Sunshine Committee founder quits
FEB. 26, 2024 — Lynn Kessler, a former state representative who sponsored the legislation creating Washington’s Sunshine Committee, has resigned from the panel in frustration.
Kessler told the Washington Coalition for Open Government that she was tired of committee volunteers being ignored.
Former Rep. Lynn Kessler
“These are people who took their own time away from what they do for real life and did this because they believe in open government,” she said. “(Legislators) didn’t care. They’re the Legislature.”
Kessler served 18 years in office, including as House majority leader, before retiring in 2011. She served on the Sunshine Committee before and after retirement.
In her Feb. 21, 2024 resignation letter to Gov. Jay Inslee, Kessler said she was honored to have served both as chair and vice-chair of the Public Records Exemptions Accountability Committee (Sunshine Committee). But she said the Legislature continues to attempt to exempt itself from open government accountability.
“Despite the best efforts of the Sunshine Committee over the years, the Legislature has rarely acted on our recommended elimination of exemptions, instead piling on more,” she wrote. “In doing so, they frustrate the very purpose of the Public Records Act.”
The people of this state do not yield their sovereignty to the agencies that serve them. The people, in delegating authority, do not give their public servants the right to decide what is good for the people to know and what is not good for them to know. RCW 42.56.030.
In closing, she stated that she will “hope for a better tomorrow in terms of respect for the people of this state and their right to remain informed through open government.”
The Sunshine Committee has seen several resignations of frustrated members, including attorney Kathy George, who resigned a year ago. However, a few days after former Rep. Kessler’s resignation, Gov. Inslee appointed WashCOG President Emeritus Toby Nixon to chair the committee.
The next Sunshine Committee meeting is March 12, 2024.
