After negotiating in secret, the WA Redistricting Commission:
-Didn't release dozens of text messages in response to a public records request;
-Said it couldn't do so partly because 1 commissioner deleted those texts, a likely breach of state law.
crosscut.com/politics/2022/…
#waleg
-Didn't release dozens of text messages in response to a public records request;
-Said it couldn't do so partly because 1 commissioner deleted those texts, a likely breach of state law.
crosscut.com/politics/2022/…
#waleg
The Redistricting Commission meets every 10 yrs, so I've heard people saying maybe they just didn't know better.
Perhaps, but there's also evidence that people working for the commission raised concerns about how exec director Lisa McLean was handling records requests. #waleg
Perhaps, but there's also evidence that people working for the commission raised concerns about how exec director Lisa McLean was handling records requests. #waleg
In notes from early Jan., Aminta Spencer, the commission's fmr executive assistant, notes concerns that Lisa McLean, the commission's exec director, "doesn't know what she is doing" when handling records requests. McLean is the commission's assigned public records officer. #waleg 
In response to my initial requests to the Redistricting Commission, I didn't receive a redaction log or anything explaining why some records were not released to me. Spencer, the commission's ex-executive assistant, says in her notes that she repeatedly raised this issue. #waleg
Spencer is one of two former commission employees who allege they were terminated after raising concerns about how McLean, the commission's executive director, was handling records requests. More from Spencer's notes: #waleg
One issue that came up in my reporting was that McLean has said that the records of caucus staff working for the Redistricting Commission aren't her responsibility. According to Spencer's notes, Spencer questioned that, and also told McLean to direct people to the records. #waleg
The point of this thread is: I'm not certain the WA Redistricting Commission's exec director can blame ignorance for the commission's mishandling of public records. There is some evidence that McLean may have been told of potential problems, but did not heed that advice. #waleg
McLean was the only one who ever sent me records in response to my requests to the commission; She also told me on two prior occasions that she gave me all relevant communications between legislative caucus staffers and redistricting commissioners. That seems suspect now. #waleg
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