The Pierce County Council unanimously approved a sweeping ethics reform package Tuesday that regulates lobbyists and limits gifts to county officials.
The ordinance, which goes into effect June 1, was a compromise between two competing versions that differed on the type of gifts that could be accepted and penalties for violating lobbyist registration and reporting requirements.
“This is a great day for Pierce County,” said Councilman Calvin Goings, a Puyallup Democrat who had favored stricter rules.
Councilman Roger Bush, a Graham Republican whose proposal was less restrictive, said the reforms would increase government transparency and keep undue influence to a minimum.
“While it’s not perfect, it is a substantial improvement,” he said.
Reforms had been in the works for a while, but they gained new currency in the wake of a News Tribune examination of the Prometa drug treatment program, which found that several public and private officials owned stock in the company behind the program while they pushed for public funding of it.
Under the new rules:
• County officials are prohibited from accepting gifts worth more than $25 – half the $50 limit placed on state officials.
• They cannot accept meals or trips from registered lobbyists.
• Professional lobbyists would be required to register with the county and publicly disclose their spending.
• Violators would be subject to a fine of up to $1,000.
• Department directors, the county executive’s chief of staff, and chief executives of agencies receiving more than $100,000 a year in public funds will have to file financial disclosure statements. (Such agencies would include the Law Enforcement Support Agency, which handles emergency dispatching, the Pierce County Alliance and the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department.) Elected officials already file a disclosure statement.
Although he didn’t address the council, County Executive John Ladenburg said in a letter to council members that the disclosure requirements failed to include all key council staffers, such as the council’s chief administrators, senior budget analyst and legal advisers.
“From the standpoint of public trust and confidence in the integrity of county government, it is essential that these positions be required to financially report,” he wrote in the letter, dated Tuesday, copies of which were set out alongside the council agendas and amendments outside the council chambers.
Councilman Shawn Bunney, a Lake Tapps Republican, said the Ethics Committee will have a number of unresolved issues to tackle, but shouldn’t let “the perfect get in the way of the good.”
He and Councilman Terry Lee, a Gig Harbor Republican, added an amendment that outlined 10 questions for the Ethics Committee to review.
For example: Is it appropriate to exempt labor unions and government employees from lobbying registration and reporting regulations? Should the county freeze campaign contributions while key legislation is being considered? Is the new ordinance sufficiently clear to laypeople?
“We need to make sure the legislation is understandable without having to have 10 attorneys at the table,” he said.
Ian Demsky: 253-597-8872
