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.

Friday, February 09, 2007

OMB Watch posting: "Democracies die behind closed doors"

http://www.ombwatch.org/article/articleview/3064/1/1?TopicID=1

This piece dates back to fall, 2005:

Open-Government Activist Seeks to Recover Legal Fees from FOIA battle

After winning a four-year legal battle for access to county documents concerning the Seahawks Stadium, a Seattle resident has returned to court seeking greater financial compensation for his efforts. King County Superior Court Judge Michael Hayden heard arguments on August 19, during which Armen Yousoufian sought an award of more than $1 million in compensation for his legal fees and as a deterrent to prevent other agencies from stonewalling citizen requests of public information.


The battle began in 1997, when Yousoufian requested documents from the King County government on the then-proposed Seahawks Stadium. After King County officials denied the request, Yousoufian sued under Washington’s Public Disclosure Act (PDA). In 2001, the King County Superior Court ruled in his favor and ordered the county to pay $100,000 in fines. Unfortunately, this amount did not come close to covering the $330,000 in legal fees Yousoufian had incurred.

Washington's PDA allows assessment of penalties ranging from $5 to $100 per day for every day documents are withheld. The original ruling had used the minimum of $5 per day. At last week’s hearing, Yousoufian's attorneys argued the penalty should be raised to $90 per day, for a total of more than $742,000, in addition to lawyer fees. In its counterargument, the county acknowledged that the minimum penalty was too low but sought to raise it to only $10 a day and less than half the attorneys' fees. Judge Hayden is expected to issue a written ruling by the end of the month.

Fee recovery is a critical component of any effective public disclosure law. Without it citizens unfairly denied requested documents would often be unable or unwilling to take on the uncompensated financial burden of battling the government in court. Recognizing this, Sens. John Cornyn (R-TX) and Patrick Leahy (D-VT) included in their Openness Promotes Effectiveness in our National (OPEN) Government Act (S. 394), a provision that would allow the public to more easily recoup legal costs from the federal government for improperly withheld documents. The bill currently has five cosponsors, while the House version of the bill (HR 867) has 20 cosponsors.

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posted by Armen Yousoufian | 3:16 PM

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