LRI turns up heat, now wants senate phone records involving citizens

As predicted, attorneys representing Land Recovery Inc., (LRI) grilled Sen. Marilyn Rasmussen (D-Eatonville) last Tuesday for several hours in what the senator calls a legal "fishing trip." Fishing, one supposes to find out why the senator has fought the garbage dump from being located over a sole source aquifer and near a wildlife park on 304th and Meridian.

But the line of questioning is not nearly so cogent. All one can conclude is the questions come from suspicious minds. They fall along these lines -- who put the senator up to fighting the dump? Why did the senator use her official tools, i.e. hearings, legislative and federal requests in an attempt to stop the dump from being sited? Friends, peers and colleagues were mentioned in the deposition in a bizarre fashion. In at least one case, a good friend and long time politico was indicated to be a possible industrial informant. Maybe these folks have watched "All The Presidents Men," too many times and fear Deep Throat is lurking in the shadows.

Whatever their basis for suspicion is, Sen. Rasmussen spent the bulk of primary day locked up with lawyers.

"They went back to 1995 and produced a letter written to County Executive Doug Sutherland in which I ask the executive to tell me how much it would cost to long haul. I wanted to know this because no one in the county would disclose the agreement. How can we know how much it costs if the document isn't in front of you? These are questions I had to ask as a lawmaker, as a liaison between constituents and the government. I wasn't put up to it -- I was doing my job," Sen. Rasmussen recalls."They also asked who was leading us? And, I had to answer: common sense," the senator added.

What concerns Rasmussen the most, is not the grilling or the inquisitory tone at the deposition. But, rather the garbage company's request to read private legislative correspondence between the senator and those who oppose the dump including phone records dating back to 1987.

"I am hoping and praying they try to get their hands on my records. I am guarding those and believe I should protect the integrity of this office and those who write to me or ask for help. I am prepared to take this issue all the way to the supreme court," Sen. Rasmussen pledges.

The senator believes and rightly so, that if a private special interest, such as LRI, can have access to private records then there is no protection for constituents who have problems with government, agencies or businesses who infringe on their rights. Citizens might be reticent to come forward if they know their correspondence is going to be made public.

Senators are contacted about a variety of disturbing issues such as domestic violence, child abuse, illegal drug production, and child pornography. While LRI insists it doesn't want to view anything that doesn't pertain to the garbage issue, the company would actually see just about everything.

"If citizens are afraid their private matters are not protected by me, then why would they confide in me and ask for my help? This is contrary to my role as a lawmaker," Sen. Rasmussen explains. The senator also has concerns the garbage company will use the information to oppose the senator. It certainly has not made a secret out of its support for her challenger in the senate race this year even though Rasmussen solidly outpaced Deanna Hawkins in the primary. What the opposition has failed to understand is that Marilyn Rasmussen is not beholden to anyone other than regular citizens who have the courage to ask three simple words: please help us. Why would a lawmaker who listens to voters be such a threat?

Whatever the intent of the garbage company and its lawyers, the legal strategy alone is precedent setting. Never in the history of the state legislature has a senator been challenged in this fashion. The attorney general's office says this "is a first." We do hope a precedent is set. An ethical one. The moral to our story is this: even financial, legal and political posturing can't turn every lawmaker into a hand puppet for a few special interests.