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City Dismisses Ethics Complaint Against Cascade, TCC
The Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission has dismissed a complaint against Cascade Bicycle Club and the Transportation Choices Coalition, ruling that city payments to the two groups do not violate the city's ethics code.
The original complaint---first reported on PubliCola---charged that the two groups “improperly used taxpayer funds to substantially underwrite” the Streets for All campaign, which supports raising car-tab fees $60 to pay for Seattle transportation projects.
In his letter dismissing the complaint, ethics director Wayne Barnett noted that Cascade has separate funds for education and advocacy; the city's contributions went into the education fund, which pays for things like bike-safety classes, programs in schools, and helmet programs. The city's contributions to TCC, which consisted of $12,000 in membership dues over the last three years, pay for policy and education work, not campaigns.
Both groups' campaign organizations are separate entities. TCC's advocacy arm has contributed a total of $5,375 in cash and in-kind contributions to Streets for All, and Cascade's has contributed a total of $11,375.
"Many city vendors, not only Cascade, contribute to candidates for City office and for and against ballot issues," Barnett wrote. In the case of TCC, which is not a city vendor, "the City's payments... do not violate the law barring the use of public money for campaign purposes."
The original complaint---first reported on PubliCola---charged that the two groups “improperly used taxpayer funds to substantially underwrite” the Streets for All campaign, which supports raising car-tab fees $60 to pay for Seattle transportation projects.
In his letter dismissing the complaint, ethics director Wayne Barnett noted that Cascade has separate funds for education and advocacy; the city's contributions went into the education fund, which pays for things like bike-safety classes, programs in schools, and helmet programs. The city's contributions to TCC, which consisted of $12,000 in membership dues over the last three years, pay for policy and education work, not campaigns.
Both groups' campaign organizations are separate entities. TCC's advocacy arm has contributed a total of $5,375 in cash and in-kind contributions to Streets for All, and Cascade's has contributed a total of $11,375.
"Many city vendors, not only Cascade, contribute to candidates for City office and for and against ballot issues," Barnett wrote. In the case of TCC, which is not a city vendor, "the City's payments... do not violate the law barring the use of public money for campaign purposes."
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