Commissioners did not violate open meetings law

PUD attorney makes decision

EPHRATA — Three commissioners of the Grant County Public Utility District did not violate the state's Open Public Meetings Act, the utility's general legal counsel said Monday.

Commissioners Randy Allred, Bill Bjork and Greg Hansen were accused of violating the act after a letter they signed was published by the Columbia Basin Herald on Aug. 31, detailing their policy position.

PUD Commissioner Tom Flint made the accusation, crying foul and accusing his fellow commissioners of misusing their political office.

Flint requested a legal opinion from the state Attorney General's Office last month, but was turned down. Deputy Solicitor General James K. Pharris, of Olympia, said Flint should raise the legal question with the PUD's attorney.

Ray Foianini, the utility's general legal counsel, said Allred, Bjork and Hansen did not violate the statute.

"It is my opinion that the signing of a letter to the editor by three commissioners is not in and of itself a violation of the (Open Public Meetings Act)," Foianini wrote in an Oct. 15 letter to the commissioners.

"The district has consistently taken the position that a majority of the board, i.e. three commissioners, must be participants in a meeting in order for the (Open Public Meetings Act) to apply," Foianini wrote. "As of this date, I have not been furnished with any information, nor do I have any personal knowledge regarding the actual preparation of the letter to the editor."

Allred said he never met with Bjork and Hansen to draft the letter.

"I never once felt like it had any legal implication, ever," Allred said. Flint's accusations were a "low blow," Allred said, and appear hypocritical.

"I thought it was like somebody in a glass house throwing stones," Allred said.

In 2002, the commission — including Flint — met privately with Benton Rural Electric Association in Mattawa to discuss potential sales of the PUD's power, at cost, Allred said. The state Auditor's Office determined the meeting, during which the PUD's fiber optic network was also discussed, violated the open public meetings act, he said.

Neither Allred, Bjork nor Hansen were on the commission at the time.

Flint said he accepts Foianini's opinion, but would prefer one that's totally independent.

"There's too much working going on between the commission and the attorney to have a totally unbiased opinion," he said. At a minimum, Flint added, Allred, Bjork and Hansen acted "unethically" and "unprofessionally."