The Washington State Supreme Court, in an expansive opinion, ruled Thursday that ports and public agencies cannot use an exemption in the state’s Open Public Meetings Act for closed-door deal making where the public has a major interest.
The justices ruled in favor of environmental groups, which challenged the Port of Vancouver, Washington, over five closed-door meetings held when it was negotiating a lease for Tesoro’s planned oil-by-rail terminal along the Columbia River.
In a unanimous opinion written by Justice Charlie Wiggins, the high court ruled:
“The Open Public Meetings Act is crystal clear in its response to such arguments: ‘The people do not give their public servants the right to decide what is good for the people to know and what is not good for them to know.'”
