Spokane Mayor David Condon released the following statement about the mediated settlement of a lawsuit filed by Brian Breen regarding a public records request. The settlement must be approved by the City Council. The statement is as follows:
“On behalf of the City of Spokane, I want to acknowledge the concerns with the disclosure of records on November 24, 2015. I understand the damage to transparency that can be caused by even the appearance of lack of transparency. I have committed in my recent budget to increase the amount allocated for addressing public records requests. I will also recommend to the City Council that a formal change in administrative policy occur so that the City Hearing Examiner will review appeals of disputes regarding public records requests. Finally, I will recommend that the City’s Ethics Code be amended to address willful intent by employees in withholding records from the City Clerk’s Office.”
