WASHINGTON STATE

 EXECUTIVE ETHICS BOARD

2425 Bristol Court SW– 1st Floor Conference Room 148 – Olympia, WA

 

May 9, 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 and Mike Connelly. Member Linnaea Jablonski was excused. Board staff in attendance included:  Executive Director Melanie de Leon, Senior Assistant Attorney General Linda Dalton, Senior Counsel Jerry Anderson, Administrative Officer Ruthann Bryant and Investigators Nancy Lewin and Sue Jones. 

 

2.    Approval of Agenda

 

Motion 08-020 Moved by Member Connelly, seconded by Member Gorrell:

 

The Board approves the May 9, 2008 agenda as presented.

 

The motion passed unanimously.

 

3.    Approval of April 11, 2008 Meeting Minutes

Member Connelly requested that instead of the Board “reported the following” that the minutes reflect that the Board “took the following action” when announcing action taken following executive/closed session.

        

Motion 08-021 Moved by Member Connelly, seconded by Member Yenson:

 

The Board approves the April 11, 2008 minutes as amended.

 

The motion passed unanimously.

 

B.   Advisory Opinion

Melanie de Leon introduced Brian Jenson and briefly discussed Mr. Jenson’s request for reconsideration of Advisory Opinion 08-01 Authorizing Wellness Organizations to Sell Products. She noted that under WAC 292-110-050(5) only the person requesting an advisory opinion may request reconsideration, however the Board could choose to consider the request if they so choose.

Member Connelly commented that since he is new to the board, he would like to see the opinion and the materials the board relied upon to make the decision prior to making a determination.

Ms. de Leon will gather the information and bring it for discussion at the June meeting.

 

C.  Staff Reports

1.  Executive Director’s Report

Melanie de Leon summarized her activity report for April, highlighting a weeklong training to different agencies in Eastern Washington. She reported that she has developed training “minutes” for supervisors to use during monthly staff meetings. Ms. de Leon also briefly discussed the Office of the Attorney’s Government Accountability Program (AGMAP) statistics, noting that the number of days to complete an investigation have gone from 512 days in FY 2004 to 268 days thus far in FY 2008. 

 

Ms. de Leon also discussed a supplemental budget request for interactive training and travel costs to conduct statewide training. She added that she is working on changing our .5 Office Assistant position to a trainer position.

 

2.  AAG Report

Senior Assistant Attorney General Linda Dalton noted that AAG Ted Miller has left the Office of the Attorney General and AAG Mickey Newberry will be replacing him as staff counsel. She also provided an update on Teresa Knudsen’s appeal to the Court of Appeals Division III, regarding the Board’s finding that she used state resources to lobby the Legislature, noting that a brief is expected in June.

 

3.  Other Staff Reports

No other staff reports were given.

 

F.  Public Comment/Board Member Comments

      No public or Board member comments were provided.

 

G.  Executive or Closed Session

At 10:05 a.m. the Board moved into Executive/Closed Session to discuss potential litigation, deliberate and to receive and evaluate complaints against state employees and officers. 

      At 10:30 a.m. the Board returned to regular session and reported the following:

      

Motion 08-022 Moved by Member Connelly, seconded by Member Yenson:

 

The Board denies the Request for Review of Executive Director Dismissal in EEB Case #07-015, Stuart Clark, EEB Case #07-016, Grant Pfeifer and EEB Case #07-017, Greg Flibbert.

 

The motion passed unanimously.

 

 

Motion 08-022 Moved by Member Connelly, seconded by Vice Chair Gorrell:

 

The Board affirms the Order of Dismissal as presented in the following cases:

1.    EEB Case No. 06-002 (John Dunn)

2.    EEB Case No. 06-005 (Phil Anderson)

3.    EEB Case No. 08-015 (Robert Van Schoorl)

4.    EEB Case No. 08-109 (Teresa Bergeson)

5.    EEB Case No. 08-111 (Martinique Combs)

6.    EEB Case No. 08-112 (Joe Fithian)

7.    EEB Case No. 08-113 (B. Jean Floten)

8.    EEB Case No. 08-114 (Todd Juvrud)

9.    EEB Case No. 08-115 (Kyra Olsen)

10. EEB Case No. 08-116 (Laura Saunders)

11. EEB Case No. 08-117 (Lucinda Taylor)

The motion passed unanimously.

 

Motion 08-023 Moved by Vice Chair Gorrell, seconded by Member Jablonski:

 

The Board accepts the Memo of Case Closure of EEB Case #06-003, Robert Yates, as presented.

 

The motion passed unanimously.

 

H.   Miscellaneous Matters/Adjournment

There being no miscellaneous matters, the meeting was adjourned at 10:33 a.m.

 

Approved by the Board 6/13/08