Seattle City Attorney Tom Carr will be chairman of the state's new public records committee, says the AP. And that isn't sitting well with one prominent advocate for open records. The AP quotes Greg Overstreet, AG Rob McKenna's former public records ombudsman, as saying there is no "more polarizing figure."

Overstreet is unhappy with the Carr appointment largely because of two specific cases. One was the city's withholding of information when the PI made public records requests statewide in preparation for a story on police DUIs. The other was a case known as Hangartner that went to the state Supreme Court. The high court sided with Seattle that Sound Transit documents could be kept private because they were protected by attorney-client privilege.

Gregoire is not likely to be sympathetic to arguements that someone who iscompromised on the question of public records because they argued for that decision -- a ruling the media and public records advocates said was a major step back in disclosure law. Gregoire was on the same side as Carr.

As attorney general, she urged the justices to make sure that the privilege protecting conversations between lawyers and their clients be recognized for attorneys who represent public agencies."

That was one of the reasons that David Zeeck, executive editor of The News Tribune, once wrote about Gregoire:

When it comes to open government, Gregoire is -- as we say in Texas about people who play at being cowboys -- more hat than cattle.