The Cost of Secrecy
August 5th, 2005 | Published in Public Records
Rick Anderson and Chuck Taylor of the Seattle Weekly have the tale of one man’s public records fight against King County, Washington, officials:
Armen Yousoufian, 57, who once helped build missiles for Boeing, had to go where no man had gone before. He ran an eight-year gauntlet of closed King County government doors, bureaucratic roadblocks, and finger-wagging officials. They told him he just didn’t understand a state law that is intended to splash sunshine on the schemes of public servants.
Later this month, he is likely to show just how wrong they were. Yousoufian could be awarded up to $825,200 in public funds, although out of the goodness of his heart he is asking for merely $742,680. State law allows up to $100 per day in fines against public agencies that fail to disclose requested records.
Yousoufian’s initial request in 1997 was for records about Seattle’s football stadium, built with public money and now known as Qwest Field.