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McKenna
tive affairs director, Hunter Goodman, that
discussed various council business. But it
also included information on what McKen-
na deemed “External Business,” in which
the councilman said he was looking to pur-
sue the Republican convention invitation.
2002 had McKenna’s initials next to an item
labeled “PFA.” Hand-written notes from
that meeting indicate it was about Progress
For America, a group designed to support
the policies of President George W. Bush.
Another folder in McKenna’s archives is
dedicated to Progress For
America materials and notes
about McKenna’s efforts to
raise money for the group.
State laws related to using
government offices for politi-
cal work may no longer be
applicable to McKenna’s
files, since the statute of limi-
tations for such laws is five
years. However, he could be
subject to an ethics complaint in King
County, since those rules do not have
explicit time constraints.
Bruce Laing, who was McKenna’s
Republican predecessor on the council and
now chairs the King County Board of
Ethics, declined to comment on the specific
files found in McKenna’s archives. But he
noted both the county’s ethics code and
advisory opinions that explain what types of
activities are improper.
“It’s pretty specific. It’s pretty clear,”
Laing said.
One of those ethics opinions, published in
1996 not long after McKenna took office
there, gives broad guidance to county work-
ers about how to use various county facili-
ties. When it comes to fax machines, for
example, the ethics board said plainly that
they “may be used only to conduct official
county business.”
“Facsimile equipment, telephone line, and
paper are provided for transmitting and
receiving correspondence to conduct offi-
There are strong indications
that McKenna himself was at
least aware of how his District 6
office mixed campaign and
government document
In another memo, Goodman wrote to
“District Six Staff” in January 2003 about
items for discussion at a staff meeting.
While the agenda included many council
issues, such as a newsletter to constituents
and an update on solid waste matters, it also
scheduled staff to discuss “grassroots
fundraising and candidate meetings” as well
as McKenna’s re-election kickoff scheduled
for March of that year.
That re-election event is prominent in his
files. His folders include lists of attendees, a
map of where supporters would sit and a
minute-by-minute schedule of events.
Another memo for a staff meeting a year
prior referenced work needed for a specific
fundraiser. Another asks staff members
what needs to be done to get a fundraiser
going for McKenna. Another memo from
Goodman tells District 6 staff that an
“action item” is related to the 2004 cam-
paign for governor: “what is our next step in
finding our candidate?”
One of the District 6 staff meetings from
PHOTO BY SUSAN FRIED
continued from page 1
Two Rainier Valley Little League teams, Pepsi (green) and San Genro Foods
(yellow), played Saturday, May 19 at Rainier Playfield. The kids between
the ages of 9 and 12 are over halfway through the season. San Genro
Foods won the game despite a late burst of offense by Pepsi in the final
inning.
cial business, and may not be used for pri-
vate or personal business,” the advisory
opinion said. Similar rules apply for other
county facilities, though the opinions
approve the use of county facilities for
emergencies or if the use is brief, infre-
quent, cost-free and unobtrusive.
For personal use, the county ethics code
says that no employee “shall request or per-
mit the use of county-owned vehicles,
equipment, materials or property or the
expenditure of county funds for personal
convenience or profit.”
For campaign issues, the county ethics
code largely mirrors state law and says that
workers “shall not use or authorize the use
of the facilities of King County” for person-
al or ballot elections.
Goodman said the campaign-related files
in the archives were his and that they must
have been accidentally brought in from the
outside and co-mingled with the county
records. He said it was an error but not an
indication that campaign work occurred
there.
Read the rest of this story online at
www.theskanner.com
Liquor
continued from page 1
March upheld the initiative, but opponents
appealed that ruling directly to the Supreme
Court.
Mary Tennyson, a senior assistant attor-
ney general, defended the initiative. She
told justices that the $10 million dedicated
to public safety issues followed a historical
practice of devoting some liquor proceeds
to local governments.
And she argued the fees were not mis-
leading because the initiative clearly states
how those costs are set and who pays for
them.
Liquor distributors were allowed to begin
selling products directly to restaurants and
other liquor license holders March 1. The
state’s last day for liquor sales is May 31,
and the last liquor shipment to state stores is
scheduled for May 18.
If the Supreme Court overturns the initia-
tive, the first order of business would be to
restock the state stores’ dwindling liquor
supplies, said Pat Kohler, Liquor Control
Board director. Beyond that, the board
would have to reach out to the governor and
lawmakers to determine next steps, she said.
``This is kind of like a cruise ship, and it’s
a little hard to turn it around quickly,’’
Kohler said. ``But the voters did speak pret-
ty clearly that they wanted change.’’
Nearly 20 states control their retail or
wholesale liquor business. Some, such as
Iowa and West Virginia, have relinquished
partial control in recent years, but Washing-
ton would be the first in that group to aban-
don the liquor business entirely.
Associated Press writer Shannon Dininny
in Yakima contributed to this report.
partial remission.
Russell was nearing the end of his third
tour when his behavior changed, members
career.
On May 8, Russell sought help at a com-
bat stress clinic at Camp Stryker, where his
unit was located. On
May 10 Russell was
referred to the Camp
Liberty clinic, where he
received counseling and
prescription medication
to treat his symptoms.
Witnesses said the fol-
lowing day they saw
Russell crying and talk-
ing about hurting him-
self. He went back to the
Camp Liberty clinic,
where a doctor told him he needed to get
help or he would hurt himself. Russell tried
to surrender to military police to lock him
up so he wouldn’t hurt himself or others,
witnesses said.
Military prosecutors say Russell left the
clinic and later returned with a rifle he took
from his unit headquarters and began firing.
He was arrested afterward.
Killed in the shooting were Navy Cmdr.
Charles Springle, 52, of Wilmington, North
Carolina, and four Army service members:
Pfc. Michael Edward Yates Jr., 19, of Fed-
eralsburg, Maryland; Dr. Matthew Houseal,
of Amarillo, Texas; Sgt. Christian E. Bueno-
Galdos, 25, of Paterson, New Jersey; and
Spc. Jacob D. Barton, 20, of Lenox, Mis-
souri.
Russell deployed to Iraq with the 370th
Engineer Company, 54th Engineer Battal-
ion from Bamberg, Germany. In Iraq the
54th was assigned to the 555th Engineer
Brigade, based at Lewis-McChord, which is
responsible for the court martial.
The initiative takes effect June 1, and the
Washington Liquor Control Board already has
auctioned off the rights to sell liquor at many of
its state-run stores and issued layoff notices to
1,200 employees
Murder
continued from page 1
it is standard procedure for them not to
comment to the media, Dangerfield said.
The shooting was one of the worst
instances of soldier-on-soldier
violence in the Iraq war and raised
questions about the mental health
problems for soldiers caused by
repeated tours of duty.
``I don’t know of any other
worse blue-on-blue in Iraq,’’ Dan-
gerfield said.
A hearing on possible charges
was held in August 2009 at Fort
Leavenworth, Kansas. Two evalu-
ations presented during that hear-
ing said Russell suffered from
severe depression with psychotic features
and chronic post-traumatic stress disorder.
A March 2011 evaluation said the major
depression with psychotic features was in
The shooting was one of the worst
instances of soldier-on-soldier violence
in the Iraq war and raised questions
about the mental health problems for
soldiers caused by repeated tours of
duty
of his unit testified in 2009. They said he
became more distant in the days before the
May 11, 2009, attack, and that he seemed
paranoid that his unit was trying to end his
May 23, 2012
The Seattle Skanner Page 3