A state commission has declined to formally investigate claims made by a Sumner city councilman that city officials broke the law by allowing comments at council meetings to help his opponent in a state legislative race.
Councilman Matt Richardson, who unsuccessfully challenged Sen. Pam Roach in last fall’s election, filed the complaint with the state Public Disclosure Commission about two months ago. He cited four meetings in August, September and October.
Lori Anderson, a spokeswoman for the agency, said Thursday that staff did a preliminary review of recordings from the meetings but determined there wasn’t evidence of a violation.
Mayor Dave Enslow, who was named in the complaint, said: “I’m not surprised we were vindicated. I think it’s the right decision.”
But Richardson stands by his claims and said he’ll take the matter to the state Attorney General’s office.
“When you have Roach volunteers referencing my campaign literature (at a Sumner council meeting) and talking about me personally as a candidate, that’s illegal,” he said.
The 44-year-old, who’s been on the council seven years, wrote in the complaint that officials allowed “defamatory and directed statements” from the public to help Roach get re-elected.
Richardson cited a state law that bars elected officials and public employees from using public facilities to campaign. He also noted a city rule that says public comments have to be directed at the whole council, not individual members.
He said Thursday that he believes Enslow wanted to hurt him because of hard feelings from the 2009 mayor race, when Richardson challenged for the seat. Enslow said that’s not true.
There’s no question the City Council meetings were tense.
During the Oct. 18 meeting, for example, a former aide to Roach referenced a misdemeanor sex crime Richardson allegedly committed as a minor. (Prosecutors say the conviction was later dismissed, and Richardson maintains his innocence.)
The former Roach aide, Chris Clifford, said his comments weren’t campaign-related but were made to refute past statements Richardson had made and to correct misinformation about himself.
Richardson objected. The council eventually allowed Clifford to continue.
The campaign between Richardson and Roach was bruising. Richardson also filed a separate complaint with the PDC alleging the Roach campaign ran “knowingly false” and “malicious” attack ads. That complaint is being investigated.
The decision not to formally investigate the Sumner complaint was disclosed in letters Tuesday to Richardson and Enslow from the PDC’s interim executive director.
The letter to Richardson, provided to The News Tribune by the city, specifically mentions the Oct. 18 meeting, noting Enslow and another councilman gave warnings about what’s allowed during public comment.
It says the council as a whole allowed Clifford to continue talking, and “it is not clear that the council believed it was authorizing Mr. Clifford to use public facilities to assist in any candidate’s campaign.”
The letter also says Enslow and the city administrator reached out to the PDC for counsel earlier in October.
Richardson said that, to him, it’s clear the law was violated.
“I’m confident it was broken. I was there. I saw it,” he said.
Enslow said he hopes to leave the matter in the past and move on.
Sara Schilling: 253-552-7058 sara.schilling@thenewstribune.com
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