OLYMPIA — Several Snohomish County elected officials will pay a small price for failing to publicly report their financial holdings on time.
Mukilteo City Councilman Richard Emery must shell out $250 for not filing a required disclosure statement with the Public Disclosure Commission by the April 15 deadline.
Those statements, known as F-1s, cover personal financial information such as property holdings and investment earnings. Candidates must turn them in at the start of a campaign. Elected officials not running for office, like Emery, must file them annually. Their content allows the public to assess whether elected officials may have conflicts of interest.
Commissioners, at a meeting Thursday, imposed a $500 penalty on Emery with $250 suspended on the condition of his turning in the paperwork, and payment once the panel’s formal order is issued.
The penalty is higher than most other late filers because it isn’t Emery’s first offense for tardiness. He’s been fined for late filings in 2010, 2011, 2013 and 2018, according to PDC records.
“I do expect to reply very shortly,” Emery said Friday. “I do regret not responding on time.”
He is one of about a dozen office-holders in Snohomish County penalized by the commission Thursday.
County Executive Dave Somers, County Councilman Jared Mead and Stanwood Mayor Elizabeth Callaghan each got tagged with a $100 fine. All three paid earlier this month after signing statements acknowledging they had filed late.
County Councilwoman Stephanie Wright and Everett City Councilman Jeffrey Moore, who is retiring from office when his term ends in December, each received $250 penalties, with $150 suspended if they file the required financial reports and pay $100 fines.
A handful of school board members and fire commissioners, and one area hospital commissioner, also got dinged.
Meanwhile, Snohomish Mayor John Kartak and Councilman Lawrence Countryman appeared on the commission’s list for action Thursday. But a PDC official said that was a mistake as the two resolved their situation administratively and did not get fined.
Jerry Cornfield: jcornfield@heraldnet.com; @dospueblos
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