Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
The city of Palouse has been the subject of protests in recent weeks tied to a long-running dispute over water, sewer and other matters.
Residents Jim Farr and Steve McGehee have taken turns driving a pickup with signs on it around town before city council meetings. They have also parked it next to Highway 27 at the turn toward Pullman.
The signs read, “Crooked Mayor Meeting Tonight at City Hall,” and on the other side of Farr’s 1-ton pickup, “Why Does Your Mayor Lie?”
During the time they have been on display, an increase in public records requests have come in to city hall.
“Every one of these record requests has to do with property issues,” said Farr, describing the matter in terms of public works and infrastructure, beginning with the town’s sewer project funding.
One issue of his, for the past six years, has to do with two acres on North River Road, where Farr plans to build a house.
He now lives in Eden Valley along the Palouse River.
Since 2008, extensive public records requests have come from Farr and McGehee, a former Palouse city councilman and former American Government professor at WSU.
“The sewer extension on Breeding’s Addition encapsulates everything that has gone wrong with city policy making,” said McGehee, who also edited the former Boomerang newspaper. “They essentially stripped the sewer reserves to fund the Breeding’s Addition project. It hasn’t gone anywhere, and here we are having savaged the reserve accounts. To bring them back, how they did it was to increase rates, surcharges and taxes.”
He suggests that the problem stems from Mayor Michael Echanove.
“My primary issue is having a transparent, open government in Palouse,” said McGehee. “We have that for a chosen few acolytes of the mayor.”
Farr has similar contentions as McGehee, specifically as far as the sewer matter at Breeding’s Addition.
The current wave of public record requests began in September.
“It’s like catch and release skunk trapping,” said Farr. “We get these records, we see what they’re doing, and we’re releasing them.”
“We’ve gotten 11 or 12 e-mail requests in the past month,” said Mike Bagott, Clerk-Treasurer in training for Palouse. “But there could be 11 or 12 requests in one. One e-mail equals a lot of requests.”
“Their biggest problem with public records requests is what the public records requests disclose,” said McGehee.
In addition to him and Farr, the other requestor is Nicole Wood, who has two children with Farr and shares ownership of the five acres with him on North River Road.
Bagott said the subject matter of the requests has been varied.
“It’s kind of been all over the board,” he said.
The city of Palouse office staff of Deputy Clerk Ann Thompson and Clerk/Treasurer Joyce Beeson handle the requests.
“They do what they have to do to get it done,” said Bagott. “But it doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Things get pushed back.”
Some of the requests have required conferring with City Attorney Stephen Bishop on what is legal to release.
For example, one recent request from Wood came in to Palouse for water billing, with her seeking all city water bills for the month of August, including gallons used, address and phone number.
Due to privacy, the addresses and phone numbers could not be released.
Another limitation is that requestors can’t ask a city to create documents. For example, putting together a spreadsheet or other document that has not been compiled.
Requests are handled as they come in.
“I think the role of the city at this point is to provide what is requested,” Bagott said.
“Eliminate the need for records requests and there won’t be any,” said McGehee.
When reached near deadline, Echanove had one statement regarding Farr and McGehee.
“I’m gonna nominate them for grand marshals of next year’s Palouse Days,” said Echanove. “And I think I’ll include Nicole Wood.”
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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