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.

Monday, February 19, 2007

May 11-12, 2007 Seattle conference of National Freedom of Information Coalition

As many of you who will be reading this post already know, yours truly is a board member of the Washington Coalition for Open Government (www.washingtoncog.org). Our group, in collaboration with the National Freedom of Information Coalition (www.nfoic.org) is co-hosting the NFOIC's annual conference on open government. Announcement is below. This is the first time this event will be in Seattle, and I urge local open government activists, journalists, etc., to take advantage of this opportunity to hear national level speakers in our own backyard.

Announcement:

The National Freedom of Information Coalition (http://nfoic.org/) and the Washington Coalition for Open Government (http://www.washingtoncog.org/ ) are proud to announce
Seattle Sunshine: The 2007 FOI Summit
• What: NFOIC 2007 FOI Summit
• When: May 11-12, 2007
• Registration fee: $175. Registration opens online February 1 at http://nfoic.org/2007_summit/.
• Where: Marriott Seattle Waterfront
For up to date scheduled speakers, panels, and for more information, visit: http://nfoic.org/2007_summit/

www.washingtoncog.org phone: (206) 782-0393 fax: (206) 623-4474

Mention "NFOIC" when reserving your room and receive the special rate of $179.00 per night. Hotel reservations must be received on or before Tuesday, April 10, 2007 in order to receive the NFOIC-discounted rate.

posted by Armen Yousoufian | 10:21 AM

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home