasoning, noting that compensation for Sunshine Committee service is limited to travel reimbursements that several members don’t actually qualify for.

“That doesn’t make them employees of the state,” said Toby Nixon, acting president of the Washington Coalition for Open Government and a former state legislator.

But Melynda Campbell, a Gregoire legal assistant, said the administration considers every person appointed to a board or commission by the governor a public employee under the Public Records Act exemption.