WASHINGTON STATE
EXECUTIVE ETHICS BOARD
2425 Bristol Court SW– 4th
Floor Conference Room – Olympia, WA
September 12, 2014
Regular Meeting Minutes
A. Preliminary Business
1. Roll Call
The regular meeting of the Washington State Executive Ethics Board
(Board) was called to order by Chair Lisa Marsh at 9:00 a.m. In attendance were Members Matthew Williams,
Samantha Simmons and Sumeer Singla.
Vice Chair Anna Dudek Ross was present via telephone. Board staff in attendance
included: Executive Director Kate Reynolds,
Assistant Attorney General Bruce Turcott, Assistant Attorney General Chad
Standifer, Investigator David Killeen and Administrative Officer Ruthann
Bryant.
2. Approval of Agenda
Chair Marsh amended the agenda to include a closed session
following the Brad Owen enforcement matter for deliberations.
Motion 14-042
Moved by Chair Marsh, seconded by Member Williams:
The Board approves the September
12, 2014 agenda, as amended.
The motion passed unanimously.
3. Approval of the July 11, 2014 Meeting Minutes
Motion 14-043 Moved by Member Williams,
seconded by Member Simmons:
The Board approves the July 11, 2014 minutes as presented.
The motion passed
unanimously.
B. Enforcement Matters
Stipulations
EEB Case 2012-055 (Owen)
Chad
Standifer briefed the Board on a proposed stipulation and order in the matter
of Brad Owen. Mr. Owen agreed that he may have violated RCW 42.52.020, .030,
.070 and .160 when used public resources including staff time and state time to
support Strategies For Youth, a non-profit organization
that he established in 1989 and for which he served as the Registered Agent and
the President/Chairman.
The
stipulation proposes a penalty of $15,000 with $5,000 suspended.
The
Board went into closed session at 9:07 a.m. and returned to open session at
9:18 a.m. and reported the following:
Motion 14-044 Moved by Member Singla, seconded by Member Williams:
The Board accepts the
Stipulated Facts, Conclusions and Order in EEB Case 2012-055, Brad Owen, as
presented.
The motion passed unanimously.
EEB Case No. 2013-048
(Reed)
David Killeen briefed the Board on a proposed stipulation and
order in the matter of Wilbur Reed. Mr. Reed agreed that he may have RCW 42.52.160
when he used state resources for his personal benefit by making a purchase for
a ticket for air travel over the internet and by using his state email for
personal purposes. The stipulation proposes a penalty of $500 with $250
suspended.
EEB Case No. 2013-049
(Brown)
Mr. Killeen also briefed the Board on the proposed stipulation and
order in the matter of Joseph Brown. Mr. Brown agreed that he may have violated
RCW 42.52.150 and .160, when he used state resources for his personal benefit
and accepted a gift of more than $50 from a vendor. The stipulation proposes a
penalty of $1,500 with $750 suspended.
EEB Case No. 2014-005
(Graves)
David Killeen briefed the Board on the proposed stipulation and
order in the matter of David Graves. Mr.
Graves agreed that he may have violated RCW 42.52.160 by using state internet
access for his personal benefit and allowing other employees he supervises to
use state resources for their personal benefit. The stipulation proposes a penalty
of $2,000 with $1,250 suspended.
EEB Case No. 2014-006
(Standish)
David Killeen briefed the Board on a proposed stipulation and
order in the matter of Dan Standish. Mr. Standish agreed that he may have RCW
42.52.160 when he used state resources for his personal benefit, averaging over
1,000 minutes per month browsing the internet. The stipulation proposes a
penalty of $2,000.
EEB Case No. 2014-009
(Messenger)
Mr. Killeen also briefed the Board on the proposed stipulation and
order in the matter of April Messenger. Ms. Messenger agreed that she may have
violated RCW 42.52.160, when she used a state vehicle for her personal benefit.
The stipulation proposes a penalty of $3,000 with $1,000 suspended.
EEB Case No. 2014-014
(Ross)
David Killeen briefed the Board on the proposed stipulation and
order in the matter of Peter Ross. Mr. Ross
agreed that he may have violated RCW 42.52.160 by using state resources for his
personal benefit including promoting his outside business. The stipulation
proposes a penalty of $3,000 with $1,000 suspended.
EEB Case No. 2014-015 (Georgick)
David Killeen briefed the Board on a proposed stipulation and
order in the matter of Tamara Georgick. Ms. Georgick agreed that she may have RCW 42.52.160 when she
used state resources for her personal benefit and to support a non-profit
organization. The stipulation proposes a penalty of $3,000 with $1,000 suspended.
EEB Case No. 2017-028 (Cretu)
Mr. Killeen also briefed the Board on the proposed stipulation and
order in the matter of Ovidiu Cretu.
Mr. Cretu agreed that he may have violated RCW
42.52.160, when he used state internet access for his personal benefit
including promoting his book. The stipulation proposes a penalty of $3,000 with
$1,000 suspended.
The Board deferred action on the above stipulations until after
their Closed session.
Executive Director Dismissals
EEB Case No. 2014-007 (Juvrud), EEB Case No. 2014-017 (Goetz), EEB Case 2014-018
(Blum), EEB Case No. 2014-019 (Shay), EEB Case No. 2014-048 (Inslee) and EEB
Case No. 2014-049 (Buckles)
Ruthann Bryant summarized six Executive Director Dismissals.
C. Policy Reviews
Ruthann Bryant reported on an Employee Use of Electronic
Communication Systems Policy submitted by the Department of Transportation (WSDOT).
She noted that the policy was approved by the Board at their March meeting and WSDOT
has since incorporated new language regarding the use of social media, use of
network resources and employee-owned electronic communication systems.
Motion 14-045 Moved by Member Singla, seconded by Member Williams:
The Board approves the Department
of Transportation’s Employee Use of Electronic Communication Systems as
presented.
The motion passed unanimously.
Ruthann Bryant also reported on an Ethics policy submitted by the
Department of Licensing. She noted that on page three, section 10, the policy
states that a person “who retaliates against an employee who reports an ethics
violation may receive a fine from an Ethics board of up to $5,000” however, it
has not been determined that an Ethics Board would be conducting retaliation
investigations. After discussion, the Board amended the language in section 10
to read “An individual who retaliates against an employee who reports an ethics
violation may be subject to a civil penalty of up to $5,000” as written in
statute.
Motion 14-046 Moved by Chair Marsh,
seconded by Member Williams:
The Board approves the
Department of Licensing’s Ethics policy as amended.
The motion passed unanimously.
Ms. Bryant also reported on the Department of Licensing’s
Soliciting Contributions in the Workplace policy. Chair Marsh expressed concern
with non-CFD activities only being permitted outside work areas and hours. It was also noted that section 10 of this
policy should be amended with the same language as the Ethics policy.
The Board requested that the Department of Licensing work with
staff on the requested changes and bring the policy to the November
meeting.
Motion 14-047 Moved by Member Singla, seconded by Chair Marsh:
The Board does not approve
the Department of Licensing’s Soliciting Contributions in the Workplace at this
time.
The motion passed unanimously.
D. Staff Reports
1. Executive Director’s Report
Kate Reynolds summarized her background with the Office of the
Attorney General and the Office of the Insurance Commissioner. She commended
David and Ruthann for their hard work over the last four months and added that
she is very excited to be working with the Board.
2. AAG Report
Bruce Turcott provided training to the Board on the Open Public
Meetings Act.
3. Other Staff Reports
Ruthann Bryant expressed her gratitude to Lisa and David for always
being available and supportive throughout the last few months and she welcomed
Kate to the team. She reported that although this was technically Member
Williams’ last meeting, he could remain on the Board until a new member is
appointed. She thanked him for his service on the Board and presented him with
letters of appreciation from Governor Inslee and Attorney General Bob Ferguson.
E. Public Comment/Board Member Comment
No
public or Board member comments were given.
F. Executive/Closed Session
At
10:00 a.m. the Board moved into Executive Session, immediately followed by Closed
Session to deliberate on quasi-judicial matters.
At 10:39 a.m. the Board returned to regular session and reported
the following:
Motion 14-048 Moved by Member Singla, seconded by Chair Marsh:
The Board accepts the following
Stipulated Facts, Conclusions and Orders as presented:
·
EEB Case No. 2013-048
Wilbur Reed
·
EEB Case No. 2013-049
Joseph Brown
·
EEB Case No. 2014-005
David Graves
·
EEB Case No. 2014-006 Dan
Standish
·
EEB Case No. 2014-009
April Messenger
·
EEB Case No. 2014-014
Peter Ross
·
EEB Case No. 2014-015
Tamara Georgick
·
EEB Case No. 2014-028 Ovidiu Cretu
The motion passed unanimously.
Motion 14-049 Moved by Chair Marsh,
seconded by Member Singla:
The Board finds Reasonable
Cause in EEB Case No. 2014-022 Max Horn and EEB Case No. 2014-035 Thomas Lowry.
The motion passed unanimously.
Motion 14-050 Moved by Chair Marsh,
seconded by Member Williams:
The Board finds Reasonable
Cause in EEB Case No. 2014-023 Leslie Mills.
Voting For: Chair Marsh, Vice Chair Dudek-Ross, and
Members Williams and Simmons.
Not Voting: Member Singla.
The motion passed.
Motion 14-051 Moved by Chair Marsh,
seconded by Member Williams:
The Board finds Reasonable
Cause in EEB Case No. 2014-047 Chris Voigt and updates the Board Determination
to incorporate new email evidence.
The motion passed unanimously.
G. Miscellaneous Matters/Adjournment
There
being no miscellaneous matters, the meeting was adjourned at 10:45 a.m.
Approved by the Board 9/12/14