Washington newspapers recognize Pollet’s open government efforts

Rep. Gerry Pollet

Washington Rep. Gerry Pollet, who represents the 46th District, was presented with the Freedom’s Light Award Oct. 5, 2025 at the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association annual convention in Wenatchee.

The award celebrates significant efforts to defend the First Amendment and open government.

Pollet has been a member of the Washington Coalition for Open Government for nearly two decades, and WashCOG President Mike Fancher nominated him for the WNPA award.

Fancher said that Pollet grew up watching his father’s dogged advocacy in pushing for government responsibility. His father was a “Democratic politician at a time and place where patronage and other forms of political corruption were the accepted norm. His father used the state’s public records laws to reveal all manner of misdeeds.”

Pollet said at the presentation event that the award means a great deal to him because it reflects strongly on his upbringing and the values he learned. Pollet is a Democratic politician who has been in the Legislature since 2011.

WNPA Executive Director Ellen Hiatt and Rep. Gerry Pollet

“As a new member of the WashCOG board I have, from day one, been in awe of Gerry,” said Ellen Hiatt, WNPA executive director, who presented the award.. “His commitment to government transparency is clearly lifelong and part of his core values. But his humility and genuine decency shines through. He is an example for all public servants.” 

Pollet follows two former WashCOG board members in receiving this particular honor: Lynn Kessler, a founder of WashCOG, and Toby Nixon, past president and current president emeritus.

In the nomination, Fancher noted that Pollet was the first state lawmaker to post his calendar so voters would know how he spends his time. He also pushed for legislation that requires every public official to get training in the Open Public Meeting Act and the Public Records Act.

Nixon, who supported the nomination, said that Pollet knows first-hand why public access to government records is important.  As longtime executive director of Heart of America Northwest, Pollet has frequently filed requests for documents as part of his push to clean up the Hanford nuclear site. He has first-hand experience with the challenges of gaining access to important information from the state and federal governments.

“He is a real irritant to the state Department of Ecology and others because he is so persistent and passionate about the cause,“ Nixon said.

Pollet’s fellow board members know that sometimes an “irritant” is exactly what the situation requires when it comes to keeping the doors open and the light shining on government entities in Washington.

Pollet’s strong support is one reason the Public Records Act and Open Public Meetings Act are still on the books. Pollet continues to fight for transparency with WashCOG every day because he believes the people have a right to know what their government is doing, and that is something that hasn’t changed since the law was enacted by citizen initiative in 1972.