Caroline Burnell Public Affairs Office Oregon Department of Human Services Salem, OR May 26, 2017 Dear Ms. Burnell: This letter represents my appeal of various redactions made to the responsive records to my Oregon Public Records Law requests to the Department of Human Services, dated April 13 and April 17, 2017. My requests sought records DHS records related to former state-certified foster provider Edward B. Murray, as well as records related to foster children Jeffrey Simpson and Lloyd Anderson. On May 19, 2017, DHS provided me with 54 pages of records related to Mr. Murray. The records contained various redactions, which DHS claimed were exempt from disclosure, citing confidentiality provisions in ORS 192.502(9), and ORS 419B.035 I am challenging DHS’s exemption claims under ORS 192.502 (9) for the following reasons: 1. There is no question much of the information being withheld from disclosure should be released in the public interest. Ed Murray has been a public official for more than 20 years. Since 2013, he has been the elected mayor of the City of Seattle. Before his tenure as mayor, Murray was a Washington state legislator since 1995. As a politician, he has drawn a public salary for more than two decades. Prior to serving in elected office, Mr. Murray spent several years as a publicly visible political campaign manager for Washington state’s first openly gay state lawmaker, and held a public job as an aide to a Seattle City Council member. He is clearly a public official, and as the highest elected official in a city of nearly 700,000 residents, his position squarely places him in the public interest. 2. Mr. Murray also has been a vocal activist for gay rights who has widely expressed details about his own homosexuality in media interviews, public speeches and political campaigns. Since the early 1980s, Mr. Murray has been an openly gay man who has repeatedly shared details about his homosexuality, particularly in regards to public policy issues. Mr. Murray led political efforts to make same sex legal in Washington state. As he clearly has not kept details related to his own homosexuality a private matter – in fact, he’s done just the opposite – any information related to Mr. Murray’s homosexuality should not be exempt from disclosure as “an unreasonable invasion of public privacy.” Clearly, Mr. Murray has now kept his homosexuality private for many decades. 3. Mr. Murray also is now the defendant in a civil lawsuit that has been publicly filed in King County (WA) Superior Court. The lawsuit’s accusations, and similar ones made by individuals that are not a party to the lawsuit, involve Mr. Murray’s alleged sexual abuse of teenage boys. Details about the lawsuit, as well as Mr. Murray’s status as an openly gay public figure, also have been widely reported by a number of local and national news organizations. Such organizations include The Seattle Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, The New York Times and CNN, to name a few. Among the accusers to voluntarily describe his accusations about Murray to the media is Jeffrey Simpson, the foster child who is named in the responsive DHS records. Redactions to any details in the DHS records related to the allegations and investigation of sexual abuse made against Mr. Murray while he served as a foster provider to Mr. Simpson in the state of Oregon clearly do not invade Mr. Simpson’s privacy. Since Mr. Simpson has voluntarily and repeatedly cooperated with reporters to make the same accusations public in media stories, redactions by DHS of any information related to Simpson’s allegations against Murray, and any subsequent investigation of them, do not constitute an “unreasonable invasion of privacy.” 4. In addition to Mr. Simpson’s repeated interview with The Seattle Times and other media organizations, he also has voluntarily provided Times’ representatives with a signed form authorizing DHS to release to me any records the agency possesses about him. Clearly, Mr. Simpson is not claiming any privacy or privilege to keep details about his alleged abuse confidential. I am also challenging DHS’s exemption from disclosure claims under ORS 419B.035 for the following reasons: This provision in the law states the Department of Human Services “may make reports and records … available to any person (or)…. organization… when it determines … that such disclosure is necessary … to prevent … (or) protect children from abuse or neglect or for research...” 1. Clearly, in this case, research about Mr. Simpson’s allegations against Ed Murray in 1984, and how DHS viewed and/or handled the allegations, is a viable reason for the agency to allow disclosure. As previously stated, Mr. Murray is a public official who know faces serious accusations and concerns in the public interest related to child sex abuse claims. Mr. Simpson, who was Mr. Murray’s foster child, has made the allegations public. The details contained in the DHS file on Murray no longer can “reasonably considered confidential.” For the aforementioned reasons, there is clear and convincing evidence that the public interest requires disclosure of any and all information withheld under ORS 192.502 and ORS 419B.035. Lastly, Mr. Simson signed an authorization form allowing DHS to provide records to me. When he did so, Mr. Simpson inadvertently overlooked initialing sections of the form to authorize the release records related to his mental health, substance abuse treatment and other health records. Because of this oversight, DHS redacted such information from the DHS records it released to me. I have since been in touch with Mr. Simpson and he is agreeable to initialing the appropriate sections on a new form. A copy of that form will be sent to DHS in the near future to authorize disclosure of the relevant information. Thank you for your consideration. Sincerely, Lewis Kamb Reporter/The Seattle Times 1000 Denny Way Seattle, WA 98111 lkamb@seattletimes.com/ (206) 464-2932 Below, please find various web links to support my statements about Mr. Murray’s status as an openly gay public official, as well as widespread reporting regarding the current civil lawsuit naming Mr. Murray as a defendant (Some of the news stories also contain many public statements given by Jeff Simpson regarding his sexual abuse allegations against Mr. Murray). Murray’s bio as Mayor of Seattle http://www.seattle.gov/mayor/newsroom/about-mayor-murray Murray’s Wikipedia page entry https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Murray_(Washington_politician) Sampling of media Stories The Seattle Times Lawsuit alleges Murray sexually abused troubled teen in 1980s Seattle Mayor Ed Murray won't seek second term: 'It tears me to pieces to step away' ‘A face you never forget’: Latest man to accuse Murray details his claims Meet Lincoln Beauregard, the lawyer for Mayor Ed Murray’s accuser ‘He knows my name’: Accuser speaks out What prevented a lawsuit 10 years ago Why we're not allowing reader comments Podcast: How our story came together The Seattle Weekly http://www.seattleweekly.com/news/seattle-times-3-men-accuse-ed-murray-of-sexually-abusing-themas-teenagers/ http://www.seattleweekly.com/news/meet-the-brash-and-brilliant-lawyer-who-wont-leave-ed-murrayalone/ The Stranger (Seattle) http://www.thestranger.com/news/2017/04/14/25077369/im-not-lying-one-of-mayor-murrays-allegedvictims-tells-his-story http://www.thestranger.com/slog/2017/04/16/25080191/guest-editorial-the-motivation-doesnt-matter-itstime-to-step-down http://www.thestranger.com/slog/2017/04/19/25085620/after-accusers-name-is-revealed-mayor-edmurray-claims-he-doesnt-know-him The Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/04/08/he-lobbied-for-gay-rights-and-opposedtrump-now-seattles-mayor-is-accused-of-sexually-assaulting-minors/?utm_term=.41ab2d400daa The LA Times http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-seattle-mayor-2017-story.html http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-seattle-mayor-20170509-story.html The Chicago Tribune http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/ct-seattle-mayor-sex-abuse-lawsuit-20170407story.html The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/19/us/seattle-mayor-ed-murray-gay-community.html CNN http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/19/politics/seattle-mayor-abuse-allegations/ http://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2017/04/20/seattle-mayor-abuse-allegations-jnd-orig-vstop.cnn http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/09/politics/seattle-mayor-withdraws-scandal/