Lora Caine knows why citizens care about access to government records.

The self-taught activist, who lives on the suburban-rural divide of fast-growing Clark County, joined her neighbors in battling a proposed amphitheater that could lure 18,000 people to concerts, choking narrow roads and shattering tranquil evenings.

"If you have more information, you'll be able to ask the right questions, know what you're looking for, without acting the fool," Caine said.

There are many other examples:

Consider Leah Nathan, a student intern with Seattle-based public advocacy group WashPIRG, who is researching whether and how the state Department of Ecology cracks down on polluters who violate environmental rules. After uncovering discrepancies between incidents reported, fines levied and follow-up response, Nathan noted, "It seems like more things come up the further I dig into this stuff."

Or sense the outrage of Mercer Island parents after a popular school superintendent was abruptly banished in a hush-hush deal with school district leaders - leaving with $194,000 in severance pay and a stack of unanswered questions.

"People were just freaking out. (There were) hundreds attending meetings," recalled journalist Nora Doyle, who covers schools for the Mercer Island Reporter, which triumphed in a court fight to uncover the details.

"What people were most angry about is they weren't given an explanation," said Doyle.

Or talk to Larry Patella, who fears Vancouver officials will wrongfully leave taxpayers with millions of dollars of bond debt if a publicly funded sports and convention center is built.

"I guess you could say I was an aroused citizen finding myself involved in this," said Patella, who helped collect 5,000 petition signatures toward his cause.

City staff quickly met requests for copies of integral documents, he said. "I think it's great. It really opens the door wide for you."

It's a simple, if vital, concept in America and in Washington state: Government belongs to the people and shouldn't be hiding secrets from those it serves.

Yet, healthy functioning of the body politic requires regular flexing of the public access muscle.

"It's extremely important because it allows citizens to identify waste in government and keep government officials accountable," said Marsha Richards, spokeswoman for the conservative-minded Evergreen Freedom Foundation.

Armed with public documents, the Evergreen Freedom Foundation has waged a winning campaign against stiff-arm tactics of Washington's largest teachers union, which has illegally spent members' dues on political lobbying and been heavily fined as a result.

Besides taking on the Washington Education Association, her group has questioned use of state money won from a huge court settlement with the tobacco industry.

As for public records, foundation President Bob Williams cites the proclamation that Attorney General Christine Gregoire, key architect of the tobacco deal, posted on her agency's Web site: "Citizens can control their government only if they can remain informed about the decisions their government officials are making."

When the Washington Legislature set landmark "sunshine" public records and open meetings laws three decades ago, it declared, "The people, in delegating authority, do not give their public servants the right to decide what is good for the people to know and what is not good for them to know."

Right on, said Robert Pregulman, executive director of WashPIRG, a watchdog group with a liberal bent shaped by the passions of founder and ongoing muse Ralph Nader.

"Those public records are our only connection to what our public officials are doing. It's the only public record we have," said Pregulman, new to the Evergreen State after similar Public Interest Research Group work in California and Georgia.

"You can't have the fox guard the henhouse. When you restrict public access to the information, it just basically lets the public officials do whatever they want. It's critical," he said.

In examples listed here, officials' responses to records requests earned mostly high marks. Wary citizens were pleased to find accommodating staff who shared advice on digging deeper or helped to decipher baffling documents.

"I've got a lot of complaints about the local city government, but that's not one of them," said Patella, the special events center skeptic.

"You go down there willing to listen and willing to be friendly," said Caine, now quite at ease with her activist role.

Like peeling an onion's layers, amphitheater foes have gained precious insight into growth management, land use planning and transportation laws by poring through thick reports.