WASHINGTON STATE
EXECUTIVE ETHICS BOARD
2425 Bristol Court SW– 1st
Floor Conference Room 148 – Olympia, WA
September 12, 2008
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 Judy Golberg at 9:00 a.m. In attendance were Vice Chair Neil Gorrell
and Members Evelyn Yenson, Linnaea Jablonski and Mike Connelly. Board staff in
attendance included: Executive Director Melanie
de Leon, Assistant Attorney General Mickey Newberry, Senior Assistant Attorney
General Linda Moran and Administrative Officer Ruthann Bryant.
2. Approval of Agenda
Melanie de Leon noted that a revised agenda has been added to the
additional meeting materials folder. The
changes made included the addition of an enforcement matter, review and
approval of a stipulation in EEB Case # 08-031 and an additional item for
discussion.
Motion 08-034 Moved by Member Jablonski,
seconded by Member Connelly:
The Board approves the September
12, 2008 agenda as amended.
The motion passed unanimously.
3. Approval of June 13, 2008 and July 11, 2008 Meeting Minutes
Motion 08-035 Moved by Member Connelly,
seconded by Member Jablonski:
The Board approves the June 13, 2008 minutes as presented.
The motion passed unanimously.
Motion 08-036 Moved by Member Connelly,
seconded by Vice Chair Gorrell:
The Board approves the
July 11, 2008 minutes as presented.
The motion passed unanimously.
Approval of Stipulated Facts,
Conclusion and Orders
EEB Case No. 03-014 (Linda Evans)
Melanie de Leon briefed
the Board on the proposed stipulation and order. Ms. Evans agreed that she
violated RCW 42.52.020, .070, .140, and .160, when she used state resources for
personal benefit, used her position as Regional Administrator for personal
benefit and for the benefit of others, and removed documents which may have
contained confidential information from the agency without the required
authorization. She also had a financial interest in her employees; used her
position to grant special privileges, and solicited and/or received gifts of
economic value that could reasonably be expected to influence her actions. The
parties agreed that Ms. Evans would pay a civil penalty of $5,000 with an
additional $3,200 for investigative costs.
Motion 08-037 Moved by Member Connelly,
seconded by Vice Chair Gorrell:
The Board accepts the Stipulated Facts, Conclusion and Order in
EEB Case #03-014, Linda Evans, as presented.
The motion passed
unanimously.
EEB Case No. 08-031 (Karla Short)
Melanie de Leon briefed
the Board on the proposed stipulation and order. Ms. Short agreed that she
violated RCW 42.52.160 when she used her computer to pursue personal interests.
The parties agreed that Ms. Short would pay a civil penalty of $750.
Motion 08-038 Moved by Member Jablonski,
seconded by Member Connelly:
The Board accepts the Stipulated Facts, Conclusion and Order in
EEB Case #08-031, Karla Short, as presented.
The motion passed
unanimously.
Executive Director Dismissals
No reviews were requested
by the Board.
C. Advisory Opinion Request
WA State Department of Transportation – Collective Bargaining
Participants. Melanie de Leon briefly updated the Board on a request for a
formal advisory opinion from the Department of Transportation (DOT) that was
discussed at length at the July 11th meeting. Ms.de Leon presented a draft Advisory Opinion
08-02 resulting from the discussion as requested by the Board.
Member Connelly requested that the answers be moved to the first
page below the question for ease of reading.
He added that the opinion is consistent with the discussion held in
July.
Motion 08-039 Moved by Member Connelly,
seconded by Vice Chair Gorrell:
The Board approves
Advisory Opinion 08-02, with the formatting change.
The motion passed unanimously.
D. Rule Making
Ms. de Leon reported on further research regarding WAC 292-110-010
Use of State Resources and presented draft language which clarifies that like
technology is viewed in the same manner. Ms. de Leon also discussed an updated
Use of Resources FAQ that is easy to follow and will provide further guidance
to employees on the use of resources.
If approved, staff will file a CR102 with the Code Reviser and
schedule a public hearing for the November 14th meeting.
Motion 08-040 Moved by Member Connelly,
seconded by Member Yenson:
The Board approves
proposed rule making on WAC 292-110-010 Use of state resources as amended.
The motion passed unanimously.
E. Discussion Items
1.
Ms. de Leon summarized a request by the Combined Fund Drive (CFD)
asking for clarification regarding the use of state resources to promote or
support agency participation in a commercial activity that benefits the
CFD. She provided background on
applicable statutes and prior advisory opinions dealing with CFD issues. She
also summarized testimony during House and Senate committee hearings held in
2003. The testimony expressed that the Board did not want direct commercial
solicitation of state employees, but that “generalized” solicitation was not a
concern.
The
Board agrees that emails and kiosks are direct solicitations and therefore are not
permitted. They added that the CFD can post information on their website.
2.
Ms. de Leon also discussed whether agencies have the authority to
contract with a paid speaker to allow that speaker to bring and sell items,
such as books and CDs, to the audience. She summarized how programs were
established and managed that permit the sale of items such as vending machines,
ATM machines and the Red Cross.
The
Board concluded that it is okay to contract to give a book to each participant at
the agency’s expense, but contracting with a vendor to sell products is not
permitted.
3.
Ms. de Leon briefly discussed whether an agency can provide a list
of vendors offering state employee discounts on their intranet. The Board
expressed concern with the time spent ensuring the list was up to date and included
all available discounts and ultimately decided against agencies providing this
list.
4.
Ms. de Leon summarized background on whether a faculty member
could require his/her students to purchase a textbook that s/he authored.
Historically staff has advised that if a faculty member requires
the student to purchase the faculty member’s textbook, then the faculty member
could not receive a profit or any royalties from that sale.
If the book is being used by the faculty author at the college
where the author teaches, many colleges require that the books be purchased
directly from the publisher at cost to insure that the faculty author does not
receive financial benefit. However, if
the textbook is self published by the faculty author, could the author provide
proof of the cost of printing the book, which the college could then use as the
sale price of the book to the students?
Motion 08-041 Moved by Vice Chair
Gorrell, seconded by Member Jablonski:
The Board agrees that the
faculty author/publisher could use the book but could not make a profit.
Voting for: Chair Golberg, Vice Chair Gorrell and Member
Jablonski.
Voting against: Members Yenson and Connelly.
The motion passed.
5.
Ms. de Leon reported that Department of Defense, through the
military departments, contracted with two vendors to provide motorcycle safety
education instruction to military members on military installations. The vendors then contacted the Department of
Licensing (DOL) to develop an interagency agreement to govern their
relationship with DOL allowing them to audit their courses, provide
instructional workbooks and train their instructors. If DOL found that the
course met state requirements, then DOL would waive the skills examination for
the students successfully completing the course. These agreements were not
considered contracts and there was no exchange of fees or payment of any kind
between DOL and the selected vendors.
Recently, one of the military vendors approached an employee at
DOL for possible employment. This employment would entail managing the programs
for the naval installations. Would this
employment violation RCW 42.52.080?
Motion 08-042 Moved by Member Connelly,
seconded by Vice Chair Gorrell:
The Board finds that the
post employment issue does not meet all criteria under RCW 42.52.080(1)(b) and therefore is not a violation.
The motion passed unanimously.
6.
Ms. de Leon introduced Melanie Watness from Parks, and discussed
whether or not a Parks employee living in Parks housing could display campaign
signs in their Parks housing window.
The Board directed staff to research the issue further.
F. Draft Strategic Plan
The Board members reviewed the draft Strategic Plan and requested
that an additional goal regarding enforcement be added. The Board also selected
a new mission statement.
G. Staff Reports
1. Executive Director’s Report
Melanie de Leon summarized her activity report for August,
highlighting training for a variety of state agencies and noted that she has
been working with the training manager to set up recurring ethics training for
all state agencies. She also briefly
reported on the budget, noting that due to budget constraints we are unable to
attend COGEL conference in December.
2. AAG Report
Senior Assistant Attorney General Linda Moran reported that she is
handing over training of the Office of the Attorney General to Melanie. Assistant Attorney General Mickey Newberry briefly
updated the Board on the Knudsen matter, a case previously before the Board and
Administrative Law Judge Watkins for a jurisdiction hearing.
3. Other Staff Reports
No other staff reports were given.
H. Public Comment/Board Member Comment
Chair
Golberg reported that Member Yenson’s term ends at
the end of the month and expressed her appreciation to Member Yenson.
Member
Yenson stated that it has been a pleasure to serve on the Board. She thanked
the members, staff and the ethics advisors for all of their support during her
term.
Vice Chair Gorrell also thanked Ms. Yenson and commended her on a
job well done.
I. Closed Session
At
11:55 a.m. Chair Golberg noted there were no executive session items and the
Board moved into Closed Session to deliberate on quasi-judicial matters.
At 12:15 p.m. the Board
returned to regular session and reported the following:
Motion 08-043 Moved by Member Connelly,
seconded by Vice Chair Gorrell:
The Board dismisses EEB Case #08-004, William NeSmith.
The motion passed
unanimously.
Motion 08-044 Moved by Member Connelly,
seconded by Vice Chair Gorrell:
The Board finds reasonable
cause in EEB Case #08-027, Laura Cusack.
The motion passed unanimously.
Motion 08-045 Moved by Vice Chair
Gorrell, seconded by Member Connelly:
The Board finds reasonable
cause in EEB Case 08-028 Tom Rockey.
The motion passed unanimously.
Motion 08-046 Moved by Vice Chair
Gorrell, seconded by Member Jablonski:
The Board dismisses EEB
Case #08-110, Christine Gregoire.
The motion passed unanimously.
J. Miscellaneous Matters/Adjournment
There
being no miscellaneous matters, the meeting was adjourned at 12:20 p.m.
Approved by the Board 11/14/08