The Washington State Department of Transportation misfiled four public records requests filed by Columbia River Crossing critic David Madore and a forensic accountant he hired, the CRC director said this week.
State law gives public agencies five days to respond to public records requests and either deny the request or give a reasonable time frame for when the records may be available. In a story that ran in Tuesday’s Columbian, forensic accountant Tiffany Couch said that four requests made by her and Madore between March 4 and July 5 have yet to be answered by the crossing. In a few other cases, Couch said they got only partial responses.
“I made an inquiry into the matter (Tuesday) and regrettably it turns out several requests were apparently misfiled,” CRC Director Nancy Boyd said in an email. “We will be taking additional steps immediately to remedy the situation.”
Rick Phillips, WSDOT director of administrative services, contacted Couch by phone Tuesday, Boyd said. She attached an email Phillips sent to Couch on Tuesday as well.