D. Edson Clark, Clark, Raymond & Company
co-Chair, Revenue Committee
P.O. Box 3188
Redmond, WA 98073
ed@clarkraymond.com
D. Edson Clark, CPA, graduated summa cum laude from the University of Washington in 1977. He obtained his license to practice in the State of Washington as a certified public accountant in 1980. After several years as a tax partner in a multiple partner local accounting firm, Ed co-founded Clark, Raymond & Company in 1991, where he continues to serve as the executive professional.
During his years in public accounting, Ed has been the engagement principal on numerous client engagements that involve the preparation of audited, reviewed, or compiled financial statements, and has extensive experience providing commercial and personal income tax advice. Ed also has extensive experience in the estate taxation and estate planning arena.
Ed is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Washington State Society of Certified Public Accountants.
Ed was a founding Director and former Board Chair of the Rotary Wishing Well Foundation and a former Board member of the Make A Wish Foundation of Washington.
Ed recently received a Key Award from the Washington Coalition For Open Government in recognition of his success in unlocking government secrets related to the improper regulation of the accounting profession in the State of Washington and currently is a Board member of the Coalition.
William Crittenden, Attorney at Law
300 East Pine Street
Seattle, WA 98122-2029
Phone (206) 361-5972; Fax (206) 361-5973
wjcrittenden@comcast.net
William Crittenden is an attorney in private practice. Mr. Crittenden represents parties in litigation and appeals involving freedom of speech and access to public records. He is also Of Counsel to Groff Murphy, PLLC where he represents developers, builders, owners and other interested parties in litigation and in administrative and legislative land use matters. Mr. Crittenden has represented WCOG and the League of Women Voters as amicus curiae in cases involving public records and voting rights. He is a member of the Washington Appellate Lawyers Association. Before entering private practice Mr. Crittenden served as a law clerk to Chief Justice Barbara Durham of the Washington Supreme Court and Judge William W. Baker of the Court of Appeals. Mr. Crittenden is a 1992 graduate of the University of Washington School of Law.
Steven J. Dixson, Witherspoon Kelley
422 W Riverside, Suite 1100
Spokane, WA 99201
(509) 624-5265
sjd@wkdtlaw.com
Steven J. Dixson is an associate attorney with Witherspoon Kelley, P.S., in Spokane, Washington. Mr. Dixson has been with the firm since 2006, focusing on general civil and business litigation with an emphasis on access to open government. Witherspoon Kelley is active in its representation of various Inland Empire media outlets and organizations, as well as several state-wide open government groups. Mr. Dixson has personally presented at numerous state-wide Continuing Legal Education programs for open government and access to public records, and has participated in advocacy on behalf of open government interests at the Washington State superior court, appellate, and Supreme Court levels, the United States District Court and Courts of Appeals, and the United States Supreme Court.
George Erb, Managing Editor, Puget Sound Business Journal
co-Chair, Board Development Committee
801 Second Avenue
Seattle, WA 98104
Phone (206) 447-8505
geoerb@seanet.com
George Erb is editor of the Puget Sound Business Journal. He has worked as a reporter and editor at daily and weekly newspapers in Washington state since 1983. Mr. Erb has a Bachelors degree in History from Hanover College and a Master’s degree in Journalism from the University of Oregon. He is a past chapter president for the Society of Professional Journalists a member of the state Bench-Bar-Press Committee. Mr. Erb is also the editor of two editions of "Access; a guide to government information," an open-government manual published by the Society of Professional Journalists.
Mike Fancher,
Former Executive Editor, The Seattle Times
Vice President; Chair, Awards Committee
3774 W. Commodore Way
Seattle, WA 98199
Phone (206) 285-4699
fanch@mikefancher.com
Mike Fancher retired from The Seattle Times in 2008 after 20 years as executive editor. Fancher served as a 2008-2009 Donald W. Reynolds Fellow in the Missouri School of Journalism. He received a B.A. degree in journalism from the University of Oregon in 1968 and a Masters degree in Communication from Kansas State University in 1970. He received his MBA degree from the University of Washington in 1986.
Fancher currently serves as chairman of the ethics committee of the American Society of News Editors. He serves on an advisory committee to the Fordham University Graduate School of Business and is a member of the board of directors of the University of Oregon Alumni Association. In 2009, he was a consultant to the Knight Foundation Commission on the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy and to the Aspen Institute’s Forum on Communications and Society. Also in 2009, the Western Washington Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists presented Fancher its award for Distinguished Service to Journalism. He was inducted into the University of Oregon’s Journalism Hall of Achievement in 2002.
He and his wife, Elaine Bowers, live in Seattle.
Katherine George, Attorney, Harrison, Benis & Spence LLP
2101 Fourth Avenue, Ste 1900
Seattle, Washington 98121
kgeorge@hbslegal.com
Katherine George is a public interest attorney. She helps citizens obtain public records from local, state and federal governments through litigation and appeals. She also helps parents obtain special public school services for children with disabilities. As a lawyer and volunteer, Kathy has worked to protect the environment from pollution and land-use violations. Kathy is of counsel at Harrison, Benis & Spence LLP in Seattle. She started her law career as a clerk to then-Chief Justice Gerry Alexander of the Washington Supreme Court. Before practicing law, Kathy worked for 15 years as a reporter and assistant city editor at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, and also was a reporter for the Tacoma News Tribune. As a journalist and attorney, Kathy has been dedicated to promoting the free exercise of First Amendment rights and the right of the people to know what their governments are doing.
Rita Hibbard, Executive Director, Investigate West
Phone (425) 772-1675
rthibbard@comcast.net
As executive director and editor of InvestigateWest, Rita Hibbard is working to create a new collaborative model for investigative reporting. Her team creates stories that are produced across platforms, for distribution on its Web site and to online, print and broadcast media partners. Her team maintains an active Web site daily, as well as being engaged in producing long-term investigative work that is focused on the Pacific Northwest and West.
Hibbard also served as assistant managing editor for news at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer before the paper ceased publication in 2009. At that time, she also was editor of its award-winning investigative team, and prior to that held government, social issues, business and public policy editing and reporting positions. She is a 2010 Knight-McCormick Leadership Institute Fellow.
Scott Johnson,
American Civil Liberties Union of Washington
Chair, Legal Committee
800 Fifth Avenue, Suite 4000
Seattle, WA 98104
Phone (206) 626-6000; Fax (206) 464-1496
sawj@stokeslaw.com
Scott A.W. Johnson is a trial lawyer and focuses his practice on complex business and commercial litigation. He has served for many years as a cooperating attorney with the ACLU of Washington for which he has handled a number of public records cases. He also has spoken about public records and open meetings to a number of community groups. He obtained his law degree, magna cum laud, from American University, Washington College of Law in 1985 where he was a Notes and Comments Editor of the American University Law Review. He received his B.A. in Business Administration (Accounting) from the University of Washington in 1980.
Lynn Kessler, Former State Representative, 24th District
413 8th Street
Hoquiam, WA 98550
kessler24@aol.com
Lynn Kessler served 16 years in the Washington State House, and 10 years as Majority Leader. In addition to her leadership duties, she sat on the House Appropriations and Rules committees, the Washington State Arts Commission, and was the only state legislator appointed to the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies Board of Directors.
Lynn is currently a member of the Grays Harbor Economic Development Council Board. She has served on the Legislative Committee on Economic Development and International Relations, as well as numerous committees and boards in her community, including ten years as a trustee at Grays Harbor Community College, where she is a past chair, and was the first female president of the Aberdeen Rotary. Lynn is a mother of four and grandmother of Kyle, Ryan, and Arita.
Barbara Levette,
League of Women Voters of Washington
co-Chair, Revenue Committee
PO Box 427
Union, WA 98592
Phone (360) 490-8355
levette@hctc.com
Barbara Levette currently serves on the Board of Directors for the League of Women Voters Mason County. She received a Bachelor of Science degree from Black Hills State University in 1979 and a Masters degree in Public Administration from University of South Dakota in 1981.
Levette previously served as the Assistant Director of the Minnesota OSHA Program before moving to Washington state and becoming the Executive Director of the West Region EMS Council, where she managed a 50-member council in the initial development of a comprehensive regional emergency medical services care plan for a five-county area of one million residents. Levette then worked as a self-employed contractor, providing strategic planning and management consulting for ten years. She most recently served as the Public Involvement Manager for Skillings Connolly Engineering, managing public involvement requirements for civil engineering projects.
Levette is currently the president of the Executive Advisory Board for Port of Hoodsport, and has been the secretary/treasurer on the Madrona Homeowners Association Board of Trustees for 10 years.
Jason Mercier, Washington Policy Center
PO Box 3643
Seattle, WA 98124
Phone (360) 485 - 2485
jmercier@washingtonpolicy.org
Jason Mercier is Director of the Center for Government Reform for the Seattle-based Washington Policy Center. Among the Center's priorities is public records reform. Prior to joining WPC, Jason worked on public records issues for the Evergreen Freedom Foundation. He also serves as a voting member on the American Legislative Exchange Council's Tax and Fiscal Policy Task Force and is a contributing editor of Heartland's Budget Tax News. He received a B.A. in Political Science from Washington State University. Jason and his wife Kristen make their home in Lacey.
Cynthia Mitchell, Central Washington University, Department of Communication
400 E. University Way, MS: 7438
Ellensburg, WA 98926
Phone (509) 963-1063; Fax (509) 963-1060
mitchelc@cwu.edu
Cynthia Mitchell spent 14 years as a full-time daily newspaper reporter and editor before deciding to turn her career from the newsroom to the classroom. She's now a tenured, associate professor of journalism at Central Washington University, where she is the director of the print journalism sequence. She is also the faculty adviser to Central's weekly student newspaper, The Observer, as well as to the student chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. She's also served as president of the Pacific Northwest Association of Journalism Educators.
Her professional experience includes 10 years at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, four years at The Wall Street Journal and internships at the Associated Press, The Courier-Journal, the Dallas Morning News and the Los Angeles Times. Her investigative and business reporting has won top honors from the National Association of Black Journalists, Cox Newspapers and the Georgia Associated Press. She received a journalism degree at Western Kentucky University, and an MBA from Vanderbilt University. Her research and service passion at Central is First Amendment education. To that end, she chaired a yearlong First Amendment Festival at Central in 2006-2007, which featured 17 events and workshops. She's on sabbatical in the 2011-2012 school year to plan and raise funds for another festival in the 2012-13 school year.
Walter Neary,
Comcast PR Director; former Lakewood City Council
walter.neary@gmail.com
Walter Neary served on the Lakewood City Council from 2004 through 2011. Walter holds an Advanced Certificate for Municipal Leadership from the Association of Washington Cities. Walter, a graduate of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in New York, was a newspaper reporter and editor for 15 years. He was night city editor for The Salinas Californian, editor of the weekly Lakewood WA Journal and business and technology editor at The Olympian. Walter received a number of awards from the California and Washington Newspaper Publishers Associations and other organizations for investigative reporting and editorial writing. Walter then became a science writer and assistant director for the University of Washington’s health sciences public information office and currently works as communications director for Comcast, managing sponsorships, traditional media and social media relations and other community communications initiatives. Walter also serves on the boards of the Lakewood Historical Society, Auburn Youth Resources and Fort Steilacoom Museum. He is a co-author of the book “Images of America: Lakewood.”
Toby Nixon, Kirkland City Council; Senior Standards Program Manager, Microsoft Corporation
President; Chair, Government Committee
Microsoft Corporation
12113 NE 141st Street
Kirkland, WA 98034
Phone (425) 823-9779
toby@tobynixon.com
Toby Nixon is a member of the Kirkland city council. He previously served as a fire commissioner, and in the Washington State House of Representatives from 2002 through 2006 where he was ranking member of the committee which has responsibility for overseeing Washington's open government and election laws. He received the "Freedom's Light Award" from Washington Newspaper Publishers Association in recognition of his work to protect and advance First Amendment interests in Washington. Toby has worked in the computer industry for over 35 years, currently in the Windows group at Microsoft where he manages relationships with other companies in the computer industry and represents Microsoft in technical standards development organizations. He's a member of the Washington State Historical Records Advisory Board, and serves as an officer and board member of a number of local non-profit organizations. He, his wife Irene, and their family make their home in Kirkland.
David Norman, Attorney at Law
701 Pike Street, Suite 1800
Seattle, WA 98101-3929
(206) 262-8311
dmn@leesmart.com
David M. Norman is an attorney that worked as an associate attorney at Allied Law Group in Seattle between 2008 and 2010. Allied is a boutique law firm that is involved primarily in enforcing the public's interest in open government matters, including under the Public Records Act, the Open Public Meetings Act, the open courts provisions in the Washington State Constitution and local court rules, and also various issues related to media law. He graduated magna cum laude from Seattle University School of Law, where he served as a Research and Technical Editor for the school’s Law Review from 2007-08. He also served as an extern for the Honorable Marsha J. Pechman at the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington in 2008. He has been involved in several public records, open public meetings, and constitutional open court record cases, including multiple cases at the appellate and State Supreme Court levels. In November of 2010, Mr. Norman began working for Lee Smart P.S., Inc., a Seattle law firm that deals with multiple areas of civil litigation.
Sam Pace, Association of REALTORS®
Treasurer
29839 - 154th Ave. SE
Kent, WA 98042
Phone (253) 630-5541
SamPace@concentric.net
Sam Pace is a REALTOR® with Executive Real Estate and a contracted Housing Specialist for the Seattle-King County Association of REALTORS®. He is a Past President of the Washington REALTORS® and has been honored as King County's REALTOR® of the Year. Mr. Pace served as the founding chairman of the South Sound Chambers of Commerce Legislative Coalition and has served on the boards of more than a dozen community and professional organizations. Prior to his career in real estate Mr. Pace was a partner in the Springfield, Oregon, law firm of Harms, Harold, Leahy & Pace where a significant portion of his practice involved litigation and municipal law. He received his bachelor's degree (double major in urban and regional government, and political science) and MBA from Willamette University, and is a graduate of the University of Oregon School Of Law.
State Representative, 46th District; Executive Director & Legal Counsel, Heart of America Northwest
Secretary
1314 NE 56th St. #100
Seattle, WA 98105
Phone (206)382-1014
gerry@hoanw.org
Gerry Pollet is Executive Director and legal counsel for Heart of America Northwest, a 16,000 member citizens' group dedicated to "advancing our region's quality of life." Heart of America Northwest is the region's largest citizens' watchdog group for the cleanup of the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, the most contaminated area in North America. Gerry also serves as Executive Director and general counsel for Legal Advocates for Washington, which provides legal advice on non-profit; open government (public records / FOIA / open meetings); electoral; and, hazardous waste law to non-profit organizations. Gerry chaired the "Protect Washington" campaign for Initiative 297 in 2004, to stop Hanford from being used as a National Radioactive Hazardous Waste Dump and to end dumping of waste in unlined trenches. Gerry has been honored as the "National Grassroots Activist of the Year" by the Alliance for Nuclear Accountability; and, the 2006 Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility Paul Beeson Peace Award. Gerry was involved in drafting and passing Washington laws to protect state and local government whistleblowers.
Mike Reitz, The Freedom Foundation
P.O. Box 552
Olympia, WA 98507
Phone (360) 956-3482; Fax (360) 352-1874
mreitz@myfreedomfoundation.org
Michael Reitz is general counsel of The Freedom Foundation, where he oversees the foundation's legal affairs. He is a member of the Washington and California Bars and is admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. He is a co-author of To Protect and Maintain Individual Rights, a reference guide to the Declaration of Rights in the Washington Constitution, and he maintains the Supreme Court of Washington Blog. Michael is a graduate of the Oak Brook College of Law.
Patience Rogge, Private Citizen
Chair, Events Committee
696 Woodland Drive
Port Townsend, WA 98368
Phone (360) 385-6975
rogge@olympus.net
Patience Rogge holds a Bachelor of Arts in American Government and a Master of Library Science from the University of California, Berkeley. She has worked in academic, school and public libraries in Delaware, California, and Saudi Arabia. She has served on the Jefferson County Rural Library District Board of Trustees, the boards of the Washington Library Association, the Pacific Northwest Library Association, and Friends of the Washington State Library. She has chaired the Washington Friends, Foundations and Trustees Association and the Grassroots! interest group of the Washington Library Association. In 2001, she received the Trustee Award from the Washington Library Association, in 2005, she received the Association's Honorary Lifetime Award and was named to the American Library Association's National Advocacy Honor Roll. In addition to her library-related activities, she has been active in environmental, political and educational efforts in California and Washington. She currently directs the Fort Worden Oral History Program at Fort Worden State Park Conference Center in Port Townsend and is vice president of the Friends of Fort Worden.
David Seago,
Retired Editorial Page Editor, The News Tribune
co-Chair, Board Development Committee
4405 N. 34th St.
Tacoma, WA 98407
Phone (253) 761-0709
daveseago@gmail.com
Retiring in July 2008 as editorial page editor for The News Tribune, David Seago ended a 40-year career with the newspaper. He began with the TNT as an office boy, fetching mail and filling paste pots, then graduated to a reporting job during summers while attending Stanford University. He earned a masters degree from the Columbia University School of Journalism, then began working full-time as a reporter in 1972. After beat reporting on consumer affairs and education, he filled several newsroom editing positions, including city editor, before becoming an editorial writer in 1983. He was named editorial page editor in 1995. The editorial page under Seago consistently supported the cause of open government and the disclosure of public records in particular.
Seago continues to serve on the boards of two nonprofit groups that tutor elementary students in reading and provide services for the disabled, respectively. He also serves on an advisory committee promoting education in ethics at Tacoma Community College.
Brian Sonntag, Washington State Auditor
P.O. Box 40021
Olympia, WA 98504
Phone (360) 902-0370
sonntagb@sao.wa.gov
Brian Sonntag is serving his fifth term as Washington State Auditor. He is the state’s eighth elected auditor. He has had a long career in public service. Brian was elected Pierce County Clerk in 1978 at age 26 and served eight years in that office. He was elected twice to the position of County Auditor, an office his father held for 22 years. Brian held that position until his election as State Auditor in 1992.
He is an outspoken advocate of strong sunshine laws that give citizens access to public records and public meetings. He has received the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association’s Freedom’s Light Award for his advocacy. And this year, he earned the prestigious James Anderson Award by the Washington Coalition for Open Government for his tireless efforts to keep government’s doors wide open to citizens.
During his tenure as auditor, Brian’s office has received national recognition for its efforts to detect and prevent fraud, for employing innovative audit techniques, and for executing its new authority to conduct performance audits of state and local governments.
Eric Stahl, Attorney, Davis Wright Tremaine LLP
1201 Third Avenue, Suite 2200
Seattle, WA 98101
ericstahl@dwt.com
Eric Stahl is a media and intellectual property attorney and partner with the law firm Davis Wright Tremaine. He represents news organizations, journalists and others in public records, First Amendment and intellectual property matters. He spent five years as a newspaper reporter before attending University of Washington School of Law, where he graduated in 1997.
Teresita Torres, Teamsters Local Union No. 117
14675 Interurban Avenue South, Suite 307
Tukwila, WA 98168
Phone 206-441-4860 ext. 1258; Fax 206-441-3153
Teresita.Torres@Teamsters117.org
Teresita Torres was hired on May 1, 2011 as the new Legislative Affairs Coordinator and Staff Attorney for Teamsters Local 117. Teresita earned a Bachelor’s Degree from The Evergreen State College and a law degree from Seattle University School of Law. After being sworn into the Washington State Bar Association, Teresita worked as Legislative Aide to Speaker of the House, Frank Chopp, and Representative Mark Ericks, during the 2005 session. She was thereafter hired as a Civil Rights Investigator by the Washington State Human Rights Commission and also serves as Commissioner on the Washington State Commission on Hispanic Affairs.
Lucille Walls, Executive Director, Alliance of People with disAbilities
1120 E. Terrace, Ste 100
Seattle, WA 98122
Phone (866) 545-7055
Lucille@disabilitypride.org
Since March of 2009 Ms. Walls has worked as the Executive Director for the Alliance of People with disAbilities. The organization provides an array of services for individuals living with a disability in King County. Prior to accepting this position, Lucille served as the Executive Director of the Ohio Governor's Council on People with Disabilities, as Lead Epidemiologist for a consortium of twelve Indian reservations in California, and as Executive Director of the Community Access Center, a non-profit independent living center.
Ms. Walls completed her Bachelor of Arts in Social Work at Michigan State University. She then attended The University of Michigan where she earned a Master of Arts in Social Work with an emphasis in Community Organization and Social Policy. At the University of South Carolina she completed a Master of Science in Public Health with a focus on Epidemiology, Injury and Violence.
Peggy Watt, Assistant Professor of Journalism,
Western Washington University
co-Chair, Communications Committee
516 High St., MS 9161
Bellingham, Wash. 98225
Phone (360) 650-2338
peggy.watt@wwu.edu
Peggy Watt is an associate professor of journalism at Western Washington University. She has degrees in journalism and political science from Western, and worked as a reporter at several newspapers in the Pacific Northwest before moving to California, where she covered Silicon Valley for about 20 years. She remains a contributing editor to PC World magazine, where she previously was online news editor.
Ms. Watt completed a master's degree at Stanford University with a thesis on traditional journalism's role in new media. She is a longtime member of the Society of Professional Journalists and National Federation of Press Women, as well as the Online News Association and the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.
Bill Will, General Manager,
Washington Newspaper Publishers Association
co-Chair, Communications Committee
12354 30th Ave. NE
Seattle, WA 98125
Phone (206) 634-3838
bwill@wnpa.com
Bill Will is the General Manager of Washington Newspaper Publishers Association. He has worked for WNPA since 1997, where he helps reporters and editors with access and legal questions and monitors First Amendment issues in the Legislature and the courts. Will has more than 20 years of experience in the newspaper business. After graduating from the University of Idaho in 1982, he worked as a reporter at the Newport Miner and worked briefly as sports editor of the Columbia Basin Herald in Moses Lake, Washington. From 1984-88 he was a reporter, copy editor, and later assistant managing editor at The Daily Idahonian/Pullman Daily News (now the Moscow-Pullman Daily News). In 1988-89, he was managing editor of The Sparks Tribune in Sparks, Nev. and helped convert the newspaper from twice-weekly to daily publication. From 1989-1995 he worked as a copy editor at Outdoor Empire Publishing Company in Seattle. He worked as a contract employee at Microsoft Corp. for two years on the launch of Microsoft Network News and MSNBC on the Internet before joining WNPA.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Jefferson Level
 |
 |
Platinum Level