By Andrew Neiditz, Manager, City of Lakewood
- Father–Daughter Dance: The Lakewood Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department presented a very successful Father-Daughter Dance on March 19th The theme, “A Night Out at the Circus,” brought out over 200 guests to the event, ranging in age from eight months to 80+ years, and a fun time was enjoyed by all with bright colorful decorations, refreshments and dancing. This is the ninth year the City has hosted this event and it continues to be the highlight of the year for many girls and their dads.
- Class Action Complaint dismissed: On March 31st, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal of a class action complaint against the City of Lakewood and other municipalities pertaining to their photo enforcement programs. The Ninth Circuit held that the federal district court correctly rejected the plaintiffs’ challenges to the camera fine amounts, compensation arrangements and camera infraction notices.
- Staff demonstrates Lakewood’s public disclosure request application at WA Municipal Clerks Conference: On March 24th, City Clerk Alice Bush and NIS Engineer David Tilman demonstrated Lakewood’s in-house web based application for tracking and monitoring public records requests at the annual conference of the WA Municipal Clerks Conference in Vancouver, WA. 50-60 municipal clerks attended this concurrent session and many comments were received on the robust nature of the application. Many cities expressed interest in using Lakewood’s application for tracking their public disclosure requests, including West Richland, DuPont, Ferndale, Ridgefield, and Riverside, CA. (upcoming President of the International Institute of Municipal Clerks.)
- Washington State Court of Appeals Decision: On March 29th, the Washington State Court of Appeals issued a published decision in City of Lakewood v David Koenig. Although the court held that the discovery the City sent to requester exceeded the allowed discovery, it nevertheless held that agencies have the right to (1) seek court action against public records act requesters; and (2) held for the first time, the right of agencies to utilize court ordered discovery in public records act cases. Despite the requester’s claims for attorneys fees, the court held that because the requester has not yet shown that he is entitled to the records which the City has redacted (driver’s license numbers), neither party would be entitled to costs or attorneys fees on appeal. This litigation was handled in house by Matthew Kaser of the City Attorney’s Office.