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About CCIA
Our purpose is to hold
government accountable to
the public while serving the
public interest.
Our purpose is to hold
government accountable to
the public while serving the
public interest.
1, What is Concerned Citizens In Action? CCIA is a non-profit 501(c) 4 (incorporated
with the State of Washington) that was formed in January of 2007. Our primary
mission is to “hold government accountable to the public while serving the public
interest”. This means that we try to hold your government officials to the rules and
regulations regarding open public meetings, open public records, and we provide the
public with information regarding this process. For more details about what CCIA
does, see What Does CCIA Do?
2. Who belongs to CCIA? CCIA is made up of a nine-member board of directors and
one member-at-large. These are local Citizens residing in Clark County who volunteer
their time to sit on this board. CCIA is also made up of members who participate on
committees to assist the board in our primary mission (see No. 1).
3. How is CCIA funded? CCIA is funded by donation only. However, there is no fee to
become a member.
4. How often does the board of directors meet? CCIA’s board meets at least once per
month. We have an agenda and take minutes, which we keep in our board records.
These meetings are for board members only, as is the common practice of other non-
profits. However, we sometimes have members or citizens attend if they have a
specific concern and wish to present this to our board.
6. What are the board “officers”? CCIA has a President, Vice President, Secretary,
and Treasurer. Each has specific duties per the CCIA by-laws (see By-laws here).
7. How do I become a member? We have a membership application, which is posted
on our Home page, or you can request one be mailed to you. The application is similar
to other non-profit groups; it asks for your name and address and other contact
information. We ask that you obtain a sponsor (other non-profits do this as well) to
become a member, since this lends you the support you need to ask questions about
membership, what committees are available, and other information. Any member or
board member can be a sponsor. To date, we have not needed to turn down anyone
who has requested to become a member. We welcome those who are interested in
becoming a member! Click here to download a membership application.
8. What do CCIA members receive? Members receive regular email updates on CCIA
membership meetings, public documents that are available, and other local
government activities. They may participate on one of our committees, vote in the
elections for officers and board members, and can nominate and be nominated to the
board of directors.
9. Why doesn’t CCIA publish their membership roster? Most non-profit groups do not
publish their membership rosters. This is to maintain the privacy of individuals who
wish to become members. If an individual member wishes to state publicly that they
are a member, then that is their right.
10. Why doesn’t CCIA publish their board agendas and minutes? Most non-profits do
not publish their board agendas and minutes. An example is our local Chamber of
Commerce. You will not find agendas and board minutes published to their website or
mailed to members. We do, however, publish our member meetings agendas, which
can be found on our website at Public Documents.
11. When do you have membership meetings? We have membership meetings at
least twice per year, one of which is our annual membership meeting to nominate
board members. We send out an email invitation to citizens and members, advertise in
the local newspapers, and mail information to those without access to the Internet.
These meetings are open to members and the public.
12. Are you a member of the Washington Coalition for Open Government? Yes, we
are! We are supporters at the Silver Level. In fact, WCOG awarded CCIA with the
Key Award for Pursuit of Open Government in August of 2008 in Seattle. President
Martin was also asked to speak on the WCOG panel for the Washington’s Public
Records and Open Meetings Laws Forum which was held in February of 2009 at the
Camas Library. Other panelists included State Auditor Brian Sonntag, Assistant State
Attorney General Tim Ford, and State Archivist Jerry Handfield. To view WCOG’s
website, see www.washingtoncog.org.
13. Has CCIA won any other awards? Yes we have! CCIA was presented with The
First Freedom Award from Society for Professional Journalists, Oregon and SW
Washington Chapter. CCIA was honored with this award from SPJ on Saturday, May
30th at the banquet room at the Oregon Zoo. The award is given to individuals or
groups whose actions promote the protection of the First Amendment of the
Constitution of the United States (Free Speech). This honor also recognized CCIA for
their continued role in promoting Open Government.
14. How do I contact CCIA? You may use our contact page on our website to send us
an email. You may also call President Martin at (360) 835-1070 or Roger Daniels at
(360) 852-5151. These numbers are our business numbers, but you may leave a
confidential voice mail if we are not available right away. You may drop us a note at:
CCIA, P.O. Box 64, Washougal, WA, 98671. Also, many of our members attend most
public meetings in our local area, and would welcome you to ask them questions or
discuss a concern if you see them there.
Please explore our website for any other questions you may have. We
try to keep current with our activities and keep the public informed. We
welcome suggestions and ideas regarding areas of concern that may
need attention. Thank you for your interest.
