Washington’s Public Disclosure Commission (PDC) staff issued a “formal written warning” to Olympia and Tumwater last week regarding complaints made about the mailer the cities sent to voters about the Regional Fire Authority (RFA) proposition but declined to take further action.
On April 12 and 13, three local residents, Walt Jorgensen, Bob Shirley and Arthur West, filed formal complaints about the mailer, alleging that it was written to persuade voters to approve the cities’ proposition to merge their fire departments.
In its response, dated June 21, 2023 in a letter to the complainants, PDC staff said it found that the content of the cities’ joint RFA mailer “was largely an objective and fair presentation of the facts,” but “note[d] there were several phrases that were included in the ‘factsheet.’”
“PDC staff found no evidence of further violations that would require conducting a more formal investigation into the complaint or pursuing any enforcement action in this instance,” the response said. Asked about the word “further,” a spokesperson for the PDC said, “I can’t really comment on that.”
The PDC’s response offered two suggestions for improving the mailer, suggesting that the cities follow claims of improved services with a description of how these things would happen. The PDC’s document quotes the cities’ mailer, which stated that “the RFA ‘will preserve and enhance service levels’ but did not provide additional information about how that would happen; and that ‘firefighters are affected by PTSD injuries’ and added the RFA ‘would support expanded mental health resources for firefighters’ but did not indicate how that would improve the current mental health services being provided to firefighters and EMT’s.”
The PDC’s mission includes ensuring “compliance with and equitable enforcement of Washington’s disclosure and campaign finance laws,” according to its website.
The cities spent some $23,102.85 to send the mailer in question in the first week of April, in advance of the April 25 special election in which more than 63 percent of voters in Olympia and Tumwater turned down the proposition.
“We have great respect for the work and mission of the Public Disclosure Commission,” the cities’ joint statement read. “We are pleased the PDC dismissed the complaints against the City of Olympia about the RFA mailer, and we believe that, like the press, the PDC serves a vital role in free and fair elections.”
“If there wasn’t a problem there would be no need to issue a warning,” West told The JOLT. “If everything about the cities’ actions were proper and above board there would have been no need for a warning. The PDC is not politically brave enough to call a spade a spade. It’s gotten to the point where all a successful complainant can hope for is that the PDC administers the offender the strongest bootlicking they have ever received. This was a lukewarm tongue lashing, a mediocre admonishment.”
West also lamented the Legislatures’ action that eliminated the citizen enforcement procedures of the Fair Campaign Practices Act a few years ago. He said that since then, “the PDC’s enforcement actions have been less than robust. It’s no longer an enforcement agency, it’s a compliance agency. Rather than penalize offenders, they attempt to bring them to compliance with warm admonitions.”
Bob Shirley issued a statement that read, in part, “The PDC letter is an example of using bureaucratic obfuscation and simply ignoring facts in aid of a tortured semi-analysis to result in letting the city employees off the hook for using taxpayer funds to produce a mailer that is not ‘neutral or benign.’”
Olympia resident Russ Lehman served on the Public Disclosure Commission from 2019-21. Speaking about the PDC staff’s decision, he told The JOLT, “It surely is pretty damn close to nothing. They avoided dealing with the issue. It unfortunately is a very kind of bureaucratic political response, in that it doesn’t actually deal with the fundamental issues while appearing to be a response.”
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AugieH
The proposition was rejected by the voters anyway. So, Olympia and Tumwater, neener, neener, neener!
Thursday, June 29, 2023 Report this
BobJacobs
This illustrates a society-wide sickness -- no accountability. And as recent events have shown us, it goes right up to the U.S. Supreme Court. This does not bode well for the future of our country.
Bob Jacobs
Friday, June 30, 2023 Report this
PhyllisBooth
Both the cities of Tumwater and Olympia should have refrained from spending monies on promotional materials before a public vote. We citizens have our own brains.
Thanks to those who filed formal complaints and I am ashamed of the Public Disclosure response also. Too many government agencies are afraid of losing funding to have real accountability.
Phyllis Booth Olympia
Friday, June 30, 2023 Report this
KimDobson
Thanks Russ ,Excellent letter pointing to the conflicts interest exhibited by the PDC Staff , who failed to provide penalties for the obvious violation committed by
Olympias legal team in creating the RFA initiative . It is the PDC's duty to protect the public from misleading campaign advertisements . Olympia s council appears to be corporately captured by The Chamber of Commerce ,Master Builders and other special interests moving towards lucrative profit making schemes at the expense the average taxpayer , yours , Kim Dobson
Friday, July 7, 2023 Report this