Gooose
I thought you would like to read thiis one since you are so concerned!
"The Everett herald ran a story about my website. "
7669.cfm
Published on HeraldNet.com: 9/15/03
Public salaries in Net spotlight
By Scott Morris
Herald Writer
CAMANO ISLAND -- Louis Bloom's computer hobby has taught him that government is generally doing a good job.
"But you might not get that impression on the first glance of his Web site, ...."
After all, the 54-year-old Camano Island septic-system installer spends 10 hours a week posting the salaries of just about every public employee he can think of.
Some of the government employees don't appreciate Bloom's spotlight, but he insists that he means no offense and has no real political agenda.
"There's no political comment," Bloom said. "Basically, I think government does a good job compared to private, deregulated business."
The Web site is just meant to give people information and draw their own conclusions, Bloom said.
That explanation didn't satisfy some of the people who found their names and salaries listed on his Web site. Earlier this year, Bloom turned his attention to
Snohomish County employees, and his public documents request stirred up some resentment, as this e-mail from one county worker shows:
"Did it ever occur to you that putting honest, hard-working citizens' employment/salary information, along with their names, on the Web might creep them out?"
the employee wrote to Bloom. "It's a little like having your pants pulled down in public. It's no secret what's under there -- it just feels invasive to be publicly
undressed, by a stranger, and without your consent."
Bloom said he is sensitive to that criticism.
"I got lots of e-mails from Snohomish County employees, some of it quite disapproving -- almost threatening," Bloom said.
In response, Bloom said he would delete names if the employees -- especially police officers -- request it. The general public seems to approve, though. Bloom
said 75 percent to 80 percent of the response he gets is positive. The site gets between 500 and 800 visits every day.
"If I was a media journalist, I don't think I would delete anybody's name, but I'm a private person and I understand how somebody could be irritated," Bloom
said.
That gets to one underlying motivation.
"I wish that somebody in the media would do this," he said.
Bloom doesn't quite fit the stereotype of a computer nerd. He didn't even know anything about computers until 1996. Soon after, he learned how to construct a
Web site.
His curiosity about a Washington State Patrol investigation of a case in Olympia led Bloom to make his first open records request.
He found the process easy and was pleasantly surprised at how transparent government information can be if you know how to access it.
"I like the idea that it's free and that people can use that information," Bloom said.
When he saw a book published by the state listing all state employees with their job titles and salaries, his new hobby was born.
Bloom started in 1997 with a list of state employees and has gradually focused more locally on county and city governments and agencies in recent years.
His next direction will be the federal employees of Washington state.
Although he insists his Web site has no political agenda, Bloom freely admits he is a liberal Democrat who supports Howard Dean for president.
Although he's not a public employee, Bloom does include a link on his Web site to a copy of his 2002 federal income tax return.
Bloom was also open when asked for a few of his own conclusions.
"I was surprised originally at how few the number of employees are in a city or county," Bloom said. "I'm kind of surprised how little beginning teachers make.
They should make a little more. And I'm surprised by how much some port agency employee salaries are in Tacoma and Seattle."
But the important thing to Bloom is that the information is available.
"Maybe people think I'm somehow bashing government employees, saying they get paid way too much," Bloom said. "Maybe some of them do, but people can
figure it out for themselves and decide whether it was too much or too little."
Reporter Scott Morris
PS; don't foreget to let your dog out gooose! He's waging his tail for you
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