I had a long talk with Kelly Fox on Monday. He accepts no responsibility for our position on HB 2097, particularly in the way it was introduced and the fact that LEOFF 1 would have no representation on the board.

Now that Steve Nelsen has the legal opinion from Klausner he insists that he has not read the opinion and says he will not read it until it is available to everyone.

He appears to be open to some amendments to the bill, however I explained that we don't have the time or the resources right now and that this would require some discussion. He more or less implied that he does not want to spend a lot of time discussing this with the various LEOFF 1 groups as he feels it will get nowhere.

He did advise me that they, the Council, have decided to go all out to pass HB 2097. I asked him what else is new, Bud Sizemore has been pushing the bill right along.

I am going to send an email to every legislator along with Phil Talmadge's bill analysis and ask them to oppose the bill. I am going to mail another letter with first-class postage to our members, requesting again that they write, email or call their Representatives to encourage them to oppose the bill. I suggest that each group make the same request to their members.

I hand-delivered a three page letter to key legislators or their legislative aids in Olympia on Monday.
When I arrived home I had e-mails saying that they are opposed to the bill at this time.

I will forward a request today for Klausner's legal opinion under the Freedom of Information Act.