Hillary Evans, Mountlake Terrace city attorney, briefed the council on the Public Records Act (PRA) and the Open Public Meetings Act (OPMA), focusing on officials' disclosure obligations, records retention and the legal risks of using personal accounts for city business.

Evans described the PRA as a broad mandate for public disclosure: "It mandates full access to information concerning the conduct of government on every level," she said, and reminded the council that "a record is any writing," including electronic messages and voicemails. She explained the difference between production (collecting all responsive records) and disclosure (redacting exempt information before release), and noted that the city's public records officers must collect responsive material even if parts are privileged and then produce redaction logs citing applicable RCW exemptions.

Evans emphasized metadata and retention: electronic records frequently contain metadata ("data about data"), which requesters may seek; producing native formats is sometimes required. She urged council members to keep city business on city accounts and devices because personal accounts that contain city business may be subject to search and production under the PRA. She recommended deleting purely transitory items promptly and said that department retention schedules dictate whether a record must be preserved.

The training covered tools and protections: attorneys and the public-records officer will collect and review responsive records and apply redactions where lawfully appropriate. Evans described the Nissen-type affidavit process used when an individual has separate personal accounts, allowing a search declaration in place of production where appropriate. She also warned about penalties and costs for PRA noncompliance, including attorney-fee awards and the practical burden of extensive requests: "The statute of limitations on these cases are 1 year," she said, and requesters sometimes wait to sue to maximize recoverable days.

On OPMA and social media, Evans cautioned that council members should avoid engaging in city business on social platforms in ways that could create serial discussions or produce a quorum outside an open meeting. "The city is not in the business of conducting open public discourse on Facebook," she said, and added that multiple council members commenting on the same social-media thread could create an OPMA risk. She urged council members to maintain separate personal and professional accounts and to label them clearly.

Evans also reviewed meeting-security practices (how the city should respond if a virtual meeting is disrupted), the difference between closed-session topics and open meetings, and best practices for minimizing written records. She advised council members to forward constituent messages about city business to their city email accounts and to contact the public-records officer when unsure whether a communication constitutes a records request.

Why this matters: PRA and OPMA rules affect how elected officials communicate and how the city responds to public-records requests. Compliance protects the city from litigation risk and helps maintain public access to government records.

Provenance:
Topic intro evidence: "Okay. Next is our city attorney, Hillary Evans, here to talk about refresher training on open public meetings act and public records act." (transcript block starting at 3851.945)
Topic finish evidence: "Alrighty, that's all I got. Thank you everybody." (transcript block starting at 6497.465)

Speakers:
- Hillary Evans — City Attorney, City of Mountlake Terrace
- Council member (unspecified) — asked clarification questions during the training
- Rebecca — Public Records Officer (referenced by attorney; discussed as staff role)
- Jeff — city staff referenced in training (role: IT/legal support)