(360) 378-5544
(360) 378-5544
On October 9, 2015, Ms. Sheryl Albritton filed a Complaint against San Juan County and Prosecuting Attorney Randall Gaylord alleging violations of the Public Records Act. (Complaint) This case has now settled, with the County accepting judgment for arguably the maximum penalty provided by the Act under the circumstances of this case. But this case is about much more than the County’s failure to provide documents. The Complaint states, “This case is about elected officials and public employees conspiring to conceal governmental conduct from the public.” It is about this allegation that I write.
When the case was filed, I studied the 37 page Complaint and the 44 documents attached to it. I was disturbed by what I read. What disturbed me was the allegation of a cover-up—an apparent attempt to avoid wrongful governmental action from becoming public knowledge. I have an abiding belief that an informed citizenry is critical to a democracy’s survival. Ms. Albritton alleges that our County government acted in a manner contrary to this democratic principle.
So I wrote the first draft of this brief. My intent at the time was to lay out in as simple a manner as possible the complicated facts of this case and the disputes between the parties. My intent was to give the public an education about the case so it could follow along—so it can be informed. As a guiding principle, I made inferences from the facts only where those inferences were relatively obvious. I intended this brief to be a roadmap, not an argument.
However, to my surprise, I ended up drawing inferences strongly supported by the facts that led me to conclusions I did not expect to make. My primary conclusion is that the County did indeed act intentionally to prevent the public from learning about arguably illegal conduct within the government. Exposing these facts to the harsh light of public scrutiny appeared important.
However, as well-supported as the Complaint is, I was aware that it told only one side of the story. After I wrote the original draft of this brief, the County answered the Complaint, and the case settled. (Answer) There was nothing in the County’s Answer that changed my conclusions. I have edited this brief to incorporate the County’s Answer. With that edit, I now publish this brief.
I cannot emphasize enough that the inferences and conclusions to be drawn from publicly available information have limits. In particular, there is no evidence that supports a conclusion that any government official knew he or she was violating the law. In particular, I can accept based on what I know that County Manager Mike Thomas did not believe that he was causing the County to violate its own ordinances and policies when it approved a particular building permit relevant to this case. And, I can accept that Mr. Gaylord believed that his actions on behalf of the County were legal under the Public Records Act. In fact, I am not completely clear that the County at Mr. Thomas’ behest, or the County through Mr. Gaylord, violated any law.
So it is very important to distinguish between the allegation that the County knowingly violated the law and the allegation that the County intentionally covered up potentially illegal and likely embarrassing conduct. The facts support a conclusion that the latter occurred, but not the former. I believe you should be very concerned about what did happen. But I strongly suggest that you resist the temptation to paint the situation with a broader black brush than is warranted by the facts.
The story out of which Ms. Albritton’s claim arises is long and complicated. The analysis of that story is also long and complicated. Here I have attempted to organize the facts and analysis so that citizens can understand what happened without doing all of the study that I had to do. However, this brief is, well, not brief. I do not want the reader to accept my conclusions on faith. I want the reader to be the judge based on the evidence. I suggest reading this when you have time to do so.
I am not affiliated with Ms. Albritton, with her attorney Nicholas Power regarding this issue, or with the County on this issue. I have no information beyond what is in the Complaint, the Answer, and other information that is publicly available. I have no more interest in this issue than any other citizen who cares about our county government.
Finally, I want to emphasize that this brief is highly editorial. I am expressing my opinions here. Again, I have attempted to describe the matter as fairly as possible and to cite supporting documents where available so that you, the reader, can form your own opinions.