Olympia councilmembers can't stop typing

It seems that public figures--just like everybody else who's ever had to sit through a lengthy meeting--can't be trusted with a laptop.

The Olympian obtained council e-mails from six meetings from Sept. 9 to Nov. 3 — the period Ford reviewed. Discussions included sizing up votes and, in one case, insulting a member of the public.

Ford does not say the council is violating the open meetings act, just that its actions are inconsistent with it. But he suggests the council isn't following best practices.

"At the very least, you could say that the spirit of the law is not being followed," he said.

Council members Joan Machlis, Joe Hyer, Jeff Kingsbury, Karen Messmer, Rhenda Strub and Craig Ottavelli sent at least one e-mail to another council member at meetings during the period. Mah did not. Hyer and Kingsbury wrote most frequently

Oh, and this, not blogging, is the real threat to the OPMA. Blogging is public--and, with a no-comment option, hardly a concern to the legally inclined.