Complaint Against Assessor Dismissed Public Disclosure Commission Says Cooney Didn’t Violate Campaign Laws
Spokane County Assessor Charlene Cooney has been cleared of allegedly using county property and staff to further her 1994 campaign.
The Washington state Public Disclosure Commission ruled after a hearing Monday that Cooney’s appearance at a luncheon debate did not violate election laws.
That’s because Cooney did not debate Republican opponent Bob Blum but used her time instead to show overhead slides and explain how her office works.
Blum complained to the commission after the Sept. 28, 1994, event. Cooney later defeated him in the general election by more than 10 percentage points.
“It was a burden that was lifted,” Cooney said Thursday. “There was always this little cloud.”
Blum said the commission’s finding is no surprise considering the panel is overseen by a Democratic administration in the governor’s office.
“I hate to bring partisan politics into it,” he said. “I think there’s a little influence there.”
He and Cooney were to debate before the Spokane Building Owners and Managers Association.
But Cooney said she had conditioned her appearance on a format change that allowed her to distribute public information and not make a political speech.
She showed up with appraiser Terry Konrad and a county-owned overhead projector.
Two officials with the association told state regulators they couldn’t recall Cooney asking to change the debate format in advance.
But moderator Larry Soehren of Kiemle & Hagood Co. wrote an investigator that Cooney “repeatedly stated that she was not interested in participating in a debate but was strictly there to provide us information.”
The Public Disclosure Commission agreed in dismissing the complaint.
Cooney was appointed assessor in 1992 when George Britton resigned. In 1993, she was elected to fill the remainder of his term.
During that election, Cooney acknowledged typing a campaign statement on county stationery and using a county fax machine to distribute it to media.
She vowed at the time that such breaches never would occur again.
“I made one oops one time,” Cooney said. “I would never jeopardize our office. You try to be careful. I believe in the system.”
Cooney currently is under fire for inaccurate property appraisals. Her office has been forced to slash more than $150 million in property valuations, costing the city of Spokane, Spokane School District 81 and other entities more than $1.5 million in tax revenue.
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