Election commission wraps up Eyman investigation

Panel will announce conclusions today

BRAD SHANNON, THE OLYMPIAN

Originally published Friday, April 5, 2002

OLYMPIA -- State election watchdogs have finished their investigation of initiative advocate Tim Eyman's money handling and will announce their conclusions this morning.

Any decisions about charges would rest with members of the Public Disclosure Commission, who are scheduled to go over the case during their regular meeting Tuesday.

The PDC, which enforces state campaign finance laws, could dismiss the case, set a penalty hearing, or refer the case to the Attorney General's Office to seek tougher financial penalties against Eyman and his colleagues.

Both the PDC and Eyman's colleagues with the Permanent Offense political committee declined to comment Thursday.

"I can't make any comments on that," said Jack Fagan, one of four partners in Permanent Offense.

Union complaint

Meanwhile, Fagan and his partners have tried to raise a stink over an e-mail the Washington State Labor Council sent to members. It urges them to call Permanent Offense and order campaign packets for their latest offering, Initiative 776, as a way to bleed the anti-tax group's resources.

The basis of Permanent Offense's complaint -- which was filed this week with the PDC, the Attorney General's Office and the secretary of state -- is an e-mail by Labor Council political director Diane McDaniel in which she urged members to order the campaign's "Patriot Packets" to "inflict some damage on their bank account and their petition supply."

The labor council hasn't apologized for its effort, but President Rick Bender did distance his group from the action and indicated that the council won't actively seek to bleed Permanent Offense.

"It's one of those things that happened. It's been corrected, and it won't happen again," Bender said of the e-mail, adding that McDaniel is not in trouble.

Diversionary tactic?

The PDC and Attorney General's Office, which got copies of Fagan's complaint about the labor council, found nothing illegal in what McDaniel did in their first look at the complaint.

"They're trying to focus attention off Eyman and his problems," Bender said Thursday.

Fagan said the labor council's action is an indication that the I-776 campaign to cap car tax fees at $30 will face strong labor opposition. That is why his group plans to meet today with Sherry Bockwinkel of Washington Initiatives Now to arrange for paid signature gatherers, so they can meet their signature goal earlier than the July deadline for November ballot issues, he said.

The PDC's announcement today could revive Eyman's career or further cripple it. Eyman, until his admission, had ridden a crest of popularity with initiatives to kill or cap taxes, but he has spent the last couple months in the background, a silent partner to Fagan and two other Permanent Offense board members.

Eyman's fortunes fell the moment he admitted taking about $210,000 from his initiative campaigns after previously denying it. He has been under investigation by the PDC since.

Before his confession, Eyman had insisted he was paying his private political consulting business for services and was keeping the money in a special account for contingencies and new campaigns, rather than for his own use.

Over the past two months, PDC investigators have interviewed Eyman, Jack Fagan, and associates Monte Benham and Mike Fagan, as well as looked over campaign finance books.

The Olympian Copyright 2002

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