By Colette Weeks
Executive Director, Washington Coalition for Open Government
Our state Legislature’s march toward secrecy is speeding up, despite lawsuits, massive public outcry and even a ruling that was largely against them from the state Supreme Court.
In the latest move against government transparency, the public records officer of the Washington House of Representatives sent an internal email in July to House members outlining a restart of a 30-day email auto-deletion system and a guide on how to get rid of other emails even faster.
This action will destroy records on a regular basis and encourage lawmakers to delete certain emails they deem “transitory” even sooner.
Pushing boundaries for flexibility is one thing. The latest move by the Washington House of Representatives is mu