During a typical week, a Camas city employee will sift through thousands of emails, compiling the documents into batches that are part of one of the largest public records requests in the county.
They come from Ken Kakuk, a former city employee who’s running for city council and Clark County freeholder. All told, Kakuk’s 16 public records requests, filed over the course of nearly two years, will result in the release of more than 700,000 emails, officials say.
The requested records stem from a long-standing dispute between Kakuk and the city. A 16-year Camas employee, Kakuk was terminated from his position as Geographic Information System coordinator in 2011 because he refused to comply with a psychological examination. Since then, he’s been looking for proof of wrongdoing by the city, and he’s leaving no stone unturned
Jennifer Gorsuch, the city’s human resources director, said the requests have cost the city $25,000, primarily in staff time. But that figure is expected to increase in the future. After a seven-month lull, the city received a request as recent as the beginning of August.