Clark County Councilor Tom Mielke could face an investigation from the Washington State Public Disclosure Commission into an allegation that he used public resources to campaign last fall.
According to a complaint filed by Jackie Lane of Battle Ground, Mielke used his county email to campaign against the Home Rule Charter ballot measure, as well as against Craig Pridemore, who lost to Councilor Jeanne Stewart last November.
Mielke, however, said the complaint is a “reach in the best of sense.”
Lane alleges that the three email exchanges from 2014 contained in the complaint are in violation of state law forbidding elected officials from using public resources to campaign for candidates or ballot measures.
Lane discovered the emails after searching through public records requests posted on the Clark County website.
“I was dumbfounded,” she said. “Surely commissioners know they aren’t supposed to be electioneering on county time.”
The first email, forwarded to Mielke on July 29, contained an exchange between charter opponent John Anderson, a Republican precinct committee officer, and Clark County Republican Party Chairman Kenny Smith. The email contains a document titled “Resolution To Defeat the Freeholders’ Charter,” which calls on Clark County Republicans to “urge the defeat” of the charter.
Mielke then forwarded the email to district18rep@msn.com, which he said has been his private email address since his days as a state representative. Mielke said that when he receives email at his Clark County account that appear personal, he forwards them to that account.
In the second set of email, an exchange between Woodland Chamber of Commerce Treasurer Darlene Johnson and Mielke on Oct. 22 and 23, Mielke discourages the Woodland chamber from taking a position on the charter.
Johnson forwarded Mielke a press release from the Greater Vancouver Chamber of Commerce and the Camas-Washougal Chamber of Commerce, in which they announce their support of the charter.
“Thought you might be interested in what is being email [sic] to Chamber on the Charter issue,” Johnson wrote to Mielke.
“The Charter is a disaster,” Mielke responded. “Please don’t let the chamber take a position on this, it will put them in a bad light.”
Mielke said he and Johnson have been longtime friends, and that he was making a simple recommendation.
“When you have an organization that should be neutral, it was good advice,” he said.
The final email, sent from local conservative Larry Patella on Oct. 23 to a mailing list whose members are not identified, details a series of votes made and stances taken by then-commissioner candidate Pridemore, and urges readers to vote for Stewart.
Patella was the leading plaintiff in a 2013 lawsuit over light rail transit on the Columbia River Crossing.
“WOW!” Mielke responded to the entire list. “JUST WOW! HARD TO BELIEVE ALL THIS WENT RIGHT DOWN PARTY LINES… ENOUGH ABOUT WORKING WELL WITH OTHERS.”
Mielke said he has already made a statement to the Public Disclosure Commission justifying his email activities, and doesn’t think he’ll face repercussions from the complaint.
“I’m a little disappointed,” Mielke said of the complaint.
Lane, meanwhile, said she “expects some accountability” from Mielke.
“I expect someone to hold Tom Mielke and all our councilors accountable for a high level of ethical behavior,” she said.
