Councilmember withdraws her request for city newsletter subscriber emails

Kristiana Johnson

Edmonds City Councilmember Kristiana Johnson Saturday night said she is rescinding, “effectively immediately,” her public records request for more than 1,500 subscribers to the quarterly “Update on Edmonds” newsletter and City of Edmonds news releases.

Subscribers were informed late Thursday that their contact information was about to be released as part of the public records request by Johnson, who is running for re-election in November. Johnson said the request was made to obtain email addresses of citizens with an interest in city government to whom she could send information about her positions on the various issues in the upcoming campaign.

However, several citizens contacted My Edmonds News and the City Clerk’s office, expressing concern after learning that the only way to stop their personal information from being released was to retain an attorney and file for a injunction in Superior Court.

Johnson said late Friday that she was considering withdrawing her public records request, and on Saturday night she copied My Edmonds News on an email to Susan Quan, City Public Disclosure & Records Maintenance Specialist, confirming that she was doing so:

Dear Susan:

I rescind my request for email addresses for the City’s Newsletter and news releases effective immediately.

Johnson is running to retain the council seat she has held since 2012. She is being challenged by Edmonds resident Josh Thompson.

  1. I was one of those who contacted Edmonds City gov’t; I never thought my email address would be used in any other fashion than info that was sent out several times a year. It angers me that someone was going to use it for personal reasons. I think we all have to consider behavior like this as a red flag.

  2. Perhaps Ms Johnson should also reimburse the City ( and therefore the taxpayers) for the time and expense of the City workers in dealing with and preparing to respond to her request.

    1. Diane:
      Ms. Johnson’s request required a very small amount of staff work compared to the meritless requests made regularly by some well known citizens.

      1. Ron
        Even if what you say is true ( it is based on your assumptions), Ms Johnson’s request was directly related to her re-election campaign and as such is subject to financial disclosures of even “trivial amounts” spent. Your have always been quite a stickler for disclosures of candidates you oppose.

        1. My comment was based on facts known to me, not assumptions. And yes, the expense, when known, needs to be reported to the PDC.

  3. I was very concerned about what feels like “easy access” to personal information to send information I had not asked for. My inbox is already too full these days of politicians asking for contributions.

  4. I am very sorry for your concerns raised by my public records request. Your email addresses have not been released to me and they will not be posted on the City’s website. I rescinded my request.

    I sincerely apologize. Like you, I was alarmed by the email sent to everyone from the City. Your privacy is of upmost concern to me. Again, I am very sorry and ask you to accept my apology.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Real first and last names — as well as city of residence — are required for all commenters.
This is so we can verify your identity before approving your comment.

By commenting here you agree to abide by our Code of Conduct. Please read our code at the bottom of this page before commenting.