Last week Councilmember Tammy Morales tweeted out an interesting announcement: she recently joined the board of the Economic Opportunity Institute, a Seattle-based organization that advocates for progressive tax policy (among other issues) and heavily lobbies the City Council.
Continue readingCategory: ethics
Ethics commission votes to approve Sawant settlement agreement
This afternoon, the Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission voted to approve the negotiated settlement agreement with Councilmember Sawant over charges that she illegally used city resources for a non-city purpose and to support a ballot proposition last year.
Continue readingSawant settles ethics charge, admitting violation
On Monday, the Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission will hold a special meeting at which it will vote on whether to approve a negotiated settlement with Councilmember Kshama Sawant over an ethics charge stemming from last year’s “Tax Amazon” ballot proposition campaign. The ethics charge is the basis for one of the three charges in the recall petition against Sawant.
Continue readingJudge sets deadline to file signatures for Sawant recall petition
Wrapping up the final legal issue related to the recall of Councilmember Kshama Sawant, last Friday King County Superior court Judge Jim Rogers ruled on the deadline for when the recall campaign must submit the required signatures to get the recall on the election ballot, giving them until October 19 to gather just over 10,000 signatures.
Continue readingA financial disclosure points to long-standing conflict of interest, and the weakness of City Hall’s ethics code
In the past few weeks both the city’s eleven elected officials and also the current candidates for elected office have filed their required financial disclosure forms, indicating their personal assets, their debts, and any positions they hold in external organizations. One of those financial disclosures, by a candidate who currently works for the City Council, raises conflict of interest issues — as well as questions about the low standard under which such entanglements are policed.
Continue readingCity elected officials submit their annual financial disclosure forms
Every year the City of Seattle’s elected officials are required to submit a financial disclosure form by April 15, so that we can better understand financial investments, pressures, and potential conflicts of interest they may have. Below are this year’s submissions, with some notes.
Continue readingJudge certifies updated recall petition against Sawant
This afternoon, King County Superior court Jim Rogers briefly heard oral arguments and quickly issued a ruling certifying an updated ballot synopsis for the recall petition against Councilmember Sawant. That allows the recall campaign to immediately turn to signature-gathering, though Judge Rogers still must resolve one remaining issue related to how long the campaign has to turn in the required signatures.
Continue readingState Supreme Court allows Sawant recall to move forward
In a unanimous opinion issued this morning, the Washington State Supreme Court ruled that a recall petition filed against Councilmember Kshama Sawant may move forward. It found that three of the four charges in the petition were both factually and legally sufficient to justify a recall election.
Continue readingSawant recall petition now awaiting state Supreme Court ruling
Last week the final legal briefs were filed with the Washington State Supreme Court in Councilmember Sawant’s challenge to a recall petition. In late September four charges against her were certified by a King County Superior Court judge, and Sawant subsequently appealed that decision. Now it’s up to the Supreme Court to decide whether any of the charges can continue on to the signature-gathering phase.
Continue readingThe Sawant recall: a tale of two campaigns
As the legal proceedings in the effort to recall District 3 City Council member Sawant begin to wind down, the election campaigns — both for and against recall — are spinning up. Over the last two months the “Recall Sawant” campaign and the “Kshama Solidarity” campaign have both formally organized, filed their paperwork, and begun furious fundraising. While there are many similarities between the two sides of the recall — including their use of mailchimp to send out regular missives demonizing their opponent while pleading for money (Recall Sawant, Kshama Solidarity) — their campaign finance filings reveal some stark differences …
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