Governor Has Paid $65,000 Of Settlement State Disclosure Form Outlines Finances Of Lowry And His Wife

Gov. Mike Lowry and his wife have dipped into personal savings to pay the first installment of a settlement with a former deputy press aide who had accused him of sexual harassment.

Lowry said he had sold U.S. Savings Bonds and Treasury bills to pay $65,000 on the $97,500 he agreed to pay Susanne Albright. He said that payment was made July 14, the day the settlement was announced.

Under terms of the settlement, the payment “shall not in any way be construed as an admission or an acknowledgment by the settling parties that any of them has acted wrongfully or improperly with respect to the other.” Albright agreed not to sue.

Lowry and his wife, Mary, emphasized they would pay the settlement with their own money.

“We wanted to do this because we did not want the taxpayers to pay,” the governor said. He also said the money would not come out of campaign funds.

In an interview with The Olympian newspaper on Monday, the governor said he’d reached no decision on how to pay the other two installments, $7,500 due Feb. 1, 1996, and $25,000 due Feb. 1, 1997.

“We’ll look at that at that time,” Lowry said.

The day the settlement was announced, Lowry said, “We’re not IBM. We’re not Microsoft either. It wasn’t like we had a lot of this cash lying around.

“It’ll be hamburgers rather than steak; that’s OK,” he said.

The state financial disclosure statement Lowry last filed with the state Public Disclosure Commission showed Lowry and his wife had a net worth of more than $314,000, no creditors, and had individual retirement accounts and other savings accounts.

State law does not require state employees who file disclosure forms to give specific details of their finances. Filers instead must give a range of the worth of everything from real estate to stocks.

Lowry’s disclosure forms show the following:

Ownership of two rental properties, one in Renton and one on Mercer Island, and their own residence in Renton, which are valued at a minimum of $90,000.

Annual income from the rental properties of $12,000 to $30,000 and income from two real estate contracts worth between $4,000 and $20,000.

His annual salary as governor of $121,000, $30,000 of which he returns to the state.

$40,000 to $80,000 in savings, money market accounts and certificates of deposit.

Individual retirement accounts, bonds and other accounts valued at a minimum of $138,000.

Between $20,000 and $50,000 in the Federal Thrift Investment Board, in what amounts to a 401K plan.

A state retirement savings account valued at $10,000 to $20,000.