The Public Disclosure Commission (PDC) has completed its review of the complaint filed by Brian Drake on September 21, 2018. The Complaint alleged that Jon Tunheim, an incumbent Thurston County Prosecutor and a candidate seeking re-election to that office in 2018, may have violated RCW 42.17A.555 by using Thurston County public facilities to assist his re-election campaign, and RCW 42.17A.565 by soliciting contributions from Thurston County Prosecutor’s Office employees.
The Complainant also provided supplemental information alleging that Jeff Lippert, Chief Criminal Deputy was introduced as “Campaign Manager” at a voter forum held on September 29, 2018 (a Saturday), and that he appeared as a representative of the campaign at a community candidates forum (Jubilee forum) on October 2, 2018 (a Tuesday), in violation of RCW 42.17A.555.
PDC staff reviewed the allegations listed in the complaint including the supplemental allegation and the copy of an electronic disk/video submitted along with the complaint, the laws, rules, and PDC Interpretation #04-02 Guidelines for Local Government Agencies in Election Campaigns, the Candidate Registration (C-1 report) filed by Jon Tunheim, and the initial and supplemental responses from Mr. Tunheim.
Although 20 staff members contributed to Mr. Tunheim’s campaign and about 11 exempt employees volunteered for his campaign, no evidence was provided or found that any of the employees conducted any campaign activities during work hours or using Thurston County Prosecutor’s Office resources.
As such, the PDC staff found no evidence of a material violation that would require conducting a more formal investigation into your complaint or pursuing enforcement action in this instance.
Based on this information, the PDC has dismissed the Complaint in accordance with RCW 42.17A.755(1)