Ethics officer recommends Kennewick councilman be reprimanded for his ‘investigation’

Kennewick Councilman John Trumbo violated a city code dealing with personal integrity when he called and questioned a woman about her real estate dealings with state Sen. Sharon Brown.

Trumbo argues he “did everything he needed to do to properly identify himself” and to make clear to the home buyer that he was not acting in his capacity as a city council member, Kennewick’s ethics officer wrote in his five-page decision.

“It speaks volumes that the day after the telephone conversation, two individuals called the city to complain,” attorney Thomas Atwood concluded after a February hearing.

However, Atwood also found the violation was not based on any improper motive and was not part of a pattern of conduct.

On Tuesday, Trumbo’s six fellow board members will decide whether to go along with Atwood’s recommendation and reprimand the councilman for his conduct.

The complaint is under new business during the 6:30 p.m. Kennewick City Council meeting, which will be broadcast live online.

Trumbo has fought the ethics complaint since it was filed against him last November by Councilman Charles Torelli and then-Councilman Paul Parish.

At a public hearing on the complaint in February, Trumbo said it was not valid and asked that it be dismissed outright.

His issue is with Senator Brown, who he claims has been less-than-honest with the Benton County Republican Party about a licensed marijuana greenhouse business that was founded and operated by her now-ex husband and his son.

Brown, her ex Fraser Hawley, John Hawley and businessman Thomas Arnold all are defendants in a breach-of-contract lawsuit filed by Michael Shemali and his company, MS Properties.

Shemali alleges they failed to repay $350,000 of two loans totaling $750,000 to help with the defendants’ company, Pure Green.

Brown is a party to the lawsuit because she was married to Fraser Hawley when the promissory note contracts were initiated in 2016.

She has said in court documents that she was not involved in and had no knowledge of the promissory notes, did not sign any such documents related to the business and is now divorced from Hawley with a postnuptial. She has asked that any claims against their marital estate be dismissed.

Brown is a lawyer and former Kennewick council member who was appointed in 2013 to the Washington Senate representing the 8th Legislative District.

She is one of six people running to replace Judge Bruce Spanner when he retires at the end of the year from the Benton-Franklin Superior Court bench.

Fraser Hawley, who appears to be representing himself in the civil action, wrote in a court filing that he never received the loan money and was not privy to any conversations between Shemali and Arnold.

He also said his son was the governor and registered agent of Pure Green, and disputed allegations that he touted his marriage to the state senator when discussing business deals or his trustworthiness and ability to pay back any loans.

The couple’s former Canyon Lakes home sold last September to LuAnn Davison.

Homebuyer call

Trumbo contacted the homebuyer in October and asked probing questions about the sale, in addition to a mechanic’s lien on the home and whether remodeling had been done.

Davison testified at the February hearing that when she returned Trumbo’s call, he identified himself as a councilman but said she might also recognize his name as a longtime Tri-City Herald reporter.

She said the conversation was inappropriate after initially believing he wanted to talk with her about city business. She complained to Kennewick City Hall and was granted a meeting with the city manager, city attorney and police chief.

In his own version of the phone call, Trumbo said he told Davison he is a councilman and retired newspaper reporter only because he didn’t want to be confused with retired Umatilla County Sheriff John Trumbo. He said he wanted to make that distinction because he knew Davison works in Hermiston.

When Davison asked in the call if he was writing a news article, Trumbo said he told her he no longer worked as a reporter.

He claims he later repeated that he was calling as a private citizen and not a councilman. He said he then phoned Brown “as a courtesy,” and Brown replied to his message by sending an email to the Kennewick city manager.

Ethics complaint

Torelli and Parish said they signed the ethics complaint in November because it was clear to them what Trumbo did was against the city’s ethics code for council members.

Parish testified that it is wrong for a council member to ask a resident financial questions, and said he previously told Trumbo that he should “stop being a reporter and start being a councilman.”

Trumbo issued a two-page news release in April talking about his own “investigation,” starting in 2018, that has led to “dozens and dozens of public records and other statements of facts” about Brown’s alleged knowledge of her husband and stepson’s marijuana business.

He also alleges that Brown was “complicit in a scheme” involving the filing of a mechanic’s lien on the home after failing to pay remodeling costs. He says his investigation shows no building permits were issued for the home, and believes the lien is bogus.

The crux of the complaint against Trumbo was the councilman using his position or title to improperly seek information, according to Atwood’s findings.

The Council Code of Ethics says the “professional and personal conduct of officials must be above reproach and avoid even the appearance of impropriety.”

Atwood acknowledged Trumbo’s point that the complaint by Torelli and Parish “was not sworn out under penalty of perjury.”

However, both of them testified under oath at the hearing in February. And public policy is best served if a matter is decided on its merits, rather than dismissed because of a procedural error, wrote Atwood.

As for the homebuyer, she was “left with the impression that Mr. Trumbo was trying to obtain information under false pretenses,” Atwood said in his hearing decision. “Ms. Davison felt that the telephone call was overly intrusive so she contacted City of Kennewick officials to complain about the conversation.”

Entitled to investigate

Trumbo had argued that he is entitled to investigate matters, particularly if there are public records, without getting prior permission from fellow council members.

“Mr. Trumbo’s motivation was not to intrude on Ms. Davison, but to learn more about the seller’s situation,” Atwood wrote. “He was not motivated by personal advancement nor personal gain.”

Atwood said while evidence presented by Trumbo suggests Brown had “financial, personal and even political problems” and “intimates some sort of scandal,” it is not his role as the city’s ethics officer to determine whether she engaged in improper activity.

Brown’s conduct is irrelevant to this matter, and the only issue is Trumbo’s conversation with the homebuyer, he said.

Trumbo asked “intrusive questions” and, despite his efforts to the contrary, he “improperly created the impression he was acting in his capacity as a City Council member.”

His motive for the conduct appears to be well meaning, Atwood concluded, but the reason for it does not justify the method.

“Mr. Trumbo stated at the council meeting that he could not help it if someone thinks he was ‘disingenuous,’” said Atwood. “... Whether Mr. Trumbo intended to give a false appearance, he certainly left one with Ms. Davison.”

Council members have a duty to avoid creating the appearance of impropriety, and that is why he recommended Trumbo be reprimanded, said Atwood.