Wills sent an election wrap-up letter to 644 precinct committee officers (PCOs) in Seattle. PCOs are locally elected party officials whose main responsibility is registering neighbors and getting out the vote on Election Day. They also raise money and have a say in who gets nominated to fill vacant county and state legislative seats. Basically, PCOs are the grassroots shock troops that politicians need to win elections.
To her credit, Wills quickly acknowledged that the mailing could be "misconstrued" as politically self-serving. When ethics officials raised the issue last month, Wills voluntarily repaid the city $334.52 to cover the cost of the mailing.
Wills was unavailable for comment, but in documents provided by Ethics and Elections officials, she insists her intentions were pure. A PCO herself, Wills said she merely wanted to thank the hard-working activists from both parties for their effort getting out the vote in November's election--an election that included no city races.
According to the report, Wills told officials that it "was not her intent to help a party or to help her in a future election." The report noted that "[Wills] is a PCO and feels strongly that the work they do is vital to our democracy."
There's nothing wrong with public officials using public office as a bully pulpit for campaign issues. After all, even though it raised eyebrows around city hall, The Stranger gave Wills a standing ovation a few months ago for using a city council meeting to trash I-745--the stupid initiative that would have dedicated 90 percent of transportation dollars to roads. ["Taking the Initiative," Josh Feit, Oct 19, 2000.]
However, dropping a note to party insiders is a different matter entirely. It's easy to see why the city employee (and PCO) who blew the whistle on Wills was concerned.
"The city of Seattle has nothing to do with the running of elections; it does not register voters; and PCOs are party officers, not city activists per se," says Carol Van Noy, executive director of Seattle's Ethics and Elections Commission. "There was a question about whether or not it was an appropriate use of funds."
