Last year, Seattle-based activist Phil Mocek requested text messages sent by mayor Ed Murray to his staff. Unsurprisingly, the mayor’s press team responded fairly quickly - albeit in a fairly surprisingly way.

With nearly 300 requests under his belt, Phil Mocek is one of MuckRock’s most prolific users. Here, he shares how he’s used public access to show governmental duplicity, gives his advice for first-time requesters, and talks about some of his favorite requests - and what he would have done differently.