Toby Nixon Award nominations welcome

Nominations are now being accepted for the 2022 Toby Nixon Award, presented annually to an individual or organization whose long-term commitment to the cause of open government is demonstrated through exemplary words or deeds.

The recognition was previously known as the Madison Award, and was renamed when the 2021 award was presented to Toby Nixon, longtime president of the Washington Coalition for Open Government. As president emeritus, Nixon has remained active in the Coalition and committed to its goals.

Previously recipients of the Madison Award include David Cuillier, who worked with the Coalition as a journalist and academic in Washington, and is currently president of the National Freedom of Information Coalition; Judge William Downing, longtime chair of the Bench-Bar-Press Committee and a commissioner on the Washington Public Disclosure Commission; Kris Passey, longtime journalist and leader in the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association and in WashCOG; and in 2018 the people of Washington State who bombarded the governor’s office with requests that he veto an ill-advised legislative restriction on the Public Records Act.

The 2022 Toby Nixon Award will be presented at WashCOG’s annual Sunshine Breakfast, set for March 17.

This downloadable form can be used to make a nomination for the Toby Nixon Award. Current WashCOG board members are not eligible.