Collaboration in Civic Spheres

Archive for the ‘disclosure’ Category

Port of Seattle temp’s scam try brings three felony charges

by Matt Rosenberg April 8th, 2013

A former Port of Seattle temp named Kelly Wengping Lee hired from the AppleOne firm is charged in King County Superior Court documents with three counts of felony identity theft for allegedly trying to go on an online Nordstrom shopping spree using the Port credit cards of Port Commission Office executive assistant Marcella Hernandez, who supervised her, as well as Port Commission President Tom Albro and then-Port Commissioner Rob Holland. According to a Port police report Lee admitted the attempted buys, and said she needed some retail therapy after recent personal troubles.

Wide range of confidential commissioner ID data found in temp’s home, car
Searches Lee formally authorized by Port police of her Magnolia apartment and her car turned up not only Port credit card numbers for Holland, Albro and Hernandez, but also those of Port Commissioners John Creighton, Bill Bryant and Gael Tarleton, and a wealth of confidential identifying data on Tarleton and Creighton including personal credit card account information, birthplaces and dates, social security numbers, frequent flyer plans and driver’s license numbers. According to case documents, Hernandez had shown the temp Lee a white binder with confidential Commissioner data and told her she might need to use it to make travel arrangements for some of them.

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Port driver tried to draw cash at casino, on work card; lied

by Matt Rosenberg April 4th, 2013

A Port of Seattle driver used his work procurement card to try to withdraw money at the Emerald Queen Casino in Fife, then lied to an internal investigator about it, implicating his wife instead, before coming clean and getting a seven-day suspension. The news comes on the heels of a series of ethics lapses at the Port in recent months and years including contracting improprieties, internal theft, use of work computers and working hours to view pornography, and now also the failure of Port staff to reveal commissioners’ expenses, online, as directed.

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Port of Seattle porn probe prompts painter’s exit

by Matt Rosenberg March 25th, 2013

Internal reports obtained by Public Data Ferret through a public records request reveal a Port of Seattle sign painter and Snohomish County resident named David John Swensen resigned from his job after confessing to viewing pornography on workplace computers. A Port of Seattle Police investigation found “numerous pornographic images” on one computer used at work by Swensen, plus “several pornographic photos” on another. A third computer placed into evidence in the investigation had on it a special application that could have been used to sweep it clean, according to Port police reports. Port documents show Swensen also admitted to accessing child pornography “by accident” on work hardware, but none was found in the police review and no criminal charges were filed.

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Washington state’s “sunshine committee” battles doctors, hospitals, insurers on medical malpractice data disclosure

by Matt Rosenberg February 7th, 2013

The Washington state legislature’s “Sunshine Committee” is advocating for House Bill 1299 to open up data on settled medical malpractice claims but public hospitals, doctors and insurers are voicing strong opposition. A preview of the looming battle came earlier this week in testimony to the House Government Operations and Elections Committee; TVW video is below. The bone of contention is 1299’s provision to remove from current state law an exemption to the Open Public Records Act which bars disclosure of information on “the identity of a claimant, health care provider, health care provider, health care facility, insuring entity or self-insurer” in settled medical malpractice claims. Such information could be important to consumers and the media, and increase pressure for improved standards of care where needed – but opponents are warning of privacy issues and potential conflicts with federal law.

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Metro’s share of King County’s big tort payouts spikes in Q3

by Matt Rosenberg November 8th, 2012

King County Metro Transit was responsible for 71 percent of third quarter 2012 large negligence claim settlements paid by the county, according to a newly issued report. Metro’s share of those payouts is up from 50 percent for the first two quarters of the year, and just more than one-quarter of the total last year. A county ordinance requires quarterly online disclosure of large tort settlements, but that hasn’t happened and there’s no related public database. The data, when issued, can be found through a somewhat obscure county information portal including links to legislation and reports.

As it does every quarter of the year, King County this summer settled a series of what it classifies as major negligence, or tort, claims – those of $100,000 or more. The county is self-insured and pays all claims from a special fund of its own, except those over $7.5 million, for which it has outside insurance. County tort payouts in the third quarter of this year totaled more than $1.4 million dollars. Exactly $1 million or 71 percent of that amount stemmed from mishaps involving the county’s Metro bus system, according to a new Q1 through Q3 2012 tort payouts report to the King County Council from Jennifer Hills, the Director of the Office of Risk Management. The 71 percent share for Metro of the county’s large negligence claim payouts in Q3 compares to 50 percent for Metro in the first two quarters of the year combined; versus just more than one quarter of the county total for Metro in 2011; and nearly two-thirds in 2010, as we reported earlier this year.

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Seattle bill would restrict employer use of criminal histories

by Matt Rosenberg September 19th, 2012

A proposed City of Seattle bill being championed by Councilmember Bruce Harrell would restrict the right of Seattle employers to factor in to their hiring decisions a job applicant’s past arrests, convictions or pending criminal criminal charges. Under Council Bill 117583, which is scheduled for discussion today in the Public Safety, Civil Rights and Technology Committee meeting chaired by Harrell, employers would be required to:

  • wait until after extending a job offer to check an applicant’s criminal history;
  • avoid refusing to hire, or avoid firing an employee because of a past criminal conviction or pending criminal charge – unless there’s a “direct relationship” between the crime and the job’s duties;
  • and assess “direct relationship” on factors including reasonable foreseeability of harm or misconduct, seriousness of past crime(s), length of time elapsed since the crime(s), and the applicant’s conduct and rehabilitation since then.

    • According to a city staff fiscal note which summarizes the bill and answers several questions about its implications, Seattle’s Office of Civil Rights would implement the legislation. This would include public education directed to employers and job applicants, and could also involve investigating and trying to settle complaints brought by job applicants against Seattle employers. The fiscal note says it’s not clear whether the bill would require additional hiring at OCR; that the agency “will need to assess their ability to continue to absorb this body of work with existing staff and resources.”

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    King County’s big tort claims: $37.3M in last 2.5 years

    by Matt Rosenberg August 29th, 2012

    Court verdicts or settlements of $100,000 or more in government negligence claims against King County from January 2010 through June 2012 have totaled $37.3 million and 40 percent of that has resulted from actions by transit employees at King County Metro, according to records obtained by Public Data Ferret. The large tort claim payouts by King County more than doubled from 2010 to 2011 but so far are occurring at a slower pace this year. In 2010, total large tort claims (over $100,000) were $10.3 million and $6.65 million or 64 percent were due to King County Metro transit operations. In 2011, large tort claims were $23.1 million and $6.32 million or 27 percent were tied to Metro transit. In 2012 through June, King County has paid out $3.85 million in negligence claims of $100,000 or more, with $1.92 million or 50 percent involving Metro transit.

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