State Panel: Powers Not Hiding Info Public Disclosure Commission Dismisses Complaint Against Mayoral Candidate

The state Public Disclosure Commission on Friday dismissed a complaint featured prominently in a mailer attacking strong mayor candidate John Powers.

The mailer, received by Spokane residents Thursday, accuses Powers of violating campaign finance laws to hide the names and occupations of his legal clients and campaign contributors.

The mailer was sent by Citizens for Fair and Open Government, a political action committee that has targeted Powers with funds from prominent supporters of his opponent, Mayor John Talbott.

The complaint was filed Monday by John Gutierrez, a Talbott supporter and a former volunteer in the mayor’s office. His complaint said Powers violated a law that requires candidates to disclose clients of his law firm so as to avoid possible conflicts of interest.

The PDC acted quickly to investigate the complaint before dismissing it, said Susan Harris, assistant director of the PDC.

“The bottom line, we did get the complaint in, we looked at it, the complaint has now been dismissed,” Harris said.

Powers was under no legal obligation to disclose his clients, she said.

In May, Powers requested a modification of the disclosure laws from the PDC and received a partial modification in the form of a PDC order, Harris said. At the time, apparently neither he nor the PDC realized that under state laws, he didn’t have to disclose any clients because he wasn’t an officer, director or substantial owner of his law firm, she said.

“He didn’t need the reporting modification,” Harris said. “He requested it and he didn’t need to.

We’re going to go to the commission to vacate the (May) order.”

Laurel Siddoway, an attorney and volunteer in Powers’ campaign, said the campaign was pleased to see the complaint dismissed but is troubled that is was seized upon so quickly by CFOG.

“Certainly we’re concerned that there seems to be cooperation between those filing the complaints and those that are capitalizing on the complaints,” Siddoway said. “The fact that the complaint was dismissed as immediately as it was speaks to its lack of merit.”

Brendon Hill, the director of CFOG, said he won’t apologize for his mailer and disagrees with the findings of the PDC.

“That (the ruling) is an opinion that there is no grounds for and it will be appealed,” Hill said. “I stand by our stuff 100 percent.”

He said he doesn’t plan on another mailer saying the complaint was dismissed.

“That’s John Powers’ job, not mine,” Hill said.

CFOG’s mailer also accused Powers of not listing the occupations of his contributors in his PDC forms, in order to hide his ties to the legal community and the developer of the River Park Square downtown redevelopment project. Under state law, contributions of more than $100 must be listed with the occupation, employer and address of the donor.

Siddoway said not all donors have provided their occupations in checks the campaign has received.

“The campaign has no idea who they are or who they work for and tracking down those people can take several days,” she said.

Powers isn’t the only candidate who has holes in his PDC filings. Talbott and City Council president candidates Steve Corker and Rob Higgins also have donors listed without occupations.

The PDC’s Harris said most candidates have at least some gaps, but Powers is in “substantial compliance.”

Hill said Talbott may have made mistakes but his are not the same as Powers’.

“There’s a difference between good faith effort in fulfilling the requirement of the law and a concerted effort to deceive people,” Hill said. “I haven’t seen Talbott’s PDCs. My issue is the connection between Powers and (River Park Square).”

This sidebar appeared with the story: Fact check

The ad: A mailer from Citizens for Fair and Open Government accuses Spokane mayoral candidate John Powers of violating campaign laws “to hide the names and occupations of his clients and contributors.”

The mailer says the state Public Disclosure Commission ordered Powers to comply with a state law at a May hearing Powers did not attend. It goes on to say the PDC launched an investigation and an official complaint says he failed to disclose conflicts of interest. It also says complaints have been filed against Powers for failing to list the occupations of his contributors.

On the reverse of the mailer is a lengthy quote from a KREM2 television report on Powers and CFOG that says that, contrary to his claims, Powers has ties to the Cowles family and the River Park Square development.

Analysis: A complaint was filed Monday by John Gutierrez, a supporter of Mayor John Talbott, Powers’ opponent in the race. The complaint was dismissed Friday as meritless, said Susan Harris, assistant director of the PDC.

Gutierrez’s complaint questioned if Powers had adequately disclosed the clients of his law firm, Paine Hamblen, that might pose a conflict of interest if he were elected mayor.

According to Harris, Powers isn’t required to disclose anything because of Paine Hamblen’s structure. “Because of the form the partnership is now, he’s not required to disclose any of his clients because he is not an officer or a director and does not own more than 10 percent of partnership.”

The state PDC did issue a reporting modification order for Powers at a May hearing, but at the request of Powers. He wasn’t at the hearing, but according to Harris, it would have been unusual for him to attend.

Powers requested the change so he didn’t have to disclose every business Paine Hamblen deals with, but in fact he didn’t have to disclose any, Harris said.

While Powers’ campaign hasn’t listed the occupation of every contributor, that’s the case for almost every candidate, including Talbott. “We believe there is substantial compliance,” Harris said.

The KREM2 quote is technically accurate, but it omits much of what was reported and gives the impression that the report was one-sided, KREM2 news director Tamara MacGregor said. The mailer also suggests KREM reported that Powers was in trouble with the PDC and “we didn’t say anything about that, period,” MacGregor said.