When the Seattle Zoo’s board met to decide the fate of its elephants, it refused to let news reporters and the public observe its discussion and vote. Rep. Gerry Pollet (D-Seattle) will propose legislation to open up the meetings and records of private boards that carry out governmental functions while using public monies to fund their operations, such as the zoo.
“The press and public should never be barred from meetings where decisions are made with taxpayer resources at stake,” Rep. Pollet said. “The situation at the Woodland Park Zoo is merely a symptom of a larger issue. Any other position is simply undemocratic and inconsistent with our belief in open governance.”
The board of the directors of the Woodland Park Zoo came under scrutiny recently when it denied press access to a meeting discussing the future of the elephants that currently reside at the zoo. If the City of Seattle was still running the zoo, the public and news reporters would have had the legal right to observe the entire discussion of the City Council or Parks Board, including how they weighed public opinion, scientific evidence against profits, and how each member voted. Instead, the public and media were denied the right to observe how and why key public decisions were made, which conflicts with the intent and goals of Washington’s Open Public Meetings law.
“Governments should not escape public and news scrutiny by turning over operations with public money to a private board,” said Pollet.
Pollet’s bill will also ensure that official advisory committees of state and local government meet in the open, with advanced notice and the public allowed to observe in compliance with our Open Meetings Act. It will also require records of private boards, to whom a government turns over a governmental function with public money, will continue to be available to the public and news media under the public records act for those governmental functions.
Stakeholders were pleased to hear of Rep. Pollet’s leadership on this issue.
Alyne Fortgang, co-founder Friends of the Woodland Park Zoo Elephants, said “While we are worried about the future of the elephants at the zoo, we have become highly concerned with the idea that local governments could turn over public operations and public funding to entities, like the zoo, who believe themselves free from taxpayer scrutiny in their decision making. We wholly support Rep. Pollet’s measure and thank him for his leadership on this issue.”
Pollett will formally introduce his measure once the legislature convenes Jan. 12, 2015.
Pollet is co-founder of the Legislature’s Open Government Caucus with Rep. Brad Hawkins (Wenatchee), and was honored with the Washington State League of Women Voters Sunshine Award for Open Government for his three year effort to pass a new law in 2014 to require that all publicly elected officials are trained in their legal responsibilities to meet in the open and ensure that their public records are disclosable to the public.