WASHINGTON COALITION FOR OPEN GOVERNMENT PRESENTS KEY AWARD TO CINDY FERENCE OF SHORELINE, WA
The Washington Coalition for Open Government has chosen Cindy Ference of Shoreline, WA, to receive its Key Award.
The Key Award is presented by WCOG to recognize a person or organization who has done something notable for the cause of open government. The Coalition is an independent non-partisan non-profit organization.
Ference was chosen for the award after she successfully challenged the King County Housing Authority for holding unannounced meetings of a nonprofit organization it operated separately to get federal housing subsidies. The nonprofit organization had the same board, staff and address as the King County Housing Authority, but it was acting as if it were a private entity. “Public housing authorities are stand-alone government entities with limited oversight. Open meetings and the ability to access public records are vitally important. The public has a right to know how their tax dollars are being spent and to be informed of the policies that affect the lives of some of this country’s most vulnerable citizens,” said Ference.