Armen Yousoufian's Blog

After 30 years in business/investment real estate, I added "citizen activist" to my resume in 1997 when I requested sports stadium documents of King County Executive Ron Sims. After being "stonewalled", I sued, winning more at every stage, up to the state Supreme Court. Documents disgorged by Sims (after 4 years denying they existed!) revealed rigged studies. Sims misled the public on the stadiums. Other issues found me (e.g. Critical Areas Ordinance). Google “Armen Yousoufian” for more.

About Me

Name:
Location: Vashon, Washington, United States

I was born and raised in New York City. I took classical violin lessons for 10 years and studied astronomy. I built telescopes, grinding the mirrors from scratch. I was a nerd! I considered a career in classical violin but chose astrophysics. I majored in Physics at Rutgers University for 2 years, then switched and graduated in mechanical engineering. I moved to Seattle in 1969 to work on missiles for Boeing, got an MBA from Seattle University, and became a business and real estate entrepreneur for over 30 years. In 1997 I became involved in open government activism when I asked King County Executive Ron Sims for sports stadium documents. I was stonewalled. I sued under the Open Records, or Public Disclosure, Act. I won the case in King County Superior Court, but still didn’t get all the documents, nor recovered my legal fees, which the law said I was entitled to be reimbursed. I appealed and won more in the Court of Appeals and the court of public opinion. But I still didn’t get all the documents! I appealed again and won yet more in the Washington State Supreme Court. But I still don’t have all the documents! While that fight goes on I have become involved in new issues.

Tuesday, March 22, 2005

Port Townsend, Washington's PDA guru: Mike Belenski

I just learned of one Mike Belenski in Port Townsend, Washington, who has had his own interesting experiences with the Public Disclosure Act. While I work on getting a phone number for him out of the reporters at the Port Townsend Leader, you can use the links below to read the following two pieces on him:

Wednesday, March 16, 2005: Mats Mats man doesn't always win, but fights county bureaucracy

http://www.ptleader.com/main.asp?Search=1&ArticleID=11730&SectionID=36&SubSectionID=&S=1

March 16, 2005: Opinion Forum:

http://www.ptleader.com/main.asp?Search=1&ArticleID=11771&SectionID=5&SubSectionID=&S=1

Hope you enjoy the reads.

Armen Yousoufian

posted by Armen Yousoufian | 9:49 PM

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