The City of Everett Attorney is enough to make your skin crawl into a pile on top of your head.
His ego and dirty underhanded tactics are the cause of the most of the problems in
Shoreline, Everett, Tacoma, Mesa, and a few other places.
He is exactly what all of the crappy devious lying deceitful lawyer jokes are about.
Mark Lindquist unfortunately has followed Mr Ramerman’s advice and path which may be his undoing in the end
Instead, Lindquist appointed Ramsey Ramerman, an assistant city attorney in Everett who had prior involvement in the phone-records case and wrote legal briefs in support of Lindquist’s position.
Lindquist did not consult McCarthy or Maenhout before appointing Ramerman. They believe the choice doesn’t serve the needs of taxpayers, according to court documents filed Wednesday.
“(Ramerman’s) appointment does not provide the independent legal advice required by the County,” McCarthy’s brief states.
Now Mr Ramerman has created a conflict in his racket for Pierce County, which is great for him because he gets paid either way and no one but the taxpayers will foot the bill
Nissen filed an objection to the appointment of Ramerman since he was involved in her original litigation
Mr. Ramerman’s belated appointment as a deputy prosecutor in this matter does not
obviate the conflict. Mr. Ramerman has already argued to the Washington Supreme Court that
l) The Washington Supreme Court should accept review of the Court of Appeals decision in
this case;
2) Prosecutor Lindquist did not violate the PRA disclosure requirements as long as Lindquist used his private phone; and
3) Individual elected officials are not agencies, and the Court should rule records maintained by elected oficials in private locations are not public records. Decl. of M. Maenhout, Exh. B, at 2, 5.
Given these clear assertions, it is not possible for Mr. Ramerman to subsequently provide differing legal opinion to the County, even if appropriate, as to do so requires disavowing his previous assertions on behalf of WSAMA. As a result, Mr. Ramerman is similarly conflicted under RPC 1.7 and his appointment does not provide the independent legal advice required by the County. Finally, Mr. Ramerman?s previous service reviewing Detective Nissen’s communications requested under the PRA only reinforces his extensive prior and personal involvement in this case.
Oh but wait a minute: Ramsey Ramerman is the City of Everett Assistant Attorney, meaning he is paid with our tax dollars. How many hours does he spend working on his private business, his non profit and other cities or county agents while he is getting Everett paychecks from us?
We are paying for him to violate the law and to help others violate the public records act. How is that for irony?
Oh but it gets even more ironic:
He is also running a non-profit to evade the Public Records Act called the Washington Association of Public Records Officers (WAPRO) which teaches all the towns, cities, and counties how to evade the Public Records Act and encourages them to fight public records requests at ALL costs.
The website no longer shows his name but the Secretary of State sure does
2015 – 2016 WAPRO Board of Directors
We are pleased to introduce your 2015 – 2016 WAPRO Board of Directors! Their term begins December 1, 2015 and ends November 30, 2016.
Whitney Rhodes, President
Denise Vaughan, President-Elect
Kathi Anderson, Vice-President
Don Jewett, Secretary
Tyler Entrekin, Treasurer
Melissa Blakenship, Director
Terri LeFors, Director
Joanna Lee, Director
Sheila Friend Gray, Director
Most of the people who are the focus of any public records requests are under the protection of the city and the tax payer wallets. It costs them nothing personally to fight the Public Records Act. We pay for all of it, no matter how much it costs or how long it takes.
Now in a very twisted turn of events the Washington Coalition for Open Government has filed suit against Lindquist
https://www.snocoreporter.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/2015-12-14-WCOG-Press-Release.pdf
He is also on the Board of the Sunshine Comittee… but don’t get too happy, it is run by the Washington State Attorney General and it’s not what anyone thinks anymore. It’s more of a “How to avoid the Sunshine Coven”
It would seem this slimy character would be at odds with the Wa COG but no: He has worked side by side with them, which has always given me pause… but when he’s not busy handing out their awards:
He’s busy being a star on their various panels
Washington State Open Government Conference
The bulk of the day-long conference is devoted to “breakout” sessions with in-depth explorations of open government issues led by experts in the field, including attorneys Ramsey Ramerman, Michele Earle-Hubbard, Greg Overstreet and William Crittenden. Each session will explore how citizens can exercise their rights to monitor government and discuss ways government can do its work with greater transparency.
Cost of the all-day program is $25 for WCOG members, students and seniors and $50 for non-members. The registration fee includes lunch and resource materials.
After January 7, 2011 registration will increase to $35 for members and $60 for non-members.
The program has been approved for 2 hours of credit of Continuing Legal Education. Questions about the conference can be directed to the WCOG office at info@washingtoncog.org or by phone to 206-782-0393. More details can also be found at the WCOG website at: http://washingtoncog.org/opengovconf.html To register online, go to: http://www.washingtoncog.org/opengovconf.phpJoin WCOG at the 2011 Public Records and Open Public Meetings Laws Forums
Panelists for the series included: State Attorney General Rob McKenna, State Archivist Jerry Handfield, Assistant State Attorney General Tim Ford, State Records Officer Russell Wood, Elections Director Katie Blinn, Assistant Everett City Attorney Ramsey Ramerman, Greg Overstreet of Allied Law Group,
He is running “mediation services” with one of WaCOG’s main members
Greg Overstreet and Ramsey Ramerman to provide co-mediations and training in PRA and OPA matters
Greg Overstreet and Ramsey Ramerman have never been on the same side in a Public Records Act (PRA) or Open Meetings Act (OPA) case. But after serving on a couple of presentations and panels together, they realized they both had an interest in mediating cases and that they had a lot of respect for each other.
They came to WCOG’s February board meeting to announce that they’d formed Open-Government Mediations and Training, or “OG-Med,” to provide co-mediations and training in PRA and OPA matters.
Overstreet was the state attorney general’s first “open records ombudsman,” and has since gone on to form Allied Law Group, which represents requestors. Ramerman has been assisting government agencies with PRA/OPA issues since 2003, is currently the city attorney for Everett, and is also the local government representative on the Sunshine Committee. The pair are the co-editors-in-chief of the Washington Bar Association’s second edition of the Public Records Act Deskbook.
In the past, whenever they’d separately volunteered to mediate cases, their respective histories “would be the death sentence,” Overstreet said. “Nobody trusted us. Agencies would never hire me, and requesters would never hire him. We decided to become co-mediators so each side has someone they can trust.”
Both said it is a solution that is far cheaper, quicker and more predictable than litigation. A half-day mediation, which includes both of their preparation time, costs $2,000, and whole-day mediation costs $3,000. Additional prep time is billed at $250 an hour for each mediator, and additional mediation time is $200 an hour each.
Overstreet said it’s not unusual for PRA litigation to span “two years and cost $50,000 to $100,000. That’s not the most efficient way.”
Their services can be brought in at any stage, from when someone’s contemplating a lawsuit, to when there’s already been a finding of liability, and the question is attorneys’ fees and penalties.
Ramerman said he’s had several government agencies, including the city of Seattle, express interest in using their services. Overstreet said it is not as easy to get a handle on how requesters feel, but they believe requestors who are representing themselves are likely to be particularly interested.
As for their training services, the pair will charge $3,000 a day. In their written materials, they argue that, because a judge takes an agency’s training into consideration when assessing penalties, “a reduction in penalties from being able to tell a judge that an agency took OG-Med training could easily exceed the cost of the training.”
When board member Mike Fancher quipped, ‘So, the dogs and cats are lying down together? who’d a thought?” Overstreet hastened to add that he’d still be happy to sue a government agency on someone’s behalf. “I’m not lying down,” he added with a grin.For more information, please see the OG-Med website at www.og-med.com
The article clearly states that Greg Overstreet and Ramsey Ramerman are not on the same side of the board yet there they are… Working together. Whether they still do is unknown but it explains to me why no one from WaCOG has ever tried to help me in my dealings with the city of Everett when they are clearly violating the law.
The thing that bothers me is that in court records I have seen Greg Overstreet represented Ms Block in some of her cases which he lost: I wonder if it was when he was working with Ramerman… I am not sure if that is a conflict or not, since Ramerman was representing Gold Bar too…
Maybe it’s because I’m Autistic but you won’t catch me sucking up to or hanging out with anyone I don’t like or waste my time with people I don’t respect… Politics may make strange bedfellows but always remember:
Lay with dogs and you get fleas… Laying with this mongrel may well cost Lindquist everything he has worked for.
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