WASHINGTON STATE

 EXECUTIVE ETHICS BOARD

2425 Bristol Court SW– 4th Floor Conference Room – Olympia, WA

November 14, 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 was Member Matthew Williams and Vice Chair Anna Dudek Ross was present via telephone. Members Samantha Simmons and Sumeer Singla were not present. 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 move the Election of Officers to the March meeting.

 

Motion 14-052 Moved by Member Williams, seconded by Vice Chair Dudek Ross:

 

The Board approves the November 14, 2014 agenda, as amended.

 

The motion passed unanimously.

 

3.     Approval of the July 11, 2014 Meeting Minutes

       

Motion 14-053 Moved by Member Williams, seconded by Vice Chair Dudek Ross:  

 

The Board approves the September 12, 2014 minutes as presented.

 

The motion passed unanimously.

 

B.    Enforcement Matters

Stipulations

EEB Case 2014-035 (Lowry)

David Killeen briefed the Board on a proposed stipulation and order in the matter of Thomas Lowry. Mr. Lowry agreed that he may have violated RCW 42.52.020 and .160 when purchased a car from a subordinate and used his state computer to browse the internet for non-work related purposes for approximately 45 minutes per day over a 2 month period.

The stipulation proposes a penalty of $2,500 with $1,500 suspended.

EEB Case No. 2014-004 (Baker)

David Killeen briefed the Board on a proposed stipulation and order in the matter of Tim Baker. Mr. Baker agreed that he may have RCW 42.52.160 when used state resources for his personal outside business as a sports official. The stipulation proposes a penalty of $3,000 with $1,250 suspended.

EEB Case No. 2014-022 (Horn)

Mr. Killeen also briefed the Board on the proposed stipulation and order in the matter of Max Horn. Mr. Horn agreed that he may have violated RCW 42.52.160 when he used state resources for his personal benefit including sending and receiving personal email, visiting shopping, vacation and entertainment new internet sites and storing movies and pictures on his state computer. The stipulation proposes a penalty of $4,000 with $2,000 suspended.

EEB Case No. 2014-023

David Killeen briefed the Board on the proposed stipulation and order in the matter of Leslie Mills.  Ms. Mills agreed that she may have violated RCW 42.52.070 and .160 by using her state vehicle to transport her spouse, a non-state employee, to and from work. The stipulation proposes a penalty of $3,000.

Executive Director Dismissals

EEB Case No. 2014-021 (Phillips), EEB Case No. 2014-039 (Boss) and 2014-051 (Holmes)

Kate Reynolds summarized three Executive Director Dismissals.

The Board deferred action on the enforcement matters until after their closed session.

 

C.    Request for opinion regarding PEBB & SmartHealth

Kate Reynolds reported on a request from Washington Wellness regarding a program they would like to implement that includes a self-assessment and tracking activities by the participants for about 5 minutes per day 2-5 times a week. She added that based on the information provided and prior Board guidance, the use of state resources for SmartHealth would fall within acceptable de minimis usage under WAC 292-110-010(2).

Motion 14-054 Moved by Chair Marsh, seconded by Member Williams: 

 

The Board approves the proposal by PEBB and SmartHealth as presented.

 

The motion passed unanimously.

 

 

D.    Discussion of procedures for initiation of complaints

Ms. Reynolds also reported on the initiation of complaint procedures.  Currently the Board initiates complaints submitted via agency and State Auditor referrals and anonymous complaints from citizens.  Due to current procedures, there is up to a two month delay between receipt of the complaint and the start of the investigation. To streamline the process, staff is proposing that the Board only initiate anonymous complaints and that the Executive Director initiate referral complaints.

Motion 14-055 Moved by Chair Marsh, seconded by Member Williams: 

 

The Board delegates initiation of agency and State Auditor referrals and initiation of anonymous complaints to the Executive Director.

 

The motion passed unanimously.

 

E.    Policy Reviews

Ruthann Bryant reported on an Ethics policy submitted by the Department of Transportation (WSDOT). Ms. Bryant noted that the policy was reviewed as part of standard agency practices and while the changes were very minor, both she and WSDOT agreed that current Board approval would be important.

 

Chair Marsh commented that the policy was very well written and other agency’s may wish to model their policy after this one.

 

Motion 14-056 Moved by Chair Marsh, seconded by Member Williams: 

 

The Board approves the Department of Transportation’s Ethics in Public Service policy as presented.

 

The motion passed unanimously.

 

Ms. Bryant also reported on the Department of Licensing’s Soliciting Contributions in the Workplace policy. Chair Marsh had expressed concern with the policy proscribing non-work hour, non-work location activities and those concerns were addressed in the amended policy.

 

Motion 14-057 Moved by Vice Chair Dudek Ross, seconded by Member Williams: 

 

The Board approves the Department of Licensing’s Soliciting Contributions in the Workplace as presented.

 

The motion passed unanimously.

 

F.    Staff Reports

1.  Executive Director’s Report

Kate Reynolds provided the Board with a budget update, highlighting capital outlays and the purchase of computer forensic hardware and software.  She also reported on meetings with individual Board members, as well as Representative Sam Hunt.

 

2.  AAG Report

No AAG reports were given.

 

3.  Other Staff Reports

 

No staff reports were given.

 

G.   Public Comment/Board Member Comment

Lynn Hendrickson, Board of Industrial Insurance Appeals, asked for an update on the rewrite of the Use of state resources rule, WAC 292-110-010. Kate Reynolds noted that there is nothing new to report on the rule at this time and discussions with the subcommittee group are ongoing.

H.    Executive/Closed Session

At 9:35 a.m. the Board moved into Executive Session, immediately followed by Closed Session to deliberate on quasi-judicial matters. 

At 11:07 a.m. the Board returned to regular session and reported the following:

 

Motion 14-058 Moved by Chair Marsh, seconded by Member Williams:

 

The Board accepts the following Stipulated Facts, Conclusions and Orders as presented:

 

·       EEB Case No. 2014-035 Thomas Lowry

·       EEB Case No. 2014-004 Tim Baker

·       EEB Case No. 2014-022 Max Horn

·       EEB Case No. 2014-023 Leslie Mills

 

The motion passed unanimously.

 

Motion 14-059 Moved by Chair Marsh, seconded by Member Williams:

 

The Board finds Reasonable Cause in EEB Case No. 2014-003 Ken Noland, EEB Case No. 2014-037 Marie Harris, EEB Case No. 2014-038 Kami Robinson and EEB Case No. 2014-056 Mary Lee Root.

 

The motion passed unanimously.

 

I.       Miscellaneous Matters/Adjournment

There being no miscellaneous matters, the meeting was adjourned at 11:10 a.m.

 

Approved by the Board 3/13/15