The Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission hit Thomas Goldstein, the former director of Washington Bus, the get-out-the-youth-vote organization, with a $100 fine for making a $100 contribution to failed 2011 Seattle City Council candidate Bobby Forch, under a fictitious name and from a fictitious address.

The name: "Thermos Nobull." The address? (If the name wasn't already obviously fictitious enough): 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Central, WA.

And the reason the fine was so small? Goldstein gave the check to a friend with the understanding that the pal would let the SEEC know he was the contributor, something the settlement acknowledges.

Our one question for Goldstein: Who is Mr. (or Mrs.?) Nobull?

Goldstein's response: "I have a checking account to track who was selling my name to different groups and organizations and political causes. ... It was just a way to see how gullible they were. 'Thermos' is what a lof of people called me because I used to bring a thermos of coffee in to work all the time."

Goldstein adds that he doesn't begrudge the ethics commission's decision to ding him for the contribution. "They’re good folks over there, just trying to do their job," he says.