Cowlitz County Democratic Central Committee: Alleged Violation of RCW 42.17A.235, .240 for failure to disclose contributions, expenditures, and debt. (OCT 2017)

Case

#26715

Respondent

Melissa Thompson

Complainant

Glen Morgan

Description

On October 13, 2017, the Public Disclosure Commission received a complaint alleging that the Cowlitz County Democratic Central Committee (Committee), may have violated RCW 42.17A.235 by failing to timely and accurately file contribution and expenditure reports, including the failure to properly report the purpose of expenditures, as required by WAC 390-16-037 and WAC 390-16-205, and RCW 42.17A.240 by failing to timely and accurately report debt. 

PDC staff reviewed the allegations/complaint and found that there were expenditures made by the Committee either to a vendor or an individual for which a more detailed explanation or description should have been provided. Staff also noted that there were some reports that were reported late by the Committee. However, these deficiencies are mitigated by the fact that the Committee showed a good faith effort by amending their reports during this period to disclose additional information in the interest of transparency. Additionally, staff found on prior violations against the Committee - at least to this complaint being filed. 

Based on these findings, staff determined that the deficiencies found based on the review of the complaint did not warrant further investigation. However, staff issued a reminder to the Committee regarding the importance of filing timely and accurate contribution and expenditure reports in the future, including expenditures for debt, and the importance of properly reporting the purpose of expenditure, specifically to include the number of items and sub-vendor information where applicable. 

Accordingly, the PDC dismissed this matter in accordance with RCW 42.17A.755(1). 
 

Disposition

Case Closed with Reminder

Date Opened

October 27, 2017

Areas of Law

RCW 42.17A.235, RCW 42.17A.240

Documents

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