WA State Questionnaire

Pirate Party Questionaire:

Questions about Transparency and Accountability: 1. Do you believe the government has a right to privacy?

2. Closed door executive sessions are allowed in the state of Washington for discussion of land purchases, legal issues with an attourney, and personnel issues. Would you make recording those sessions mandatory so that they may be reviewed in court for proper use of executive sessions?

3. Secret meetings erode the trust the public has in its government and prevents complete citizen participation in government processes. Would you be in favor of eliminating executive sessions in cases that do not reveal an individual's private information, i.e. land purchases and legal meetings?

4. Do you believe the government is a person and can enter into an attourney-client relationship?

5. In a trial in Rialto, CA, police officers were forced to wear cameras. The results showed a drastic reduction in use of force and complaints against officers.Would you vote in favor of police officers being required to wear cameras at all times and have them turned on when not on break?

6. Will you make the effort to base decisions on data and experimental outcomes rather than personal ideology?

7. All over the country police departments are militarizing their equipment and tactics. They are performing raids against average citizens for suspicions of minor crimes while often injuring or killing the unarmed occupants. The shear brutality and lack of accountability has Americans terrorized. Will you strive to maintain the civility of the police department under your jurisdiction and prevent funding for militarization?

Questions about Privacy: Surveillance, red-light, and speed cameras are a violation of privacy as they have the potential to track citizens without reasonable suspicion. There are cheaper alternatives to red-light and speed cameras that are just as effective and don't violate privacy. Would you be against the installation of such cameras and for their removal in cases where they already exist?

Questions about Open Government: Quasi-judicial processes Hack-a-thons Changing government processes Allowing citizen participation

Are you willing to introduce new processes (starting with trials) that would allow citizens to have direct control over government functions?

Efforts to engage the public often involve bland ads with large blocks of text and sometimes don't even include contact information. Would you push staff to produce more attractive ads with contact information right up front and have concise empowering descriptions of projects or policies and how citizens can affect the outcome?

Democracy or Republic? XP