EVERETT — The Washington State Public Disclosure Commission dismissed a complaint with a warning to Edmonds city officials over the alleged use of public funds to advocate for an upcoming ballot measure.
The commission’s decision comes less than a week before voting ends for Proposition 1. By April 22, voters will have decided whether the city will annex into South County Fire for fire and emergency medical services.
On Feb. 24, Edmonds resident Theresa Campa Hutchison filed a complaint against the city after learning it hired a public affairs firm to help with communications for the upcoming vote. Hutchison is a member of the city-appointed committee to draft the ballot measure’s “con” statement for the voter pamphlet. She is also a member of Edmonds Can Do Better, a community-organized political action committee against the ballot measure.
In August 2024, the city signed a $64,000 contract with Liz Loomis Public Affairs to “provide strategic communication consulting services related to the potential South County Fire annexation.” The firm works with taxpayer funded organizations throughout the state to “communicate more effectively to secure needed revenue for vital public services.” according to its website.
Under state law, elected officials cannot use public funds or city facilities — including emails, stationery and staff hours — to promote a ballot proposition.
In March, The Daily Herald reviewed hundreds of emails between Liz Loomis employees and city officials from September 2024 through February. Some of the emails suggested omitting certain information and using specific wording to dissuade the ballot measure’s opponents.
“It appears that the emails and texts sent and received by officials at their government email addresses and phones regarding the supportive wording being used in public facing communications was in violation of RCW 42.17A.555,” the Public Disclosure Commission’s warning letter read, “as they were in support of the ballot measure and were communicating on how to best persuade voters to vote in support of the ballot measure regarding the RFA Annexation.”
In his response to Hutchison’s complaint, Mayor Mike Rosen wrote that city funds had only been used to provide fair and objective information about Proposition 1.
“Instead of taking issue with the City’s actual communications to the electorate (the product of the public funds), the overall tenor of the complaint appears to derive from contract documents and communications to/from Ms. Loomis that were not intended as public-fronting educational materials,” Rosen wrote. “As such, the PDC guidelines don’t apply to these communications. Accordingly, one need not parse the substance of these communications in the same way that one would with communications to the public that are paid for with public funds.”
Currently, residents pay $6.5 million to the city for fire services. If annexed, taxpayers would pay the fire authority directly. The City Council has stated it intends to keep charging residents the $6.5 million and place that money in its general fund.
On March 27, Hutchison filed a supplemental complaint alleging a calculator the city posted on its website was misleading and didn’t show residents the entire tax impact of annexation. The calculator omitted taxes to the city, including the former fire and emergency medical services costs the city will retain if annexation passes. The commission’s warning did not mention the calculator.
“The PDC should not require the City to educate voters about property taxes that are not part of the ballot measure,” Rosen wrote in response to the supplemental complaint. “From an educational perspective, what matters is the difference in tax-funded costs with and without annexation.”
The commission found that any violation that may have occurred was minor and has been cured. According to state administrative code, the commission executive director may dismiss a complaint even if a violation has occurred, as long as the complaint shows “substantial compliance” with the law or that “formal enforcement action is not warranted.” If the city violates guidelines in the future, the commission will take the written warning into account, the letter read.
The city is pleased the commission dismissed the complaint, city spokesperson Kelsey Foster wrote in an email to the Herald.
“While the PDC’s ‘substantial compliance’ finding is a good thing, we think we can do even better than that moving forward and will strive to do so,” Foster wrote.
In a statement to the Herald on Friday, Hutchison wrote that Edmonds Can Do Better appreciates the commission’s thorough review and warning to city officials.
“Our community deserves government officials who adhere strictly to laws designed to maintain fairness and neutrality in public communications, especially concerning ballot measures that impact our city’s future,” Hutchison said.
Jenna Peterson: 425-339-3486; jenna.peterson@heraldnet.com; X: @jennarpetersonn.
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