WASHINGTON STATE
EXECUTIVE ETHICS BOARD
2425 Bristol Court SW–
Conference Room 148 – Olympia, WA
November 18, 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 Vice Chair Matthew Williams at 9:00 a.m. In attendance were Members Lisa Marsh, Member
Linnaea Jablonski and Member Nancy Biery. Board staff in attendance
included: Executive Director Melanie de
Leon, Assistant Attorney General Jennifer Elias, Assistant Attorney General Bruce
Turcott, Administrative Officer Ruthann Bryant, Investigator David Killeen and
Extern Phillip Downes.
2. Approval of Agenda
Melanie de Leon noted that the agenda had been revised to add the
Washington State Department of Transportation policy review.
Motion 11-081 Moved by Member Jablonski,
seconded by Member Marsh:
The Board approves the November
18, 2011 agenda as amended.
The motion passed unanimously.
3. Approval of the September 9, 2011 Meeting Minutes
Motion 11-082 Moved by Member Marsh,
seconded by Vice Chair Williams:
The Board approves the September 9, 2011 minutes as presented.
Not Voting: Member Biery
The motion passed.
B. Election of Officers
Motion 11-083 Moved by Member Jablonski,
seconded by Member Biery:
The Board elects Matthew
Williams as the Chair and Lisa Marsh as the Vice Chair of the Executive Ethics
Board effective January 1, 2012.
The motion passed unanimously.
C. Enforcement Matters
Hearing
William
Larson, EEB Case 2008-103. Alleged violations:
RCW 42.52.020, Activities incompatible with public duties, RCW
42.52.050, Confidential information and RCW 42.52.160
Use of persons, money or property for private gain.
Administrative
Law Judge Thomas Rack presided over an administrative hearing regarding Mr.
Larson. Board staff was represented by
Assistant Attorney General Jennifer Elias and Mr. Larson was represented by
Attorney Joan Mell.
The
Board heard opening arguments and testimony from two witnesses. ALJ Rack continued the hearing for completion
at the January 13, 2012 meeting.
Stipulations
EEB Case No. 2009-013 (Mottram)
Melanie de Leon briefed the Board on the proposed stipulation and
order in the matter of Susan Mottram. Ms. Mottram agreed
that she may have violated RCW 42.52 when she used her state computer to access
over 300 non-work related websites over 39 working days. The stipulation
proposes a penalty of $1,500.
EEB Case No. 2011-001
(Bowman)
Ms. de Leon briefed the Board on the proposed stipulation and
order in the matter of Anna Bowman. Ms.
Bowman agreed that she may have violated RCW 42.52 when she used her state
computer to access non-work related websites and pursue outside business
transactions. The stipulation proposes a penalty of $1,000.
EEB Case No. 2011-004
(Wilson-Maudsley)
Ms. de Leon also briefed the Board on the proposed stipulation and
order in the matter of Fran Wilson-Maudsley. Ms. Wilson-Maudsley
agreed that she may have violated RCW 42.52 when she used state resources to
further an outside business. The stipulation proposes a penalty of $250.
EEB Case No. 2011-012
(Smith)
Melanie de Leon briefed the Board on the proposed stipulation and
order in the matter of Laura Smith. Ms. Smith
agreed that she may have violated RCW 42.52 when she used state resources to
lobby. The stipulation proposes a Letter of Instruction in lieu of a monetary
fine.
The Board deferred action until after closed session.
Executive Director
Dismissals
EEB Case 2011-006 (McCarty),
EEB Case 2011-021 (Anderson) and EEB Case 2011-024 (Portolese)
Melanie
de Leon briefly summarized three Executive Director dismissals.
D. Advisory Opinion Review, Discussion and Request
AO 00-11 Use of State Facilities for
Voluntary Benefits
Melanie
de Leon briefly summarized AO 00-11 Use of State Facilities for Voluntary
Benefits, previously discussed at the May and November meetings. The issue was “Does an employee violate RCW
42.52.160(1) by permitting a business to use state facilities to provide
employees with information about insurance products that may quality for
voluntary employee payroll deductions pursuant to RCW 41.04.020?” While the opinion answered “no” there are
currently 296 organizations of all types eligible for payroll deductions. As a result, the proposed use of state
facilities has become an opportunity for sales presentations, soliciting
memberships or donations rather than education about payroll deduction and
would result in a violation of RCW 42.52.160(1) as well as RCW 42.52.070. Ms. de Leon added that the opinion should be
repealed.
Barbara
Dickson, Special Project Manager for AFLAC, was present and stated that
representatives only make contact with agencies at the request of their
employees. She requested that the Board give state employees the opportunity to
reach their benefits.
Board
Counsel Bruce Turcott commented that he reviewed Ms. de Leon’s analysis and
concurred with the recommendation to repeal the opinion.
Motion 11-084 Moved by Member Marsh,
seconded by Chair Williams:
The Board repeals Advisory
Opinion 00-11 Use of State Facilities for Voluntary Benefits.
The motion passed unanimously.
The
Board also discussed a request from the Department of Social and Health
Services to use state resources to send out an informational mailer to its
clients on behalf of a non-state, for-profit company.
Ms.
de Leon reported that a new federal program, called Lifeline, has gone into
effect that provides subsidized cell phone service to public assistance
clients. Under the program, qualified
clients receive a cell phone with 30 minutes of prepaid calling each
month. The company providing the service
would like DSHS to send a letter outlining the program to qualified clients via
a mass mailing to publicize the service.
The
Board concluded that allowing a private company to use state resources to
provide informational material to agency clientele would violate the use of
state resources and special privilege sections of the Ethics in Public Service
Act.
E. Policy Reviews
Melanie
de Leon briefly summarized policies submitted by the Department of Corrections,
the Department of Enterprise Services and the Department of Transportation.
Member
Marsh noted that on page 4, paragraph 5 of the Department of Enterprise
Services Ethical Conduct Policy, there are two references to “GA”.
Motion 11-085 Moved by Member Marsh,
seconded by Chair Williams:
The Board approves the following:
·
Department of Enterprise
Services’ Ethical Conduct Policy as amended.
·
Department of
Transportation’s Ethics in Public Service Policy as presented
·
Department of Corrections
Ethics, Use of State Resources and Outside Employment/Volunteer Activities
Policies as presented
Not Voting: Member
Jablonski
The motion passed.
F. Board Discussion
The
Board discussed whether a Respondent’s name should be removed from the
Enforcement section of the Ethics website after a certain number of years. Cases
are placed on the public website and the case number provides a link to the
stipulation or final order. This
document reveals the respondent’s name. It has been discovered that when a person
Googles the name of a respondent, this order appears
in the search. Currently once an order
has been uploaded to the website, they are never removed, even though the case
records are only retained for three years after the closure of a case. A prior respondent has requested that the
Board set a time limit for the orders to be linked on the website.
Following
discussion, the Board requested that staff research whether redacting the
respondent’s name from the order after the three year records retention requirement
will impact the Google search.
G. Staff Reports
1. Executive Director’s Report
Melanie de Leon introduced new Board Member Nancy Biery,
Investigator David Killeen and Extern Phillip Downes. She also reported on recent training she conducted
in Ellensburg and on training dates currently scheduled in 2012.
2. AAG Report
No AAG reports were given.
3. Other Staff Reports
Extern Phillip Downes briefly summarized his plan for collecting
information from agencies regarding their ethics program. The information will
be used to create agency scorecards which will be included in the report to the
Legislature as required in the 2012 budget.
He also reported that he will be conducting surveys of leadership, employees
and vendors as well as doing a comparison of Ethics programs in other states.
H. Public Comment/Board Member Comment
No
public comments or board member comments were expressed.
I. Executive/Closed Session
At
3:10 p.m. the Board moved into Executive Session to discuss potential
litigation, immediately followed by Closed Session to deliberate on
quasi-judicial matters.
At 3:55 p.m. the Board returned to regular session and reported
the following:
Motion 11-086 Moved by Member Jablonski,
seconded by Member Biery:
The Board amends the
complaint and finds Reasonable Cause in EEB Case #2011-005 Jean Wheat.
The motion passed unanimously.
Motion 11-087 Moved by Member Jablonski,
seconded by Chair Williams:
The Board finds Reasonable
Cause in EEB Case #2010-083, Queniya Lassiter.
The motion passed unanimously.
Motion 11-088 Moved by Member Jablonski,
seconded by Chair Williams:
The Board finds Reasonable
Cause in EEB Case #2011-018, Artee Young.
Voting For: Vice Chair
Williams, Members Jablonski and Biery.
Not Voting: Member Marsh.
Motion 11-089 Moved by Member Jablonski,
seconded by Chair Williams:
The Board finds no Reasonable
Cause in EEB Case #2011-019, Ted Clausing et. al.
The motion passed unanimously.
Motion 11-090 Moved by Member Jablonski,
seconded by Chair Williams:
The Board finds no
Reasonable Cause in EEB Case #2011-023 Harold Hanson.
The motion passed unanimously.
Motion 11-091 Moved by Member Jablonski,
seconded by Member Biery:
The Board approves the
Stipulated Facts, Conclusions and Orders in EEB Case #2009-013 Susan Mottram, EEB Case #2011-001 Anna Bowman, EEB Case #2011-004
Fran Wilson-Maudsley and EEB Case #2011-012 Laura
Smith, as presented.
The motion passed unanimously.
J. Miscellaneous Matters/Adjournment
There
being no miscellaneous matters, the meeting was adjourned at 3:59 p.m.
Approved by the Board 1/13/12