WASHINGTON STATE

 EXECUTIVE ETHICS BOARD

1110 Capitol Way S– 4th Floor Video Conference Room – Olympia, WA

 

June 12, 2009

Regular Meeting Minutes

 

 

A.   Preliminary Business

1.    Roll Call

The regular meeting of the Washington State Executive Ethics Board (EEB) was called to order by Chair Neil Gorrell at 9:00 a.m.  In attendance were Vice Chair Linnaea Jablonski and Members Connelly and Biegelman.  Board staff in attendance included:  Executive Director Melanie de Leon, Senior Counsel Jerry Anderson, Assistant Attorney General Mickey Newberry, Administrative Officer Ruthann Bryant, and Investigators Nancy Lewin and Sue Jones. 

 

2.    Approval of Agenda

 

Motion 09-023 Moved by Member Connelly, seconded by Vice Chair Jablonski:

 

The Board approves the June 12, 2009 agenda as presented.

 

The motion passed unanimously.

 

3.    Approval of the April 10, 2009 Meeting Minutes

        

Motion 09-024 Moved by Member Connelly, seconded by Member Biegelman:

 

The Board approves the April 10, 2009 minutes as presented.

 

The motion passed unanimously.

 

B.   Enforcement Matters

            Approval of Stipulated Facts, Conclusion and Order

            EEB Case No. 07-007 (McRae)

Nancy Lewin briefed the Board on the proposed stipulation and order. Mr. McRae agreed that he violated RCW 42.52.160, when he used state resources for personal activities. She added that the stipulation proposes a penalty of $6,500, which includes $2,000 in investigative costs.

 

            EEB Case No. 07-028 (Legaspi)

Nancy Lewin briefed the Board on the proposed stipulation and order. Mr. Legaspi agreed that he violated RCW 42.52.160, when he used state resources for personal gain. She added that the stipulation proposes a penalty of $250.

The Board deferred action until after closed session.

 

Executive Director Dismissals – EEB Case #08-125 (Cawston) and EEB Case #08-130 (Giese)

            Melanie de Leon briefly summarized two Executive Director dismissals.

           

C.   Request for Advisory Opinion

Ms. de Leon discussed a request from the Washington Department of Veterans Affairs, WDVA, asking if the spouse of a state employee could contract with an entity that is managed by that state employee. She also provided background and noted that the state employee has not been involved in the procurement and does not manage contracts for the facilities.

After discussion, the Board held that if the WDVA manager had no control over the selection of the vendor and did not monitor the performance of the vendor as to the contract’s terms and conditions, then the spouse could bid on the project and be selected to perform the contracted work.

 

D.   Policy Review

Melanie de Leon introduced Paul George and Robert Lopez from the Horse Racing Commission and summarized a draft Ethical Conduct policy. The draft policy would allow seasonal employees more latitude in post-state employment options.

Chair Gorrell requested that the words “are encouraged” be replaced with “should” in the last paragraph on page 2, to clarify that employees should contact the Executive Ethics Board for advice prior to working or volunteering during the off-season.

Motion 09-025 Moved by Member Connelly, seconded by Member Biegelman:

 

The Board approves the Washington Horse Racing Commission Ethical Conduct policy as amended.

 

The motion passed unanimously.

 

E.   Advisory Opinion Review

The Board once again discussed whether it had jurisdiction over gifts to an agency when a state employee or state official directly or indirectly benefitted from the gift.  The Board requested the staff draft several options based upon the legal analyses provided by Senior AAG Jerry Anderson for their consideration at a future Board meeting.

 

The Board also reviewed Advisory Opinion 99-03, Outside Compensation for Coaches, which advised that university coaches could not identify themselves as the coach of their university in commercials.  While in a subsequent advisory opinion (AO 00-08) the Board concluded that state titles are not a facility of their agency--so long as any use of their title is accompanied by a disclaimer that the officers/employees are speaking for themselves and not their agencies, the Board continued to hold that coaches could not use their titles when participating in a commercial for which they were paid over and above their state salary. 

 

The Board also reviewed the following advisory opinions with described outcomes:

 

·         AO 98-04 Use of Confidential Information – amend to remove superfluous language

·         AO 99-04 Spouse’s Business Interest – amend to add clarifying language

·         AO 01-04 Outside Business Relationship – retire

·         AO 03-04 Selling Textbooks– retain with slight amendments to remove superfluous language

·         AO 03-06 Non-federal Grants – retain with no amendments

 

F.    Staff Reports

1.  Executive Director’s Report

Melanie de Leon reported that Chief of Staff Mike Bigelow is retiring at the end of June and Randy Pepple will be taking over on July 1st. She also updated the Board on the budget for the upcoming biennium. She noted that the legal budget is very small and she is working on streamlining the process to continue to save agency costs.

 

2.  AAG Report

AAG Mickey Newberry provided a brief update on current cases.

Senior Counsel Jerry Anderson noted that he is currently in the process of drafting an order in the Rockey matter.

 

3.  Other Staff Reports

No other staff reports were given.

 

G.   Public Comment/Board Member Comment

Joseph Molenda with the Department of Labor and Industries, briefly commented on the advisory opinion discussion and endorsements.

 

H.   Closed Session

At 10:20 a.m. Chair Gorrell noted there were no executive session items and the Board moved into Closed Session to deliberate on quasi-judicial matters. 

      At 10:55 a.m. the Board returned to regular session and reported the following:

 

Motion 09-026 Moved by Member Connelly, seconded by Member Biegelman:

 

The Board finds Reasonable Cause in EEB Case #08-016, Mark Millbauer.

 

The motion passed unanimously.

 

Motion 09-027 Moved by Member Connelly, seconded by Vice Chair Jablonski:

 

The Board finds Reasonable Cause in EEB Case #08-103, William Larson.

 

The motion passed unanimously.

 

Motion 09-028 Moved by Member Connelly, seconded by Member Biegelman:

 

The Board accepts the Stipulated Facts, Conclusion and Order in EEB Case #07-007, Richard McRae, as presented.

 

The motion passed unanimously.

 

Motion 09-029 Moved by Member Connelly, seconded by Member Biegelman:

 

The Board modified the Stipulated Facts, Conclusion and Order in EEB Case #07-028, Juvenal Legaspi, to increase the penalty to $500.

 

The motion passed unanimously.

 

Motion 09-030 Moved by Member Connelly, seconded by Vice Chair Jablonski:

 

The Board issues an Order of Default in EEB Case #06-035, Paulette Nelson.

 

The motion passed unanimously.

 

I.   Miscellaneous Matters/Adjournment

There being no miscellaneous matters, the meeting was adjourned at 11:00 a.m.

 

Approved by the Board 7/10/09