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