News
County Council Member Expensed Thousands of Campaign Dollars on Meals, Travel
According to campaign finance records, Pete von Reichbauer, a Republican member of the King County Council, has spent thousands of dollars from his campaign on meals, travel, and other expenses---during years when von Reichbauer was not up for reelection.
Von Reichbauer, whose chief of staff, Joe Fain, is running against incumbent state Sen. Claudia Kauffman, has spent thousands of dollars from his campaign fund on restaurants, books, travel, and a "consultant"/"archivist" who continued receiving a paycheck from von Reichbauer's campaign fund for months after his most recent reelection, in 2009.
Von Reichbauer has not responded to a request for comment about the odd expenditures, which include numerous meals at chain restaurants like Marie Callender's, McCormick's, Shari's, Joey's, and the Olive Garden, as well as books from Barnes and Noble and Borders, airplane tickets, and hundreds of dollars per month on cell-phone bills.
In May, the most recent month for which records are available, von Reichbauer spent more than $1,300 of his campaign funds dining out at restaurants, including a $117 meal at the Metropolitan Grill, a $93 meal at McCormick's, and an $80 meal at the Keg. Additionally, Reichbauer has been paying his longtime campaign consultant, J. Moller, for "archiving." It's unclear what Moller's archiving duties entail. We were unable to contact Moller for comment.
For comparison, von Reichbauer's fellow County Council Republican, Reagan Dunn, has expensed just $408 since 2005 on meals, plus $712 in air fare and $850 in hotel expenses at cheap hotels (Red Lion; the Shilo Inn) in places like Aberdeen and Walla Walla. Democrat Larry Phillips, meanwhile, expensed less than $500 for meals during his 2007 reelection campaign, much of it for campaign events, and did not expense any travel.
Back in 2003, then-King County Council member Rob McKenna came under fire for spending $2,100 in campaign funds on suits from Nordstrom.
A sampling of Von Reichbauer's expenditures includes:
Lori Anderson, a spokeswoman for the state Public Disclosure Commission, says all expenditures by a campaign on food "have to be campaign-related. That's their argument to make whether that particular meal relates to their campaign. Some people would say, 'I wouldn't be eating that meal out unless I was doing campaign business.'"
Von Reichbauer has been on the county council since 1994, and previously served in the state Senate as a Democrat before switching to the Republican Party.
Von Reichbauer, whose chief of staff, Joe Fain, is running against incumbent state Sen. Claudia Kauffman, has spent thousands of dollars from his campaign fund on restaurants, books, travel, and a "consultant"/"archivist" who continued receiving a paycheck from von Reichbauer's campaign fund for months after his most recent reelection, in 2009.
Von Reichbauer has not responded to a request for comment about the odd expenditures, which include numerous meals at chain restaurants like Marie Callender's, McCormick's, Shari's, Joey's, and the Olive Garden, as well as books from Barnes and Noble and Borders, airplane tickets, and hundreds of dollars per month on cell-phone bills.
In May, the most recent month for which records are available, von Reichbauer spent more than $1,300 of his campaign funds dining out at restaurants, including a $117 meal at the Metropolitan Grill, a $93 meal at McCormick's, and an $80 meal at the Keg. Additionally, Reichbauer has been paying his longtime campaign consultant, J. Moller, for "archiving." It's unclear what Moller's archiving duties entail. We were unable to contact Moller for comment.
For comparison, von Reichbauer's fellow County Council Republican, Reagan Dunn, has expensed just $408 since 2005 on meals, plus $712 in air fare and $850 in hotel expenses at cheap hotels (Red Lion; the Shilo Inn) in places like Aberdeen and Walla Walla. Democrat Larry Phillips, meanwhile, expensed less than $500 for meals during his 2007 reelection campaign, much of it for campaign events, and did not expense any travel.
Back in 2003, then-King County Council member Rob McKenna came under fire for spending $2,100 in campaign funds on suits from Nordstrom.
A sampling of Von Reichbauer's expenditures includes:
More than 30 meals at Marie Callender's, a "down-home" food chain featuring pot pies, meatloaf, and various "country-fried" items in vast quantities;
Nearly $2,000 during and after his most recent campaign on "supplies" at Barnes and Noble, Borders, and Elliott Bay book stores;
Nearly $4,200 on an unspecified "trade mission" in December 2009 (trade missions are typically paid for by government agencies or out of an official's own pocket);
More than $22,000 to his consultant, J. Moller, for consulting and "archiving";
$618 for a hotel room at the Emerald Downs race track;
And nearly $300 for "staff tickets" to University of Washington Huskies and Seattle Mariners games.
In all, Von Reichbauer spent nearly $12,000 in campaign funds on food in the months between February 2009 and May 2010.
Lori Anderson, a spokeswoman for the state Public Disclosure Commission, says all expenditures by a campaign on food "have to be campaign-related. That's their argument to make whether that particular meal relates to their campaign. Some people would say, 'I wouldn't be eating that meal out unless I was doing campaign business.'"
Von Reichbauer has been on the county council since 1994, and previously served in the state Senate as a Democrat before switching to the Republican Party.
