Today’s Kansas Government Ethics teleconference meeting dealt with two requests for waivers of civil penalties for late lobbyist reports, and two opinion requests about outside employment by state workers.
Requests for Waivers of Civil Penalty Assessments
Lobbyist Dodie Wellshear asked for a waiver on $720 in penalties (four separate penalties of $180 each). Wellshear in a letter said she thought she had filed reports online by the April 10 deadine, but there was a problem with that submission she only discovered in June.
Ms. Wellshear shares an office and the failure to file notice from the Ethics Commission was received by the office but not by her. A separate letter from her office gave details about Wellshear not receiving the certified letter.
Chairwoman Sabrina Standifer felt that Wellshear should take responsibility for the address she gave to the Ethics Commission and her failure to receive mail at that address since she had been a lobbyist for 15 years and represented multiple clients.
Executive Director Carol Williams explained that Wellshear had never been fined in the past for being late.
Commissioner John Solbach made a motion to waive half the fine since Wellshear thought she had filed online and was in compliance on April 10 and because she has a good history of compliance in the past. Solbach thought it was reasonable to “show that much mercy” given the circumstances. His motion was seconded.
Commissioner Barbara Bernard said she be willing to waive the whole penalty since it sounded like an honest mistake to her. Another commissioner agreed waiving the penalty was also acceptable to him, but Solbach’s motion was already on the table.
Solbach’s motion passed and Wellshear’s fine was reduced to $360.
The online lobbyist reports show $862 in lobbying expenditures this year for Wellshear. This means her penalty was 42% of her reported expenditures this year.
Lobbyist Judy Smith asked for a waiver on her $300 civil penalty. Smith’s letter showed a fax transmission report to prove she had faxed the report seven days late after receiving a failure to file notice (which would have been only a $70 fine). Carol Williams indicated that report showed Smith was off by one digit in the phone number she dialed for the fax, and the report was faxed somewhere else. Once the report was more than 30 days late, a civil penalty was assessed.
Commission Solbach indicated Smith should take responsibility for being off by the one digit, but made a motion to forgive half the penalty since that “ought to be sufficient to accomplish what we want to accomplish.” The motion passed and Smith’s penalty was reduced to $150 on a 7 to 2 vote.
Smith only reported $175 for lobbying for Concerned Women for America during 2009 according to the lobbying report distributed at the Ethics Commission meeting in July (the information could not be found online). The $150 penalty was 86% of the $175 Smith spent lobbying this year and was a very expensive single-digit mistake.
Advisory Opinion Requests
KBI Director Robert Blecha asked for an opinion about five specific scenarios where KBI staff had outside secondary employment activities. Blecha said all the outside work would be done on the employees’ personal time and would not overlap with state duties. Director Blecha did not feel these conflicted with state law, but wanted an opinion from the Ethics Commission.
Several members of the Ethics Commission felt supervisors were in a better position to ascertain whether there was a conflict of interest. Some on the Ethics Commission felt they were not always able to determine if there was overlap between the state job and the outside employment based on a job description.
The Ethics Commission decided to redraft their opinion and vote on the matter next month.
Jason Hawman, Natural Resource Officer II (Game Warden), from Wakeeney asked for an opinion on whether there was a conflict with him serving as a volleyball coach. Commissioner Tim Emert wondered if the Ethics Commission should make any decision without asking Wildlife and Parks the “other side” of the story and their repeated refusal to allow Hawman to take the coaching position.
The Commission voted that there was no conflict of state statues between being a game warden and a volleyball coach, but the decision was still up to Hawman’s supervisor on whether to allow the outside work and the time demands that may cause.
Closed Executive Session
No motions were made after a short 3-4 minute closed executive session.
The next Ethics Commission meeting was scheduled for Sept. 16 at 1 PM.
Related:
- Fort Hays Prof Fined $300 by Ethics Commission, Kansas Meadowlark, March 18, 2009.
- Kansas Ethics Commission can’t find political activist, who didn’t file PAC report, but newspapers can?, Kansas Meadowlark, July 1, 2008.
Tags: Advisory Opinion Requests, Civil Penalty Assessment, Ethics
