City of Tacoma shouldn't withhold Moore records on a technicality
That's the thought that keeps popping into my head as I go over the City of Tacoma's reasons for denying a public records request from The News Tribune. When the news team here learned the city had investigated former police chief Avery Moore's use of leave while at the Tacoma Police Department, they made a request to see the records of that investigation.
Now, the city has taken that straightforward ask and headed for the nearest loophole. It's part of a larger pattern of unnecessary delay on public records requests coming out of City Hall. And it comes at a time when the public has every reason to wonder what happened.
Here's the city's reasoning: it hasn't made a final decision in its investigation into Moore's use of leave, so the city is exempted from providing the records. Based on state public records laws, the city is shielded from revealing notes and other records that would reveal opinions shared as part of the 'deliberative process,' before a final decision has been made.
That has the ring of sense to it. But hold on, didn't Moore depart the Tacoma Police Department with a nearly $500,000 severance package in February? And wasn't another investigation into Moore's personal use of his work phone already concluded (and revealed to have cost the city $11,000 to conduct)?
Yes, those things did just happen, which leaves one more question. What is there left for the city to decide when it comes to its investigation into the former chief's use of leave? Moore is gone. It's not like they can discipline him, let alone fire him.
The City of Tacoma didn't indicate to The News Tribune's reporter when there might be a final decision. I can't help but wonder if the city shelved its questions into Moore's use of leave after he agreed to resign. That would leave a permanent ellipses at the end of its investigation, and an eternal cop-out from handing over any records.
I asked City of Tacoma spokesperson Maria Lee whether the investigation had been shelved due to Moore's departure. She referred the question to the city's public records office, which did not provide additional information.
It's not the first time the city has stonewalled public records requests. In 2021, two groups sued the city over withheld records, and won. The first group wanted to see documents from the Tacoma Police Department's use of cell phone location technology called a Stingray. A judge ordered the city to hand over the records and pay a penalty plus the group's legal fees.
The second lawsuit concerned the city's records surrounding Puget Sound Energy's plans to build a liquid natural gas plant near the Port of Tacoma. A judge in that case ordered the city to implement public records training for the heads of all city departments, finding the city's previously existing training inadequate.
Declining to provide answers based on a cute interpretation of public records laws doesn't serve the public interest.
Sure, records of the investigation into Moore's use of leave could be a nothingburger. The News Tribune first learned of an investigation into Moore's use of leave from records of the city's investigation into a $1,000 charge Moore racked up on his work phone while using it for GPS during a family vacation to Sweden. Those records noted that city manager Elizabeth Pauli opened the HR investigation into Moore's use of leave in response to rumors.
It could turn out that those rumors were unsubstantiated. But that's not the point. When a high-profile city hire takes a huge payout and leaves town without explanation, it's going to raise questions. Even more so when another investigation into that same hire cost more than 10 times the amount of the inappropriate phone charges it was looking into.
So c'mon, City of Tacoma, it's time to give a real answer.
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