Maria Flores: Alleged violation of RCW 42.17A.555 by using the facilities of the Olympia School District to make statements against a candidate at a school board meeting (EY '23, Aug '23)

Case

#141862

Respondent

Maria Flores

Complainant

Philip Comstock, Frank Durocher

Description

Two complaints were filed against Maria Flores, an incumbent Olympia School District (OSD) School Director and a candidate seeking re-election to that office in 2023. 

Specifically, the complaints alleged that Maria Flores violated RCW 42.17A.555 by using OSD facilities to make statements in her official capacity as a School Director at an OSD school board meeting against a 2023 OSD School Director candidate that appeared on the 2023 ballot. PDC staff reviewed the allegations listed in the complaints; the applicable statutes, rules, and PDC Interpretation #01-03 “Guidelines for School Districts in Election Campaigns”; the Livestream video of the August 24, 2023 OSD School Board meeting; and the email exchanges between Maria Flores and PDC staff, to determine whether the record supports a finding of one or more violations.  

RCW 42.17A.555 states in part that public facilities cannot be used by or authorized to be used directly or indirectly by any local elected official, appointed official or public employee, to support or oppose any candidate or ballot proposition.

On June 3, 2023, Maria Flores filed a Candidate Registration with the PDC declaring her candidacy for re-election to the office of OSD School Director in 2023, selecting the Full Reporting option, and listing Lorrell Noahr as Ministerial Treasurer.  Ms. Flores was elected as OSD School Director in 2019 as a first-time candidate.

Ms. Flores stated that she was familiar with the OSD “Board Director Policy Series 1000” concerning board meetings, Executive and Closed Sessions, and audience participation, and provided the hyperlinks to each policy.  She stated  those OSD policies and the school board agenda rules "follow the protocol of having student representative and board member comments at the end of each meeting.”

Ms. Flores stated she received school director training from Washington State School Directors Association (WSSDA) at their “annual conference onboard training”, and that she has read “the board member policies and procedures and completed a brief onboarding for new members” when she joined the OSD board in 2019.  She stated she received instructions concerning the Open Public Meetings Act, and that she was familiar with the requirements of “RCW 42.17A.555", both in  her current OSD board position and her position as a public servant employee of Washington State.

Ms. Flores stated during an OSD meeting, School Director Reed shared information about an incident discussed at a WSSDA Conference held in November of 2022, as well as other incidents involving OSD public meetings.  She said those concerns involved the “increasing levels of hate speech, harassing emails, phone calls and public comments" that she experienced as an OSD board member.  At the meeting, Ms. Flores shared her concerns about her safety, and the safety of those at the OSD meetings. 

Ms. Flores stated that she brought up this issue at the August 24, 2023 OSD board meeting in response to Director Reed’s comment, and she shared those concerns as she felt it was related to the safety of board members and student representatives.  She stated that she did not say Mr. Durocher’s name during the OSD meeting, but that she did refer to him as “a candidate for the board” when making her comments.  She stated that she never made statements directly in opposition “to either Jess Tourtellotte Palumbo or Frank Durocher’s candidacies”, but that she made her comments to address Director Reeds comments.  

Based on these findings, PDC staff found no evidence of further violations that would require conducting a more formal investigation into the complaint or pursuing any enforcement action in this instance.  In accordance with WAC 390-37-060(1)(d), however, PDC staff is issuing a formal written warning to Ms. Flores as an incumbent School Director for the Olympia School District (OSD) concerning the prohibitions found in RCW 42.17A.555 against using OSD resources and facilities to support or oppose any candidate or ballot proposition, including when making a statement(s) or referencing an individual as a public official during an open public meeting, when that individual is also a candidate for public office.   

In this instance, the comments Ms. Flores made were about an individual appearing on the 2023 primary and general election ballots as a candidate for OSD School Director.  The Commission will consider the formal written warning in deciding on further Commission action if there are future violations of PDC laws/rules.   The PDC has dismissed this matter in accordance with RCW 42.17A.755(1).

Disposition

Case Closed with Written Warning

Date Opened

September 06, 2023

Areas of Law

RCW 42.17A.555

Documents

• 141862 Maria Flores complaint return letter.pdf
• Maria Flores Response-Durocher & Comstock complaints (PDC Case 141862).pdf
• 141862 Maria Flores Complaints (Comstock & Durocher).pdf