Bonkowski still spinning
Posted in Bainbridge government, City Manager, tagged Althea Paulson, Anne Blair, Bainbridge City Council, Bainbridge City Hall, Bainbridge Council, Bainbridge government, Bob Fortner, Court of Appeals, Dan Mallove, David Ward, Doug Schulze, Eric B. Schmidt, Joey Senat, Judge Jeannette Dalton, Lisa Marshall, Michael Scott, Public Records Act, Roger Townsend, Sarah Blossom, Steven Bonkowski, Val Tollefson, Wayne Roth on January 27, 2015| 2 Comments »
Last week, Council member Steven Bonkowski sent a letter to the press, trying to rehabilitate his reputation after his unlawful and costly violations of the Public Records Act. We sent the letter below to the Bainbridge City Council, the City Manager and the City Attorney.
Dear Council, Mr. Schulze, and Ms. Marshall:
We read Steven Bonkowski's letter to Inside Bainbridge this week, in which he attempts to re-litigate arguments he lost in court. His false statements are so significant that we think it's important to correct them in writing. We also want to express our alarm that as a sitting member of the Bainbridge City Council, Mr. Bonkowski continues to substitute his own incorrect interpretation of the law for the judgment of two courts, suggesting that he is within his rights to continue the unlawful behavior that has cost the city so much money.
The following are false statements by Mr. Bonkowski:
Bonkowski: "I want the community to know that I did not conduct city business from my private email account, and I did turn over my emails to the city in a timely manner for the public records request."
The facts: Kitsap County Superior Court Judge Jeanette Dalton held that the documents we sought were "related to the financial information that Mr. Bonkowski discussed at the June 5, 2013 meeting, and thus do come within the realm of 'public records.'" In fact, when Judge Dalton discussed Mr. Bonkowski's flawed reasoning in determining what constitutes a public record, she wrote the criticism that has been so often repeated in the press: "The Council members knew well what the Governance Manual requires, and any hesitation by them in turning over such emails is a grave concern for the people of Bainbridge Island."
Moreover, Mr. Bonkowski did not turn over his emails in a timely manner, because, as Judge Dalton found, he "admitted to deleting records that were responsive to the PRA requests."
The Court of Appeals supported Judge Dalton's positions, writing that Bonkowski and Ward "undisputedly violated the Governance Manual by using their personal accounts for city business, by failing to forward emails received on their personal accounts to City servers, and by deleting emails which constituted public records, thus making it impossible for the City to adequately respond to Paulson and Fortner's PRA requests." (more…)
Tollefson: PRA compliance is at the "core of the City's obligation" to the community
Posted in Bainbridge government, tagged Althea Paulson, Bainbridge City Council, Bainbridge City Hall, Bainbridge Council, Bainbridge government, Bob Fortner, Dave Ward, Inside Bainbridge, PRA lawsuit, Public Records Act, Steve Bonkowski, Val Tollefson on January 13, 2015| 5 Comments »
Bainbridge City Council member and Deputy Mayor Val Tollefson wrote a letter to the editor, published on Inside Bainbridge yesterday, expressing his views on our lawsuit and the core importance of open government. It's a welcome public statement from someone who was not on the Council when we filed the suit. As one of the plaintiffs, I can confirm his statement that "this suit could have been settled much earlier and cheaper but for the insistence but for the insistence by the involved Councilmembers that their Constitutional right to privacy was paramount to their obligation to the City." I also agree with the the other views he expressed in this letter, particularly the importance of transparency in government.
Bainbridge Island recently settled a lawsuit brought by two of our citizens claiming that the City violated the Washington Public Records Act. The suit involved delays and ultimately failure of two members of the Council to produce email messages that they had received concerning City business on their personal email accounts. This suit was a very expensive lesson. The money spent should have been used for a constructive purpose for our City. Since the taxpayers won't see any tangible benefit from these tax dollars, they are at least entitled to some comment. So here goes:
The use of personal email accounts for City business was against City policy. This suit demonstrated clearly the problems that can result, and the City has tightened procedures to ensure that everyone doing business on behalf of the City has access to and knows they must use a City email account.
This suit could have been settled much earlier and cheaper but for the insistence by the involved Councilmembers that their Constitutional right to privacy was paramount to their obligation to the City. I will ask the Council to take steps to ensure that Councilmembers agree that service to the City requires a reasonable limitation on that claim to privacy.
Compliance with the Public Records Act and the Open Meetings Act are at the core of the City's obligation to provide good, transparent service to the community. The citizens who brought this recent lawsuit performed an invaluable service to the community at great personal expense. Bob Fortner and Althea Paulson should be thanked for insisting that the City be held to account.
—Val Tollefson City Council, North Ward