City
Pro-Tunnel Camp Files Complaint Against Anti-Tunnel Group for Not Disclosing Campaign Work
The pro-tunnel group, Let's Move Forward, filed a complaint yesterday with the Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission against their anti-tunnel rivals at Protect Seattle Now.
The complaint questions a campaign brochure that anti-tunnel group is putting in the Seattle Times. The elaborate brochure is not accounted for—either as an expense or as a contribution—on PSN's campaign finance reports, though they do report the $4,222 expenditure on 85,000 piece insert.
Dan Nolte, campaign manager for the pro-tunnel group, tells PubliCola that the brochure looks nearly identical to a pro-Mayor Mike McGinn brochure that McGinn's consultant Bill Broadhead did for McGinn during the mayor's 2009 campaign.
"It's smaller, but it's the same font, the same typeface, and the same themes," Nolte says. The complaint cites this as evidence that the campaign had professional work done. But there's another point to Nolte's line of attack. Let's Move Forward has been spinning the anti-tunnel campaign as a McGinn operation because they believe associating Protect Seattle Now with the mayor, whose polling numbers aren't good, will hurt the anti-tunnel cause.
The complaint includes photos of the anti-tunnel brochure and the 2009 McGinn brochure, side-by-side:
And the complaint itself states:
Broadhead has forcefully denied that he had anything to do with brochure. Broadhead was an early contributor to the anti-tunnel effort (he made a $5,000 contribution, the largest by any individual). He has not contributed since March.
He told the Seattle Times: "The complaint is a complete fabrication. I'll personally bet [Let's Move Forward spokesman] Alex Fryer $5,000 that the SEEC (Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission) finds that we didn't do the piece. And when he loses the bet, he can write his check to the City of Seattle to compensate them for wasting taxpayer money investigating a bogus complaint."
And Esther Handy, campaign manager for the anti-tunnel campaign, tells PubliCola that the brochure was made by Seth Geiser, a campaign volunteer. "Here's this kid on a laptop who could do it on the cheap," she says. "He designed our logo. We liked that and have been using it, and so we said, 'hey, do this brochure.'"
Handy says the anti-tunnel camp didn't report Geiser's work because he's not a professional. "I consider him a volunteer just like a phone bank volunteer," Handy says.
Handy says Geiser did look at past campaign literature and that he was a McGinn volunteer back in 2009.
"If it was designed by a volunteer, then it was designed by a volunteer, " the pro-tunnel camp's Nolte says. "It's up to the elections commission now."
The complaint questions a campaign brochure that anti-tunnel group is putting in the Seattle Times. The elaborate brochure is not accounted for—either as an expense or as a contribution—on PSN's campaign finance reports, though they do report the $4,222 expenditure on 85,000 piece insert.
Dan Nolte, campaign manager for the pro-tunnel group, tells PubliCola that the brochure looks nearly identical to a pro-Mayor Mike McGinn brochure that McGinn's consultant Bill Broadhead did for McGinn during the mayor's 2009 campaign.
"It's smaller, but it's the same font, the same typeface, and the same themes," Nolte says. The complaint cites this as evidence that the campaign had professional work done. But there's another point to Nolte's line of attack. Let's Move Forward has been spinning the anti-tunnel campaign as a McGinn operation because they believe associating Protect Seattle Now with the mayor, whose polling numbers aren't good, will hurt the anti-tunnel cause.
The complaint includes photos of the anti-tunnel brochure and the 2009 McGinn brochure, side-by-side:
And the complaint itself states:
The design of the piece appears very similar to a piece of literature included by Mike McGinn’s 2009 campaign as an insert in the Seattle Times. The Mayor’s 2009 campaign reports show expenditures for design work to the Mercury Group, which is owned by Bill Broadhead, the Mayor’s consultant. Protect Seattle Now’s most recent C4 does not disclose any expenditure made to Mr. Broadhead nor Mercury for any services nor does the report show any in-kind expenditure from Mr. Broadhead or the Mercury Group. If the Mercury Group designed PSN’s literature, this should be disclosed. I have included copies of both pieces of literature for your reference.
Broadhead has forcefully denied that he had anything to do with brochure. Broadhead was an early contributor to the anti-tunnel effort (he made a $5,000 contribution, the largest by any individual). He has not contributed since March.
He told the Seattle Times: "The complaint is a complete fabrication. I'll personally bet [Let's Move Forward spokesman] Alex Fryer $5,000 that the SEEC (Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission) finds that we didn't do the piece. And when he loses the bet, he can write his check to the City of Seattle to compensate them for wasting taxpayer money investigating a bogus complaint."
And Esther Handy, campaign manager for the anti-tunnel campaign, tells PubliCola that the brochure was made by Seth Geiser, a campaign volunteer. "Here's this kid on a laptop who could do it on the cheap," she says. "He designed our logo. We liked that and have been using it, and so we said, 'hey, do this brochure.'"
Handy says the anti-tunnel camp didn't report Geiser's work because he's not a professional. "I consider him a volunteer just like a phone bank volunteer," Handy says.
Handy says Geiser did look at past campaign literature and that he was a McGinn volunteer back in 2009.
"If it was designed by a volunteer, then it was designed by a volunteer, " the pro-tunnel camp's Nolte says. "It's up to the elections commission now."
