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This 2010 Public Service Announcement law ensures public officials running for election don’t get unfair benefit from publicly-owned communication channels. This law was recodified in a new chapter starting next year, but the basic law will remain the same. (See new version at the end of this article).
A Councilmember acquiring a municipal leadership certificate by attending Association of Washington Cities training and workshops is not exactly breaking news. Outside of a handful of Renton City Hall insiders, few people could typically tell you which Council Members have this certificate. In recent years Renton has sometimes announced the awarding of these certificates, largely to make the public aware of how Association of Washington Cities (AWC) programs positively contribute to the City of Renton education and functioning. Renton pays dues to AWC for these services.
However, per RCW 42.17A.575, cities must be very careful not to include public officials running for election in Public Service Announcements, to avoid using public facilities to help a candidate. Ironically, the prohibitions about using city resources to campaign is one of the many topics on ethics that Councilmembers might typically learn in AWC training.
The law says “No state elected official or municipal officer may speak or appear in a public service announcement that is broadcast, shown, or distributed in any form whatsoever during the period January 1 and continuing through the general election if that official or officer is a candidate.”
So Renton should be careful about timing announcements about candidates so as not to prop up campaigns with public dollars.
This week’s City announcements were the most unfair timing possible. In the hard-fought race for Renton City Council Position 2, the third-place finisher Raman Mann (who got nearly a quarter of the primary votes) just TODAY endorsed second-place finisher Mary Clymer. Ms. Clymer now has a strong chance to unseat the incumbent Carmen Rivera, who is so mired in controversy that the British “Daily Mail” just reported on her campaign troubles to its tens of millions of readers.
The same day Raman Mann’s campaign made his endorsement of Mary Clymer, the City of Renton was flooding social media sites, the City’s email list, and the City’s website with flattering stories about Councilmember Rivera’s AWC certificate.
The City’s website article is quite lengthy, and includes so many testimonials by and about Councilmember Rivera that it reads precisely like a voter-pamphlet submittal: “Renton raised me, and I’m honored to give back through public service…(more content)….the training strengthens the work I do every day fighting for equity, transparency, and practical solutions that serve our entire community…(more content)…Born and raised in Renton, Councilmember Rivera resides in the Tiffany Park area with her spouse.”
This statement appears to be exactly the kind of city-sponsored support piece that the state legislature determined should NOT be paid for with taxpayer dollars in an election year, let alone in the critical weeks between a primary and what is sure to be a close general election.
I’ve included samples of the City Facebook post, the City Bulletin (which is distributed to a mailing list), and the City Website that were all just published promoting the incumbent, the same day that the challengers were combining their campaign teams to make a winning run in the general election. The Renton City YouTube Channel also features a council meeting presentation of the award. Taxpayers pay for the staff time to film, write, edit, prepare, and upload all of these statements.
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