Ex-official files late with PDC

Ousted Sumner School District Superintendent Gil Mendoza said Friday that he thought he was merely exercising his First Amendment rights when he spent nearly $8,000 to send a campaign flier to district voters in support of three school board candidates.

But school board President Sherm Voiles said Mendoza failed to comply with state laws that govern election spending. He filed a complaint Oct. 24 with the state Public Disclosure Commission.

Voiles’ complaint says Mendoza did not initially report the expenditures. It also says the flier did not clearly indicate that its contents were not authorized by a candidate, nor did it clearly state who paid for the flier, as required by law.

Voiles, who is not up for re-election Tuesday, joined other school board members in delivering a critical job evaluation of Mendoza last spring. In June they signed a separation agreement with the superintendent.

Mendoza said Friday that he didn’t know a PDC filing was required for his election mailing. He said once the PDC notified him about the complaint, he filed the appropriate form, which identifies him as the sole person behind Citizens Advocating a Responsible Education System (CARES), the entity listed on the flier. The PDC received the form Wednesday.

Voiles was dubious. He said that “based on my own experience and knowledge about the level of involvement superintendents have in elections, I don’t accept that a former superintendent would not be aware of the fundamental requirements of the PDC.”

He said he contacted the PDC after hearing from citizens who thought the flier came from a group with a similar name that campaigns for school bonds and levies.

Voiles’ complaint says that the CARES flier was sent under a bulk mail permit that belongs to a business operated by Mendoza’s niece.

The flier lists the candidates’ names and identifies which candidate has children currently in Sumner schools. Mendoza, whose daughter is a senior at Sumner High School, said Friday that he supports those candidates because “based on my experience and observation over four years as superintendent, they are more connected, better grounded, ask better questions and are more attached to what’s going on.”

Voiles said he thinks that’s a weak argument.

“That’s not the key component of being a good board member,” Voiles said. He said he has grandchildren in Sumner schools and is deeply involved.

The CARES flier identifies candidates Paul Bucich, Richard Hendricks and Casey Chamberlain as those with kids currently in Sumner schools. Bucich is running against incumbent Jeff DeMarre, who was part of the board that voted Mendoza out of the superintendent’s job. Hendricks is unopposed. Chamberlain is running against Ron Weigelt; neither candidate in that race is an incumbent.

Voiles said Mendoza is “upset with Jeff DeMarre, and this was the best argument he could come up with.”

Mendoza said he did not coordinate his mailing with the candidates. He said he didn’t put his name on the flier because “I wanted the message to stand on its own merit.”

Mendoza took the superintendent job in Sumner in July 2007 after 12 years as an administrator with Tacoma Public Schools. He left the Sumner district with one year left on a three-year contract, having signed a separation agreement worth an estimated $178,000.

PDC spokeswoman Lori Anderson said Friday that her agency hasn’t yet determined what will happen next.

“Our first step is always to contact the person complained about and make sure the disclosure happens,” she said. “We did that.”

Debbie Cafazzo: 253-597-8635
debbie.cafazzo@thenewstribune.com