In Sunday’s, Feb 24th edition of the Yakima Herald they editorialize on HB3292. This bill would have required that government have an audiotape of all executive session meetings. i.e. meetings that are closed to the public. The bill never made it to the floor.
As one who has had personal experiences at behind closed door meetings, I heartily agree!
That means I agree with Micah Cawley, Bill Lover and Rick Ensey who were the three YES votes for endorsing this bill. Micah gave the best description of how this would work at a recent Yakima City Council study session. There are adequate protections in the bill to prevent unnecessary costs and bogging down the government.
Yakima city council executive sessions have been compromised in the past with certain members leaking information that was discussed confidentially. This coffee shop leak was the source of a story last fall for Bruce Smith, editor of the Yakima Business Times.
With the likes of Bill Lover and Rick Ensey having a close relationship with Bruce Smith, is enough to give one pause to consider audiotaping. Under this law another entity could have requested the audio of the meeting and the mole would have been flushed out. Another concern in these closed-door meetings is the close association with KIT radio that Micah Cawley has. Ironically, the “three amigos” are the very ones we need protection from and that’s why I agree with their vote and the Herald’s editorial!