WASHINGTON STATE
EXECUTIVE ETHICS BOARD
1110 Capitol Way S– 4th
Floor Video Conference Room – Olympia, WA
July 8, 2011
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 Michael Connelly at 9:00 a.m. In attendance were Vice Chair Williams and Members
Linnaea Jablonski and Lisa Marsh. Board staff in attendance included: Executive Director Melanie de Leon, Assistant
Attorney General Bruce Turcott and Administrative Officer Ruthann Bryant. Senior Assistant Attorney General Linda
Dalton joined the meeting for the Executive Session.
2. Approval of Agenda
Melanie de Leon noted that the agenda had been revised to add two
Executive Director Dismissals and requested that an Executive Session be added
prior to the Closed Session.
Motion 11-063 Moved by Member Jablonski,
seconded by Member Marsh:
The Board approves the July
8, 2011 agenda as amended.
The motion passed unanimously.
3. Approval of the May 13, 2011 Meeting Minutes
Motion 11-064 Moved by Member Jablonski,
seconded by Member Marsh:
The Board approves the May 13, 2011 minutes as presented.
The motion passed
unanimously.
B. Enforcement Matters
Executive Director
Dismissals
EEB Case 2010-016 (Windrope) and EEB Case 2010-084 (Howard)
Melanie
de Leon briefly summarized two Executive Director dismissals.
C. Policy Review
Melanie
de Leon noted that staff has been working on a policy review project to ensure
that agencies are aware of the safe harbor provision and that their approved
policies are up-to-date. She briefly summarized policies submitted by the
Department of Health, Department of Financial Institutions, Department of
Social and Health Services and General Administration.
Ruthann
Bryant noted an address correction in the Department of Health’s Ethics Policy
on page 4. Member Marsh noted a minor change on page 3 of the Department of
Financial Institution’s Using Electronic Communication Systems policy,
replacing “i.e.” with “e.g.” if the intent is to show examples. She also noted that General Administration’s
Ethical Conduct Policy has duplicate links at the top of page 10. Ms. Bryant will contact the agencies and have
the changes made as requested.
Motion 11-065 Moved by Member Marsh, seconded
by Vice Chair Williams:
The Board approves the following:
·
Department of Health
Ethics Policy as amended.
·
Department of Financial
Institution’s Using Electronic Communication Systems policy as amended.
·
Department of Social and
Health Services’ Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees policy, Use of
Electronic Messaging Systems and the Internet policy, Employment of Relatives
or Household Members policy, Employees Holding Outside Employment policy,
Employee Relationships with Clients, Vendors and Outside Organizations policy,
Employee Participation in Political Activities policy, Membership in
Professional Organizations and Societies policy and Teleworking
policy as presented.
·
General Administration’s
Ethical Conduct policy as amended.
The motion passed unanimously.
D. Strategic Plan
Ms.
de Leon discussed provisos in section 12 of the current budget and noted that the
requirements will be added to the new Strategic Plan. She reported on the
progress of each goal in the current Strategic Plan.
Chair
Connelly suggested adding an action item to have agencies report on whether or
not raising public visibility has made a marked difference in awareness of
ethics in their agency.
Ms.
de Leon will update the Strategic Plan for the September meeting and the Board
will review progress on a quarterly basis.
E. Board Policy Review
The
Board reviewed their policies for any updates and changes.
F. Staff Reports
1. Executive Director’s Report
Melanie de Leon reported that Investigator Sue Jones retired and a
new investigator search will begin in the next few weeks. She added that we hope to have someone on
board in September. She also reported that
the Attorney General is looking for a replacement for Mr. Biegelman.
2. AAG Report
AAG Bruce Turcott briefly discussed a public records case heard in
Thurston County.
3. Other Staff Reports
No staff reports were given.
G. Public Comment/Board Member Comment
Lynn
Hendrickson, Board for Industrial Insurance Appeals, provided some suggestions
and contacts for creating and conducting another ethics survey in the future.
H. Executive/Closed Session
At
9:50 a.m. the Board moved into Executive Session to discuss potential
litigation, immediately followed by Closed Session to deliberate on
quasi-judicial matters.
At 10:45 a.m. the Board returned to regular session and reported
the following:
Motion 11-066 Moved by Member Marsh,
seconded by Member Jablonski:
The Board finds Reasonable
Cause in EEB Case #2010-072, Douglas Nord.
The motion passed unanimously.
Motion 11-067 Moved by Member Marsh,
seconded by Vice Chair Williams:
The Board finds no
Reasonable Cause in EEB Case #2011-003 Stephen Van Vleet.
The motion passed unanimously.
Motion 11-068 Moved by Member Marsh,
seconded by Member Jablonski:
The Board dismisses EEB
Case #2011-010, Christine Gregoire, Jay Manning, Suzan DelBene
and Ted Sturdevant.
The motion passed unanimously.
Motion 11-069 Moved by Member Marsh,
seconded by Vice Chair Williams:
The Board finds no
Reasonable Cause in EEB Case #2011-011, Jennifer Quan.
The motion passed unanimously.
Motion 11-070 Moved by Member Marsh,
seconded by Member Jablonski:
The Board dismisses EEB
Case #2011-016, Patricia Petersen.
The motion passed unanimously.
Motion 11-071 Moved by Member Marsh,
seconded by Vice Chair Williams:
The Board rejected the
Department of Corrections investigative report in EEB Case #2011-015, Belinda
Stewart, and directed staff to complete the investigation.
The motion passed unanimously.
I. Miscellaneous Matters/Adjournment
There
being no miscellaneous matters, the meeting was adjourned at 10:50 a.m.
Approved by the Board 9/9/11