State grants $8K for records safety

The town of Coulee Dam is receiving an $8,000 grant from the Washington State Archives to preserve public records and maintain government transparency.

Washington Secretary of State Kim Wyman sent a letter to Mayor Greg Wilder.

The grant money includes:

• $5,700 to digitize ordinances, minutes and resolutions now in the custody of the Central Regional Archives,

• $1,100 to digitize ordinances, minutes and resolutions still held by the town and

• $1,200 to purchase locking file cabinets to secure records.

The town is currently doing an inventory of the public records so it can respond to future public records requests in a timely manner.

State Archives personnel made a consulting visit to Coulee Dam recently and will continue to assist in any way Wilder finds helpful.

Wilder had referred to State Archives a matter of a missing computer and missing emails, but the agency has no investigative powers.

When Wilder took office in January the computer in the mayor’s office was missing, along with emails and records on the computer’s hard drive.

Wyman stated: “Preserving public records is a crucial objective that officials at all levels of government need to respect and follow. It is unacceptable for public officials to remove, conceal or destroy public records. We appreciate Mayor Wilder’s interest in preserving his town’s public records and maintaining government transparency. We hope this grant will help him reach these objectives.”