WashCOG’s Sunshine Breakfast will recognize advocates, journalists and lawmakers
The Washington Coalition for Open Government will honor open-government advocates, journalists and legislators at its annual Sunshine Breakfast on March 14 in Bellevue, Washington.
State Attorney General Nick Brown will be the keynote speaker.
The Sunshine Breakfast is a time for transparency advocates to gather, connect and celebrate our ongoing fight against government secrecy. The breakfast is also WashCOG’s biggest fund-raising event of the year.
Through the generosity of other donors, all contributions made at the breakfast will be matched up to a total of $75,000. Additionally, all contributions made to the WashCOG website during Sunshine Week (March 14-22) will be combined with the breakfast donations and matched.
The coalition will release an update to its special report, “Your Right to Know.” The 2024 report warned that the public’s right to access state and local government information was eroding at an alarming rate. That erosion has only accelerated, the update says, with open government now under assault.
Doors for the breakfast open at 7:30 a.m. Friday, March 14, at the Embassy Suites in Bellevue. Tickets are $50. Click here for reservations.
WashCOG will recognize the Tri-City Herald with the Toby Nixon Award for the newspaper’s long commitment to defending Washington state’s transparency laws in its editorial pages and using those laws for the newsroom’s reporting. The Herald fully embraces its role as an independent institution that monitors the government and informs the community.
The Nixon Award recognizes people and organizations whose long-term commitment to the cause of open government is demonstrated through exemplary words or deeds. The award, formerly known as the James Madison Award, was renamed in honor of WashCOG President Emeritus Toby Nixon.
The James Andersen Award goes to journalist Robert McClure for making WashCOG more visible, more effective and better connected in Olympia. The award recognizes a person who does something extraordinary to advance the coalition’s cause. The award is named for the late James Andersen, a state Supreme Court chief justice who was a founding member of WashCOG’s board.
The coalition will recognize InvestigateWest reporter Daniel Walters with its Kenneth F. Bunting Award. Walters examined compliance with public records laws by filing records requests with 15 cities in Idaho, Oregon and Washington. His months-long reporting documented performance disparities among agencies and a troubling patchwork of rules and obstacles for requesters. The award honors the work of the late Ken Bunting, an executive editor and associate publisher with the Seattle Post-Intelligencer who helped found WashCOG.
WashCOG will thank seven current and former members of the state Legislature who pledged to not use “legislative privilege” to withhold records from the public. Each will receive the coalition’s Ballard-Thompson Award for outstanding dedication to the cause of open government during a legislative session. The lawmakers are:
Rep. and former Speaker of the House Frank Chopp (D-43).
Rep. Paul Harris (R-17).
Sen. Mark Mullet (D-5).
Sen. Ron Muzzall (R-10).
Rep. Tina Orwall (D-33).
Sen. Jamie Pedersen (D-43).
Rep. Gerry Pollet (D-46).
The Ballard/Thompson Award is named in honor of former Speaker of the House Clyde Ballard (R) and former chief clerk of the house, representative, and senator, the late Alan Thompson (D). Both men were founding members of WashCOG.
Throughout the year WashCOG presents Key Awards to people and organizations who have done something notable for the cause of open government in recent months. At the Sunshine Breakfast the coalition will present a Key Award to Daniel Beekman of The Seattle Times for his “Life and Death in Yakima” investigative project.
The Washington Coalition for Open Government is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization founded in 2002. We are an independent, broad-based advocate for public records, open meetings and informed citizens.
Sunshine Breakfast reservations have been closed.
