Federal Way grad shakes up British government

Budget blues: Slice and slash

BY JACINDA HOWARD

jhoward@federalwaymirror.com

Interim city manager Brian Wilson unveiled his latest proposed budget cuts — di� ering in areas from those o� ered by former city manager Neal Beets.

� e suggested cuts were discussed May 26 at a Fi-nance, Economic Develop-ment and Regional A� airs (FEDRAC) city council subcommittee. � ey are the � rst signi� cant public ac-tion taken by Wilson since he became interim city manager May 5. � e cuts di� er slightly from those presented in April by Beets, who signed a separation agreement with the city in early May.

Wilson’s budget plans, if implemented, will a� ect the public and city em-ployees. As a whole, the plan is structured to span a six-year time frame and assumes the economy has not improved by that time.

Layo� s will take place this year and next year in an at-tempt to avoid the expected $4.9 million budget gap in 2010.

“� e city is in the same situation as many of our businesses and residents,” Wilson said. “We’re hav-ing to make many hard choices.”

Public impacts� e public is likely to

experience longer wait times and diminished customer service in select areas when dealing with the city. A building inspector, development specialist, recreation superintendent, police records specialist and park planner are on the list of layo� s.

During peak hours and

OPINION | Editorial: Cheers and jeers in Federal Way. Plus: Walter Backstrom on America’s continuing obsession with race [6]

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THE PIRKLE REPORT | War is hell, and people should know what war is like [8]

BUSINESS | Marketing 101: Examples of how to create a genuine brand [9]

SUMMER BREAK | Plenty of options to keep your kids active while school’s out [3]

NORTHSHORE | Update on controversial proposed development at golf course [2]

[ more BUDGET page 16 ]

Public faces diminished customer service amid restructuring of city sta� and salaries

BY KYRA LOW

klow@federalwaymirror.com

Twenty years ago, Heather Brooke was getting her � rst taste of journalism at Federal Way High School.

Today, she is at the heart of a British parliament scandal that has already led to the ousting of the Speaker of the House of Commons and several other members.

It all began, as the New York

Times has termed it, with a “modest request.” Brooke asked, via the country’s Freedom of Information Act request, for the Members of Parliament’s (MP) expenses.

“At � rst they didn’t know how to deal with the request,” Brooke said. “I don’t know if people had ever really asked for it before 2005.”

All of Brooke’s initial requests were rejected. She began the ap-peals process, which ended up

in the high court.“I won that battle,” said

Brooke, 38. “All the records were ordered disclosed. Our government sat on them for several months, then said they weren’t going to publish until July. � en the documents were leaked and the newspaper started publishing and it led to this scandalous thing.”

� e scandal is that for years, the MPs had been using public funds to pay for their private

homes and purchases.In the United Kingdom, MPs

may claim expenses incurred during the performance of their parliamentary duties. � is can include the cost of accommoda-tions to attend parliament.

On May 8, the Daily Tele-graph began publishing a listing of what MPs had been expens-ing. People were outraged, and a media storm was born.

[ more BRITISH page 4 ]

Heather LaneMcCants, interim executive director for Safe City Federal Way, cuts the cake at the program’s o� cial kicko� on May 27. RACHEL JONES, For The Mirror

Safe City FW: Cake is cut and cameras are onFROM STAFF REPORTS

An launch party for the Safe City Fed-eral Way was held May 27 at City Hall.

Safe City, a nationwide program supported by the Target Corporation, involves 27 closed-circuit cameras in the downtown core in places such as � e Commons mall parking lot and other businesses.

Live video is directed to police and volunteers, who watch for criminal activity. With a click of a mouse, they can switch cameras or zoom in on details such as license plate numbers. � e program can be used to help identify suspects as well as call for aid to injured victims or bystanders before police arrive on scene. � e e� ort is more than three years in the making and is expected to be a crime deterrent.

At the launch party, King County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Satteberg praised Federal Way’s adoption of the program as a step toward increased safety and crime prevention.

“It makes your police department in-stantly more e� cient and more e� ective,” he said.

� e launch party featured surveillance video of incidents such as a recent bank robbery suspect at Heritage Bank and a car crash in Federal Way.

To learn more about the program, visit www.safecityfw.com.

Heather Brooke’s senior yearbook photo at Federal Way High School in 1988. She now resides in the U.K.

May 30, 2009[4] www.fedwaymirror.com

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“I had no idea it would turn into such a juggernaut,” Brooke said. “It’s the biggest story in decades. � ere’s a quiet revolution and Britain doesn’t really do revo-lutions generally. It’s described as one of the more dramatic times in political history. It’s created a desire for change in a system that is still not very di� erent from 300 years ago.”

Cause and e� ect� e backlash was instanta-

neous. Among the expenses were re-designing second homes, avoiding capital gains tax, fur-nishing other homes and food claims. Eliot Morley was suspend-ed from the Parliamentary Labour Party for claiming expenses for a mortgage that was already paid. Shahid Malik resigned as justice minister a� er announcing he will not pay back any of the money he used for rent. Anthony Steen, Sir Peter Viggers, Nicholas and Ann Winterton, Douglas Hogg, Julie Kirkbride, Margaret Moran and Tory leader Andrew Mackay have already announced they would not seek another term.

� e House of Commons called in the police to investigate the leak. � e police said that the leaking was not a crime; however,

criminal activity may have been present on the part of the MPs. A little more than a week a� er the � rst expenses were released, Britain’s most senior police of-� cer announced he would begin criminal inquiries into the alleged misuse of the MPs’ expenses, the Telegraph reported. Gordon Brown, the Prime Min-ister, announced that no MP who had broken the rules would be allowed to stand as a Labor candidate in the next election.

� e biggest impact was on May 19, as the Speaker of the House of Commons, Michael Martin, was ousted for lack of con� dence in his management. It was the � rst time in 300 years a speaker had been ousted.

Part of the reason why there was such a � ood of information and backlash is that in the United Kingdom, there is no tradition of public records the way there is in the United States.

“� ey (MPs) are not used to that level of scrutiny,” Brooke said. “It was very aggravating. It’s a dif-

ferent culture here, if you are used to the American mindset where public o� cials are helpful. Here it’s a very di� erent attitude, it’s very frustrating, like hitting your head against a brick wall.”

Local connectionsBrooke credits her background

in Washington state for her interest and expo-sure to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

Brooke attended Nau-tilus Elementary School from ages 7-11 before returning to England. She then came back to Federal Way for her junior and senior years of high school before going to the University of Washington, where she wrote a sex advice column for the student newspaper and gradu-ated in 1993.

It was at Federal Way High School that she got her � rst taste of the newspaper industry.

“I worked for the high school newspaper

like a million years ago,” Brooke laughed. “I took it as a class. I don’t know that I did very much.”

Brooke � rst got her FOIA

experience in the much more open system that is present in the United States, requesting informa-tion for stories at both the Spokes-man Review in Spokane and the Spartanburg Herald-Journal in South Carolina.

She moved back to England in 1997 to be with her remaining family a� er her mother died in a car crash.

A� er moving back to England, Brooke became a crusader for freedom of information. She wrote a book, “Your Right to Know,” which explains how to use the Freedom of Information Act and access o� cial information.

She currently freelances for � e (London) Times, Sunday Times, Guardian, Daily Telegraph, Inde-pendent, Evening Standard, New Statesman and other national magazines, and is a visiting fellow at City University’s Department of Journalism. She also has a blog, Your Right to Know, at yrtk.org.

� e U.K. scandal is still ongo-ing, as the list of MPs resigning grows daily. Scotland Yard has begun investigating and rumors and ideas swirl about what should be done to � x parliament.

And it all began with a simple request by a Federal Way grad.

‘I had no idea it would turn into such a juggernaut’[ BRITISH from page 1]

“It’s the biggest story in decades. There’s a quiet revolution and Britain doesn’t really do revolutions generally. It’s described as one of the more dramatic times in political history.”Heather Brooke

LEARN MORE

A sampling of expenses claimed, according to the Daily TelegraphMichael Martin: Spent more than £1,400 to pay for chau� eur driven cars to his local job center and Celtic’s soccer ground.John Reid: Used his allowence to pay for slotted spoons, an ironing board and a glittery “loo” seat.Francis Maude: Claimed almost £35,000 in two years for mortgage inter-est payments on a London � at, even though he owned a house a few hundred yards away.

Bob Marshall Andrews: Claimed £118,000 for expenses at his second home, including stereo equipment, extensive redecoration and a pair of Kenyan carpets.Douglas Hogg: Spent taxpayer money on the cost of having his moat cleaned, piano tuned and stable lights � xed at his country manor house.Andrew Mackay and his wife, fellow MP Julie Kirkbride: Had “his and hers” second homes claimed.Sir Peter Viggers: Claimed £1,600 for a � oating duck island at his home, which he also admitted the ducks rejected.

Heart of the British parliament scandal