The Public Records Officer Podcast
The Public Records Officer Podcast
Fighting for the People’s Right to Know.
From public records battles to quiet cover-ups, from deleted chats to documents they hoped you’d never see... The Public Records Officer Podcast (PROP) exposes the ways power hides from the people it serves.
Hosted by open government advocate, a former elected official, state government public information officer and communications director Jamie Nixon, this show pulls back the curtain on the tactics used by public agencies to avoid transparency, and highlights the citizens, journalists, and legal warriors fighting back.
Season One investigates the ontologically shocking story of how Washington State agencies used Microsoft Teams to automatically delete public records after just seven days, raising questions of legality, accountability, and who gets to decide what the public has a right to see.
Each episode blends documents, depositions, interviews, and digital trails with sharp commentary and a sense of civic urgency. Whether it’s a modified invoice, redacted emails, or a policy crafted to vanish before a subpoena hits... The PROP is here to shine a light where the law demands it.
Featuring interviews with journalists, attorneys, and the officials who tried to sound the alarm before it was too late.
The truth doesn’t expire in seven days.
The Public Records Officer Podcast
Ep. 19 DOL 1: Seven Days To Die
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Five days before Governor Bob Ferguson ordered a halt to Washington’s automatic deletion of Teams chats, a group of Department of Licensing hearing examiners were talking in Teams as if the walls had no memory.
They discussed petitioners, attorneys, hearing strategy, objections, order language, and one hearing examiner even suggested that another could “help us all out” by hitting an attorney with her car.
Under the state’s seven-day deletion policy, that chat may have been headed for the digital shredder. Then Ferguson stopped the clock.
In this first part of a two-episode story, Jamie walks through the February 12, 2025 DOL Teams chat, the agency’s prior history with one-day deletion, and why this record matters far beyond one ugly workplace conversation. This is a story about quasi-judicial conduct, public records, disappearing government communications, and what happens when public officials think no one will ever read what they typed.
And this is only the beginning.
Because once DOL realized the chats had not disappeared, the story got darker.
Next up: DOL II: Delete Another Day.
Some readings in this episode are AI-generated from public records. The words are real. The records are public.
Full transcript and source documents available at:
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About WashCOG:
The Washington Coalition for Open Government (WashCOG) fights for transparency and accountability in Washington State. Learn more:
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Tip of the hat to the musicians who created the music used on the show: Alex Grohl, Ian Post, Jakub Pietras, lumine wave, Roberto Pravo, Solis, ...