A lawsuit against the Economic Alliance of Lewis County filed in Thurston County Superior Court Thursday alleges the organization has failed to abide by the state’s Public Records Act (PRA) and the Open Public Meetings Act (OPMA) to use public funds to secretly “advance a massive energy project via a backroom deal” without “effective public oversight or review.”
A representative for the Economic Alliance could not be reached for comment before Monday’s press deadline.
In the filing, transparency advocate and Thurston County resident Arthur West claims the Economic Alliance wrongfully denied a public records request and has failed to publish a schedule of public meetings, agendas, meeting minutes or any internal deliberations.
The lawsuit claims the defendants have advanced “a massive energy project and a backroom deal with Fortescue, a large Australian infrastructure corporation, behind a veil of secretary and obfuscation while the actual details of their machinations have not seen the light of day, and the potential benefits or adverse effects of the project and contract with Fortescue remain unknown.”
On Oct. 13, President Joe Biden announced the Pacific Northwest as one of seven hydrogen hubs across the United States, with the region seeing up to a billion dollars in grant funding. The recipients include Puget Sound Energy, Twin Transit, Centralia College and USA Fortescue Future Industries Inc.
According to previous reporting by The Chronicle, the Economic Alliance has facilitated a relationship between Fortescue and TransAlta for approximately two years as Fortescue eyes a potential hydrogen hub in Centralia, which could cost between $400 and $600 million.
According to the lawsuit, West filed a public records request on Oct. 23 seeking the agenda and minutes from Economic Alliance meetings, a copy of the 2022 budget and sources of income, communication between the Economic Alliance and any Lewis County commissioner, including any memorandum of understanding or non-disclosure agreements, and any communication regarding a potential nuclear facility in or near Lewis County.
The request was denied on Oct. 30, with staff writing the Alliance “is not an agency or functional equivalent.”
In his filing, West asks the court to rule the Economic Alliance violated the Public Records Act in its response, and orders it to “immediately produce the records responsive to plaintiff West’s request.”
Additionally, West asks that the court declare both the Economic Alliance of Lewis County and the Energy Innovation Coalition as either public agencies or sub-agencies, and thus required to comply with the Public Records Act and the Open Public Meetings Act and forbid further action or final action outside of a lawful public meeting or executive session.
The lawsuit also requests a civil penalty of $500 per meeting for board members who knowingly attended meetings that violated the Open Public Meetings Act.
A call to Economic Alliance Executive Director Richard DeBolt had not been returned as of The Chronicle’s Monday print deadline.
On its website, the Economic Alliance describes itself as “a public-private partnership whose goal is to contribute to the economic vitality of the community by increasing the number of jobs and improving the local quality of life. To accomplish our goal we work to recruit new businesses to the area and to retain our local businesses by aiding in their expansions.
Its board of directors includes Chad Taylor, who is owner and publisher of The Chronicle.
Learn more about the alliance at https://lewiscountyalliance.org/.
