Sunshine Breakfast honors transparency efforts

WashCOG recognizes TVW, Crosscut, others for contributions

Journalists, public officials, volunteers and others received WashCOG’s 2022 awards. —All photos by Desiree Erdmann

The Washington Coalition for Open Government gathered during Sunshine Week to present its annual awards recognizing the work done by elected officials, media and volunteers. Nearly 160 people attended the March 17 event at T-Mobile Park.

TVW, the public access cable and webcasting station celebrating its 30th year, received the Toby Nixon Award for its long-term commitment to open government. The nonprofit organization provides unedited coverage of legislative meetings , hearings and sessions, and helped facilitate remote testimony. TVW also covers public interest events around the state.

TVW’s Renee Radcliff Sinclair accepts the 2022 Toby Nixon Award.

With TVW, “the people of Washington became much better equipped to hold their government officials accountable,” said WashCOG President Emeritus Toby Nixon, when presenting the award to TVW president and CEO Renee Radcliff Sinclair. Nixon noted that WashCOG separately honored TVW’s cofounders, Stan Marshburn and Denny Heck, in 2009 with the predecessor James Madison Award, which was renamed last year.

“We look forward to serving you for many years to come,” Radcliff Sinclair said, noting that a TVW crew had been on the site of the breakfast long before it started, setting up the live stream.

“On April 10, 1995, the first signal, the first thing we covered, were oral arguments before the State Supreme Court, which was historic,” she said. “TVW was the first organization in the world” to livestream a court, she said.

What’s more, the first legislative floor debate that TVW covered was a discussion of funding of the facility that became T-Mobile Park, she added.

Ed Clark presents the James Andersen Award to Peggy Watt

The James Andersen Award, named for the former Chief Justice who was a WashCOG cofounder, is the “volunteer of the year” award intended to recognize extraordinary effort to assist the Coalition. The 2022 recipient is Peggy Watt, a professor of journalism at Western Washington University who has worked on numerous WashCOG projects, notably revamping the Coalition’s website.

Watt noted that this was the first Andersen Award presented since its namesake had passed away last May at age 97. “We can still learn from his example,” she said, citing ongoing work by former recipients of the Anderson Award, including the first awardee, former Port Townsend Leader publisher Frank Garred, who still volunteers as a judge for high school journalism contests.

Mark Baumgarten and David Lee accepted the Bunting Award on behalf of the Crosscut team.

Crosscut, a nonprofit online news site, was recognized with the Kenneth F. Bunting Award, named for another WashCOG cofounder and longtime journalist and former head of the National Freedom of Information Coalition. Crosscut conducted extensive public records research to produce its Washington Recovery Watch, which examines the recipients and use of federal funds intended for Covid recovery efforts. Executive Editor David Lee and Mark Baumgarten, managing editor, accepted on behalf of the Crosscut team, noting, “journalism is a team sport.”

Key Award winners and runners-up to the Bunting Award.

In fact, the Coalition also presented Key Awards to the eight runners-up of the Bunting Award.

“Amid political polarization and mistrust of the media, government transparency still serves as a common touchstone for civic accountability across party lines, economic classes and urban/rural divides,” Crosscut investigations editor Jacob Jones said in a statement read by Baumgarten. “Thanks to the Coalition for its relentless defense of that access and the journalists here who show why it matters,”

Judge Judith Ramseyer, Key Award recipient

Another Key Award went to King County Superior Court Judge Judith H. Ramseyer, who is chief of the “Fire Brigade,” an emergency response team that is part of the Bench-Bar-Press Committee. The Fire Brigade has often turned down the heat on brewing conflicts regarding access to court, meetings or records. A recent conflict involved maintaining public scrutiny of juvenile court record disclosures, noted WashCOG board member Kathy George, who presented the judge with a Key Award.

“It wasn’t until I became the chief of the Fire Brigade that I fully realized how regularly the principles of open government and transparency are under assault,” Ramseyer told the WashCOG gathering, thanking the participants for “pushing back” and “alerting the public as to why it’s important.”

For the first time in five years, WashCOG also presented a Ballard-Thompson Award. The recognition went to Rep. Gerry Pollet and former Rep. Emily Wicks, who shepherded House Bill 1329, which in 2022 updated the state Open Public Meetings Act. This award, named for WashCOG cofounders former Speaker of the House Clyde Ballard (R) and former Chief Clerk of the House, Representative, and Senator Alan Thompson (D), recognizes legislative efforts to promote open government, and is not presented unless warranted.

Former Rep. Emily Wicks and Rep. Gerry Pollet, recipients of the Ballard-Thompson Award. == Photo by Desiree Erdmann