Safe Eastside PAC: Alleged violations of RCW 42.17A.235 and .240 for failing to file C-3 and C-4 reports disclosing contribution and expenditure activities undertaken by the political committee. (EY ' 21; October '21)

Case

#99673

Respondent

Safe Eastside PAC, 2021

Complainant

David Carson

Description

The Public Disclosure Commission (PDC) has completed its review of the complaint filed on October 15, 2021. The complaint alleged that Safe Eastside PAC, a political committee registered in 2021, may have violated: (1) RCW 42.17A.205 for failure to submit a Committee Registration (C-1pc report) within two weeks of becoming a committee; and (2) RCW 42.17A.235 and .240 for failure to timely and accurately file Monetary Contribution reports (C-3 reports) and Summary Full Campaign Contribution and Expenditure reports (C-4 reports), disclosing contributions and expenditures undertaken by the political committee.

PDC staff reviewed the allegations; the applicable statutes, rules, and reporting requirements; the response provided by Committee Manager and Treasurer, Kan Qiu, on behalf of the Respondent; the applicable PDC reports filed by the Respondent; and queried the Respondent’s data in the PDC contribution and expenditure database, to determine whether the record supports a finding of one or more violations.

It appears that the lack of detail originally included on October 2021 C-4 report regarding the payment to RM Consulting originally reported with the description “GOTV Consulting”, was an oversight and not meant to conceal campaign activity from the public. PDC staff found the Committee Treasurer and Ministerial Treasurer to be responsive and cooperative.

Based on our findings staff has determined that, in this instance, failure to timely register as a political committee and failure to include a detailed description of services provided by RM Consulting, does not amount to a finding of a violation that warrants further investigation.

PDC staff is reminding Safe Eastside PAC about the importance of the timely disclosure of all contribution and expenditure activities, and the timely filings of all future PDC reports in accordance with the statutes and rules.

Based on this information, the PDC finds that no further action is warranted and has dismissed this matter in accordance with RCW 42.17A.755(1).

Disposition

Case Closed with Reminder

Date Opened

October 15, 2021

Areas of Law

RCW 42.17A.205, RCW 42.17A.235, RCW 42.17A.240

Documents

• 99673 Safe Eastside PAC Complaint.pdf
• 99673 Safe Eastside PAC Response.pdf
• 99673 Safe Eastside PAC Reminder Letter - Complainant.pdf
• 99673 Safe Eastside PAC Reminder Letter - Respondent.pdf