WASHINGTON STATE
EXECUTIVE ETHICS BOARD
2425 Bristol Court SW– 1st
Floor Conference Room 148 – Olympia, WA
March 13, 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, Members Golberg, 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 09-012 Moved by Member Golberg,
seconded by Vice Chair Jablonski:
The Board approves the March
13, 2009 agenda as presented.
The motion passed unanimously.
3. Approval of the February 13, 2009 Meeting Minutes
Motion 09-013 Moved by Vice Chair
Jablonski, seconded by Member Biegelman:
The Board approves the February 13, 2009 minutes as presented.
The motion passed unanimously.
B. Rule Making – Draft amendments to WAC 292-110-010 Use of state resources
The
Board discussed the proposed draft language to amend WAC 292-110-010 Use of
state resources.
Gladys Burbank, Washington Federation of State Employees,
applauded the final version of the rule and commended the Board for listening
to constituent concerns.
Ms.
de Leon noted that if approved, the language will be provided to the Code
Reviser, and a public hearing will be scheduled.
Motion 09-014 Moved by Member Connelly,
seconded by Member Biegelman:
The Board approves
language for WAC 292-110-010 Use of state resources as amended.
The motion passed unanimously.
C. Enforcement Matters
Executive Director Dismissal – EEB
Case #08-138 (Keller)
Melanie de Leon briefly summarized an
Executive Director dismissal.
D. Policy Review
Ms.
de Leon provided a draft policy submitted by Washington State Parks and
Recreation Commission regarding Park Housing and introduced Melanie Watness.
Ms. Watness explained that the policy implements legislation regarding private
businesses in Parks housing.
The
Board requested changing the last sentence of paragraph one on page four to
read “Additional space will not be assigned or granted to accommodate approved
private business activity.”
Motion 09-015 Moved by Member Connelly,
seconded by Vice Chair Jablonski:
The Board approves Washington
State Parks and Recreation Commission Park Housing policy as amended.
The motion passed unanimously.
E. Legislation
Melanie
de Leon reported on Legislation that may have an impact on the Ethics in Public
Service Act and provided an update on bills that have moved out of their house
of origin.
F. Advisory Opinion Review
Nancy
Lewin provided a list of Advisory Opinion (AO) topics by category and discussed
AO 96-1; 00-05; and 01-07 which address what agencies can do with funds
received from non-state entities. Ms. Lewin reported that the Ethics in Public
Service Act, RCW 42.52, applies to individual state officers and employees, not
to agencies. As a result, the Board has held the opinion that gifts given to
the state or a state agency are not subject to the gift limitations found in
RCW 42.52.140. However, a conflict has been created between the Advisory Opinions
that staff is asking the Board to clarify.
Following
discussion, the Board requested a legal analysis on the definition of
jurisdiction for presentation at the April 10th meeting.
G. Staff Reports
1. Executive Director’s Report
Melanie de Leon reported that staff will be moving to the Capitol
Court building in downtown Olympia in May.
She updated the Board on the development of an interactive Ethics
training program noting that the launch date is currently set for June 29th.
She reported that more than $10,000 in outstanding penalties has been collected
to date.
She also provided the Board with Members’ Conduct Policies and
Procedures for review. The Board reviewed the policies and no amendments were
requested.
2. AAG Report
AAG Mickey Newberry provided a brief update on current cases.
3. Other Staff Reports
Nancy Lewin recognized her co-worker for receiving an Excellence
Award for her performance over the past evaluation period.
H. Public Comment/Board Member Comment
Melanie
Watness thanked Melanie de Leon for traveling to Fort Warden on three occasions
to train Parks and Recreation Commission staff.
I. 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 10:50 a.m. the Board
returned to regular session and reported the following:
Motion 09-016 Moved by Member Connelly,
seconded by Member Biegelman:
The Board finds Reasonable Cause in EEB Case #06-049, Michele
Johnson.
The motion passed
unanimously.
I. Miscellaneous Matters/Adjournment
There
being no miscellaneous matters, the meeting was adjourned at 10:53 a.m.
Approved by the Board 4/10/09