Washington v Eyman
State officials celebrated on Dec. 6 when the Court of Appeals upheld “virtually all” of a lower court judge’s ruling against former initiative coordinator Tim Eyman.
The Thurston County Superior Court found that Eyman hadn’t reported certain activities to the Public Disclosure Commission that left hundreds of thousands of dollars in his personal bank account. The judge in the case imposed a $2.6 million civil penalty against Eyman and awarded $2.8 million to cover state costs of prosecution.
Although the Court of Appeals signed off on the major actions, it decided that Eyman hadn’t violated the state’s Fair Campaign Practices Act regarding one payment between himself and another group nor regarding one injunction that prohibited him from “misleading potential donors and receiving payments from vendors,” which the court struck down.
It also asked the trial court to take another look at the imposed fine to see if it violated the excessive fines clauses in the state and federal constitutions based on Eyman’s ability to pay, saying it did not have the information to evaluate that claim.
Eyman sends out repeated emails asking supporters for financial help.
The Senate giveth, taketh
Just days after Sen. Raphael Warnock won reelection in the state of Georgia, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema announced that she would change her party affiliation to Independent, although she would still caucus with Democrats.
It’s unclear what this will mean, although Sinema affirmed to Politico that she would not change “my values or my behavior.”
The 51-Senator majority that Warnock’s win secured for the Democrats remains secure, Politico reported, if somewhat shaken.
The bus rolls on
King County Metro General Manager Terry White will retire after 35 years of service with the agency, King County Executive Dow Constantine announced on Dec. 1. Constantine nominated Michelle Allison to replace him.
White stepped into the role in December 2020 after previously serving in an interim capacity. Prior to that, he was the deputy general manager. When asked by The Urbanist why he wanted the gig — especially at that point in the pandemic, before vaccines were available to the majority of the population — he talked about his love of the system, which he had used since he was a child.
When he came back from college, he applied for jobs at Metro, eventually securing one as an “operator,” which he thought meant “bus driver.”
“Turns out it was telephone, but I took that job anyway,” he told The Urbanist.
Allison has been with King County for 12 years and Metro for six. She’s currently “second-in-command” and oversees the Bus Operations, Facilities, Vehicle Maintenance, Marine and Rail divisions.
Allison’s nomination will have to be confirmed by the King County Council.
Read more of the Dec. 14-20, 2022 issue.