News
Sierra Club Donates More than $12,000 to Anti-Tunnel Campaign, but No Way for Public to Follow the Money
According to disclosure reports filed with the Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission, the Sierra Club has contributed more than $12,000 to Protect Seattle Now, the campaign that's trying to overturn three agreements between the city and state on the deep-bore tunnel. All that money came in the form of in-kind contributions to pay a private firm to gather signatures on the campaign's behalf.
As we reported, the campaign has spent an average of $2.50 per signature, with most of that going to Auburn-based Petition Management Services. The Sierra Club's contribution, in other words, amounts to about a third of the money the campaign has spent gathering signatures.
[pullquote]The Sierra Club can contribute unlimited amounts to referendum and initiative campaigns without saying who its donors are.[/pullquote]
Whose money paid for all those signatures? There's no way to know. Because the Sierra Club is a nonprofit organization, it doesn't have to disclose the names of its contributors. Like a left-wing version of Karl Rove's Crossroads GPS (which exploited the Citizens United ruling to use anonymous donors to fund ads demonizing unions), the Sierra Club can contribute unlimited amounts to referendum and initiative campaigns without saying who its donors are.
While the Sierra Club isn't allowed to solicit funds for a specific campaign like Protect Seattle Now---it would have to set up a political committee, and disclose its donors, to do that---it can give money to any campaign it wants.
SEEC director Wayne Barnett explains: "If that money came in through people who just wanted to give to the Sierra Club, that's fine. But if they do go out and say, 'We need your help to gather signatures,' then yes, that would need to be reported."
Sierra Club spokesman Brady Montz says the group "contributed from our general fund, and we didn't make any solicitations."
The campaign is tied heavily in to the Sierra Club as well as Mayor Mike McGinn, the group's former chair, and city council member Mike O'Brien. Several Sierra Club volunteers have contributed to the campaign (including Scot Brannon, Protect Seattle Now's treasurer), and members of its executive board have given $650. Additionally, one E Board member, Paige Heggie, has made $1,774 gathering signatures for the campaign.
McGinn's consultant, Bill Broadhead, and his staffers, meanwhile, have contributed generously to the anti-tunnel campaign. Of the $61,000 the campaign has raised, $5,600 has come from Broadhead and his firm the Mercury Group; more than $2,000 has come from McGinn and employees of his office; and $625 has come from O'Brien and his employees.
As of the end of March, the campaign had $339 on hand.
As we reported, the campaign has spent an average of $2.50 per signature, with most of that going to Auburn-based Petition Management Services. The Sierra Club's contribution, in other words, amounts to about a third of the money the campaign has spent gathering signatures.
[pullquote]The Sierra Club can contribute unlimited amounts to referendum and initiative campaigns without saying who its donors are.[/pullquote]
Whose money paid for all those signatures? There's no way to know. Because the Sierra Club is a nonprofit organization, it doesn't have to disclose the names of its contributors. Like a left-wing version of Karl Rove's Crossroads GPS (which exploited the Citizens United ruling to use anonymous donors to fund ads demonizing unions), the Sierra Club can contribute unlimited amounts to referendum and initiative campaigns without saying who its donors are.
While the Sierra Club isn't allowed to solicit funds for a specific campaign like Protect Seattle Now---it would have to set up a political committee, and disclose its donors, to do that---it can give money to any campaign it wants.
SEEC director Wayne Barnett explains: "If that money came in through people who just wanted to give to the Sierra Club, that's fine. But if they do go out and say, 'We need your help to gather signatures,' then yes, that would need to be reported."
Sierra Club spokesman Brady Montz says the group "contributed from our general fund, and we didn't make any solicitations."
The campaign is tied heavily in to the Sierra Club as well as Mayor Mike McGinn, the group's former chair, and city council member Mike O'Brien. Several Sierra Club volunteers have contributed to the campaign (including Scot Brannon, Protect Seattle Now's treasurer), and members of its executive board have given $650. Additionally, one E Board member, Paige Heggie, has made $1,774 gathering signatures for the campaign.
McGinn's consultant, Bill Broadhead, and his staffers, meanwhile, have contributed generously to the anti-tunnel campaign. Of the $61,000 the campaign has raised, $5,600 has come from Broadhead and his firm the Mercury Group; more than $2,000 has come from McGinn and employees of his office; and $625 has come from O'Brien and his employees.
As of the end of March, the campaign had $339 on hand.
