reply from bezon
John,
You have been corresponding with both Rep. Appleton and myself, her legislative assistant.
You are correct with you quote. I did tell you we had stopped the bill from getting a hearing based on questions regarding language. That was the situation at that time. At that same time I was also very clear with you that the calls and e-mails where becoming nasty and my e-mail to you eluded to that “Thank you for discussing it without yelling or screaming at me”. Little did I know after talking with you the calls and e-mails would escalate to such an aggressive level. At that point we pulled the language of the bill entirely with the sense it would temper the onslaught of negative contact. We do not make false statements about what we are dealing with or the level of treats made to Rep. Appleton or myself. We do not and did not take lightly the aggressive, foul, nasty, e-mails and phone calls…… ONLY when it reaches a threatening level does it move up to “not acceptable category”. I will not share the names or addresses of any of the information with anyone other than the process I/we are required to follow at the Legislature and I have included that information for you below.
"Public record" includes any writing containing information relating to the conduct of government or the performance of any governmental or proprietary function prepared, owned, used, or retained by any state or local agency regardless of physical form or characteristics. For the office of the secretary of the senate and the office of the chief clerk of the house of representatives, public records means legislative records as defined in RCW 40.14.100 and also means the following: All budget and financial records; personnel leave, travel, and payroll records; records of legislative sessions; reports submitted to the legislature; and any other record designated a public record by any official action of the senate or the house of representatives.
RCW 40.14.100 provides that:
"legislative records" shall be defined as correspondence, amendments, reports, and minutes of meetings made by or submitted to legislative committees or subcommittees and transcripts or other records of hearings or supplementary written testimony or data thereof filed with committees or subcommittees in connection with the exercise of legislative or investigatory functions but does not include the records of an official act of the legislature kept by the secretary of state, bills and their copies, published materials, digests, or multi-copied matter which are routinely retained and otherwise available at the state library or in a public repository, or reports or correspondence made or received by or in any way under the personal control of the individual members of the legislature.
Consequently, to the degree that Representative Appleton received any personal correspondence on this bill that information would not fall within the scope of the state Public Records Act.
Furthermore, the House permits members who are sole sponsors of a bill to withdraw pre-filed bill(s) from further consideration prior to introduction without needing to provide a reason. This happens very rarely, but does occur occasionally. So, to the degree that the Representative felt threatened or intimidated by any form of communication, those materials would not have to be provided to the House.
Thank you very much…..
Donna J. Bezon
Senior Legislative Assistant to
Rep. Sherry Appleton, 23LD
House of Representatives
Washington State Legislature
132F Legislative Building
Olympia, WA 98504
360-786-7934
From: John Laigaie III
Sent: Wednesday, January 23, 2013 12:27 PM
To: Appleton, Rep. Sherry
Cc: Bezon, Donna
Subject: HB 1012
Dear Sherry, I thought we had addressed this situation untill I found an article in the Washington Post dated 19 Jan 13. When you contacted me last you said and I quote:
John,
Based on conversations with you and others one big issue was the language (i.e. should) in HB1012. We requested out lawyers and policy staff, review these suggestions and advise us. Rep. Appleton will, at this time, not request a committee hearing on HB 1012. It will not be a viable bill this legislative session. We much appreciate your input and suggestions. The other issues surrounding guns and gun rights we anticipate being discussed this session are varied. Please feel free to contact us in the future.
Thank you for discussing it without yelling or screaming at me
http://www.washingtonpost.com/natio...bada86-61d1-11e2-81ef-a2249c1e5b3d_story.html
In this article your "office" declared that this was dropped due to mysterious emails. An FOI request was made for these threatening documents. We Legally Armed Citizens do not wish to be disparaged Nationally. Due to the implication that Legally Armed Citizens of Washington State have been accused by you of this thing, will you, in the Light of Day come forward with these documents?
We, as Legally Armed Citizens, do not need people representing us badly. This is meant for those who you have implied wronged you, to you, yourself as a representative of the People.
If, by chance, this accusation was made falsely or inadvertently by some other person in your office, please come forward with that. If this was done by you, as my representative to the Legislature, I would be taken aback.
Please contact me regarding this matter as I am very disheartened by what is coming from your office. I remain a Patriot, Master Sergeant John Laigaie
MSG John Laigaie
Fort Zinderneuf