By Joshua Adam Hicks
Bellevue Reporter
The city of Bellevue has issued a letter to the Public Disclosure Commission, denying allegations that staff members violated election guidelines while assisting a parks-levy campaign.
A complaint from the commission suggests that city officials broke the rules by conducting inappropriate polling, sharing the results of those surveys with the Bellevue Parks Yes Committee and coordinating mailings with that group.
State law prohibits the use of public agencies and facilities to influence elections.
The commission’s complaint specifically names Bellevue Parks Director Patrick Foran and Parks Department Fiscal Manager Doug Sanner.
Foran has been working on behalf of the Bellevue Parks Yes Committee this year. Public employees can participate in campaigns, but they have to do so on their own time and without the help of government resources.
The Bellevue Parks Department commissioned polls this year to gauge support for a potential levy and then shared the results of that research with the Bellevue Parks Yes group.
The city states in its letter that these surveys helped inform public policy decisions and were an “entirely appropriate use of city facilities.”
The letter goes on to say that the city provided polling results to the Bellevue Parks Yes committee after the group made a public information request, noting that such action is required by state law.
In response to the allegations about collaborated mailings, the city claims it has found “no evidence of unlawful coordination between the city and the Yes campaign.”
The city released one fact sheet regarding the proposed parks levy and included the same information in one of its quarterly newsletters.
Records show that Parks Yes campaign manager Karen Roper wrote to Foran and the Parks Department information officer about her vision for a pro-levy communication strategy.
She states in one message that the campaign should include at least three mailers from Bellevue Parks Yes and one “mailer produced by the city that would present the facts – projects and costs – maps, etc.”
The city denies in its response to the Public Disclosure Commission that this represents evidence of any wrongdoing.
“The mere fact that city employees, on their own time, discussed mailings and the fact that the city is allowed to do one fact mailing, is not a coordinated campaign using city resources,” the letter states.
The city is reviewing phone and e-mail records to determine whether any employees used its facilities while helping the pro-levy campaign.
