Move Bellevue Forward Settles With PDC For Campaign Violation

Updated Dec. 12 with a correction, listed at the end of the story.

Bellevue progressive group Move Bellevue Forward was fined $1,000, with $500 of that suspended, last week after the group settled with the Washington State Public Disclosure Commission after it investigated claims that it violated several campaign finance disclosure laws.

According to the Washington State Public Disclosure Commission, the group stipulated to a campaign finance law violation that it failed to timely register as a political committee and report contributions and expenditures when it raised money to spend on publicizing its opposition to a statewide initiative and 2011 Bellevue City Council candidate endorsements. 

Move Bellevue Forward, most visible recently during the Bellevue City Council discussions of the Sound Transit East Link light rail line, agreed to a $1,000 penalty with $500 suspended provided the committee is not found in violation of campaign finance disclosure laws in the next 4 years and the non-suspended portion of the penalty is paid within 30 days, according to the Washington State Public Disclosure Commission.

Among the laws investigated were that the group missed a deadline to file as a political action committee and did not disclose the top 5 donors to a campaign mailing in support of three council candidates -- John Stokes, John Chelminiak and Claudia Balducci -- and in opposition to Initiative 1125, according to the Washington State Public Disclosure Commission.

In an 11-page letter signed by board of directors president Suzanne Baugh, the group stated that the mistakes were inadvertent and that they were unaware of the campaign disclosure requirements for the $6,615 mailing that was sent to Bellevue homes on Oct. 18.

"At the time the pieces were mailed, MBF did not realize that community advocacy groups such as itself that are not organized for the purpose of supporting of opposing particular candidates or ballot propositions could, nonetheless, be subject to reporting requirements if they publicly endorsed a candidate or took a position on an intiative," the letter stated.

The PDC, which ruled on the matter last week, reported that the registered nonprofit group, which advocates for light rail in Bellevue and other progressive causes, should have filed as a political action committee no later than Oct. 11, according to the Public Disclosure Commission.

The investigation was sparked after Geoff Bidwell sent a letter complaining about the mailing and the group to the state Attorney General's office, which forwarded the complaint to the Public Disclosure Commission.

Move Bellevue Forward incorporated in February as a nonprofit that advocated for the East Link light rail line, and members have appeared numerous times before the city council in support of the light rail option that Sound Transit selected, according to the group.

At the same Dec. 8 meeting, the Public Disclosure Commission asked investigators to reopen a complaint against a 2010 mailer sent by the nonprofit group Americans for Prosperty Washington, which had listed candidates' positions but did not endorse any particular candidates. The investigators had recommended dismissing the complaint against a 2010 mailer sent by the nonprofit group Americans for Prosperity Washington, but commissioners asked for additional material. Kirby Wilbur, who had headed Americans for Prosperity Washington at the time of the mailing, is now the head of the state Republican Party.

*The original version of this story incorrectly stated the outcome of the agenda item on Americans for Prosperty Washington. This has now been corrected.