The Appeals Process
How does one begin to challenge a trespass warning?
On February 14, 2006 I contacted the Washington State Patrol to see what recourse I have against this trespass warning, which lists no way to overturn it. I spoke with Sgt. John Stager who is not Officer Woods' supervisor. He said I should speak with Officer Woods' supervisor, Sgt. Larry Bradeen. Sgt. Bradeen was not in, so he researched some more. The campus troopers give out trespass warnings under the authority of the General Administration department. The person to contact is Bob Bippert at 360-902-7395. He is new to the position. According to Sgt. Stager, they have never overturned a trespass warning.
Talk to Bob at General Administration
On February 14, 2006 at around 10:50 a.m. I called Bob Bippert. I explained that I wanted to have the trespass warning overturned. He said that he'd gotten a call from the state patrol already and he was looking into it. He was very cordial and professional. I explained that I had emailed Nathaniel Jones -- whom he noted was in his office -- trying to clarify the status of that road. He took down my email address and said he would get back to me hopefully by the afternoon.
Bob says no -- trespass appeal record remains intact
On February 14, 2006 around 4:40 p.m. I called Bob Bippert once again. He said he had spoken with Officer Woods who claimed we were in his way (not true, we were on the far right of the road) and when he questioned us "about it" we were indignant (i.e. we questioned him; also of note, Officer Woods did not question us before asking for my ID, he made two expository statements). He refused to overturn the trespass warning because the road is marked as restricted access. He said that it is off limits to the public, but the public is expected to cross over this off-limits road when moving from the Capitol trail to the grass of Heritage Park. He also said that the powerhouse road is not part of Heritage Park, which means I received a trespass warning for a park I wasn't even in. Bob sounded confused by this too, but still refused to overturn the trespass warning, knowing full well that I was not even in the park from which I've been banned. I asked if he was the final word and he said he imagined I could appeal it to the director Linda Bremer, and provided her phone number. He said that wheelchairs are expected to cross the paved road and the grass to get from the switchbacks to the lakeside trail.
I could ask the director maybe
On February 14, 2006 I called Bob's director Linda Bremer and left a voice message explaining that I am doing the final appeal on the trespass warning. I'm waiting to hear back. This appeals process seems rather unsound. My only recourse against being banned from state capitol property is to ask Bob from General Administration, an appeals process that, according to Sgt. Stager from the state patrol, has never been used successfully. What justice. I'm banned from a park that GA says I wasn't even in for using a road that GA says the public must use to go where my wife and I were going. On what legal grounds am I banned from Heritage Park? And what, for that matter, is the legal status of these trespass warnings? They are some quasi-legal thing that can get me arrested, yet I've no way to legitimately challenge.
A frustrating day
This issue has sucked most of my time today; I'm exhausted and exasperated. It also weighed heavy on me yesterday, but today's communications with all these folks and agencies was very draining. I have overdue programming that I've been too scattered to even contemplate working on. I really want to go run the lake, but alas I can not. The lake is a perfect running path, closest such path to my house, free from curbs and whatnot, with the uphill switchbacks at the end of my run. I'm considering just doing the switchbacks, running over to the capitol and down the switchbacks then up. Downhill is harder on my joints though, so we'll see how that goes. I'm a novice runner and like the short loop around the lake instead of the full Capitol Lake Loop route.
Feb. 15, 2006 - Final appeal
On February 15, 2006 I sent my final appeal via email to Linda Bremer. Below is that email.
Ben Livingston
1005 Adams St SE
Olympia, WA 98506
206-729-1472
ben (at) inwa.net
February 15, 2006
Ms. Linda Villegas Bremer
General Administration Director
lbremer (at) ga.wa.gov
Dear Ms. Bremer,
I am writing to appeal a trespass warning I received Saturday, February 11, 2006 for Heritage Park. The warning bans me from the park for 30 days.
Though nobody at Washington State Patrol or General Administration seems certain as to the appeals process, I was told by Sgt. John Stager at WSP that Bob Bippert was the person to whom I could appeal. I was also told by Sgt. Stager that GA has never overturned a trespass warning, meaning that if there is an appeals process for these trespass warnings, it may not be a meaningful one.
I spoke with Bob Bippert, who denied my appeal after speaking to the state patrol (I believe the state patrol called him even before he and I spoke). I asked if he was the final word in this appeals process and he said he imagined I could take it up with you, the director.
I respectfully request that you rescind the trespass warning against me for Heritage Park for a number of reasons:
1. The public has consistently been permitted to use powerhouse road to get to the Capitol trail; in fact, one can not avoid using this road to access the Capitol trail.
2. General Administration has not adequately informed the public of the restricted status of powerhouse road. For instance, the General Administration map I used while lobbying at the Capitol two days prior to my ticket shows the Capitol trail outputting on powerhouse road, with no markings for a crossing to the lakeside trail, nor a lakeside trail at all. GA staff have indicated in email to me that a test of reasonableness should be applied in seeking access to and from the trail. It is not reasonable to expect people to understand that they are required, with absolutely no signage, to cross over the wonderfully paved road and cross the soggy grass to use the lakeside trail as egress. As someone who's stood at that spot many, many times I can tell you this is not what reasonable people would think or, in fact, what they do.
3. The access between Heritage Park and the Capitol trail is not compliant with the Americans With Disabilities Act. GA staff have indicated to me in email that wheelchairs are also expected to cross the soggy grass to the gravel trail instead of using the paved road. This, of course, is absurd.
4. General Administration and the Washington State Patrol operating on powerhouse road under GA's authority actually put forward a message that it is okay to use powerhouse road. My wife and I have passed by numerous state patrol officers on this road who have either waved at us in a friendly manner, or spoken to us in a friendly manner. Not once before my ticket did an officer or any of the General Administration staff we've passed on that road indicate that it was not okay to use the path. Again, it would violate due process to ticket and ban me when I had been led by the government to believe that my conduct was fully lawful.
5. Officer Woods never instructed my wife or me to leave powerhouse road. With all of the conflicting information on the public status of powerhouse road and without any request to leave powerhouse road or Heritage Park, a trespass warning for Heritage Park is an unwarranted exercise of authority.
6. The rules forbidding public access to powerhouse road are selectively applied in an arbitrary and capricious or discriminatory manner. Both my wife and I were on the road but only I was ticketed. During my experience being ticketed, and afterwards, numerous people were on the very same road in plain view of the officer. Hundreds of people use this road every day without harassment. This is further confirmation that there is no reasonable notice that using the road is a violation.
7. I wasn't in Heritage Park. Bob Bippert indicates that powerhouse road is not part of Heritage Park.
8. I received an infraction for walking on powerhouse road; banning me from Heritage Park for this same infraction constitutes a second punishment for the same alleged offense, which is not legal.
9. Banning me from a single park under your authority in which I did not step foot as punishment for disobeying a regulatory sign on a seperate property under your authority constitutes an arbitrary exercise of authority and appears to be supported by no legal authority.
10. General Administration has no legal authority to ban me from a public park in which I did not set foot.
For more information on this case, please see the following web site where I've been tracking this incident:
http://inwa.net/~ben/trespass/
I can be reached at the telephone or email addresses above if you have any questions. I am currently denied access to the one park I use more than any other -- I jog Heritage Park on average about 3-5 times a week -- so this is having a significant impact on my life. I appreciate your time and response. I am cc'ing my legislators to keep them in the loop.
Sincerely,
Ben Livingston
