Leader editor presented with Key Award

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The Washington Coalition for Open Government has awarded Brian Kelly, editor of the Jefferson County-Port Townsend Leader, with a Key Award.

The honor is made “in recognition of outstanding effort and key contributions in promoting and defending the people’s right to know in the conduct of the public’s business.”

The board for the coalition voted unanimously to present the Key Award to Kelly, as well as an identical award to The Leader.

Kelly and The Leader were nominated for coverage of the financial collapse of the Fort Worden Public Development Authority and the newspaper’s use of the Washington State Public Records Act in accessing crucial documents that detailed mismanagement within the authority.

Fred Obee, executive director of the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association, presented the awards during a surprise appearance at a staff meeting at The Leader earlier this year.

Obee, who is also a board member of the Washington Coalition for Open Government,  said that  “Brian’s use of the Public Records Act to reveal the internal deliberations of the Public Development Authority [at Fort Worden] is a good example of using public access tools to gain broader understanding of a government’s actions.”

“We still don’t know the whole story of what happened at the PDA, but we have gotten much closer to transparency with Brian’s reporting,” Obee added.