Campaigning at WA school board and council meetings isn’t allowed, but it happened here
For those who may not be aware, Washington state election laws forbid candidates from campaigning at facilities such as school buildings.
And candidates should know that a school board meeting is not the appropriate place for politicking.
But on Dec. 8 the wife of 4th District congressional candidate Jerrod Sessler used the public comment portion of the Kennewick School Board meeting to stump for her husband.
According to Washington state election laws, Nikki Sessler should not have been allowed to continue speaking when it became apparent she was actually campaigning.
But it’s tricky for public agencies to stop that from happening.
Kennewick School District Attorney Bronson Brown said that public agencies are restricted from limiting a person’s speech during an open public forum.
In the future, the Sesslers and other candidates shouldn’t use the public comment portion of a local governmental meeting to campaign.
It also means that members of Tri-City school boards, city councils and county commissions should be on guard in case other candidates try something similar.
State law — specifically RCW 42.17A.555 — prohibits the use of a public agency’s facilities to directly, or indirectly, assist the election campaign of any person running for office.
Kim Bradford, deputy director of the state Public Disclosure Commission, said the agency looks at complaints on a case-by-case basis, but generally speaking, it would be up to the school district to make sure people are following state law.
But Brown said public agencies can’t restrict someone from talking because of the content of their speech, making this a “sticky situation.”
Jerrod Sessler, a former NASCAR driver, business owner and candidate for the House of Representatives, announced in April that he plans to run as a Republican challenging Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Sunnyside.
Prior to this particular meeting, the Kennewick School Board had been conferencing virtually since the state COVID lockdown in 2020.
So this gathering was the first time in months that school board members met in person, and parents were lined up to voice their opinions over mask mandates in school classrooms and a variety of other issues.
This also happened to be the meeting where new school board members Micah Valentine and Gabe Galbraith were sworn in, and board member Michael Connors was chosen as the new board president.
After the formalities, it was Connor’s first time to run the meeting.
One by one the speakers approached the podium for public comments. When it was Nikki Sessler’s turn, she introduced herself as Jerrod Sessler’s wife and proceeded to talk about his congressional bid and his position on family values.
She ended by saying, “Please support my husband’s campaign and our efforts. I can promise you that we will fight tooth and nail to support our families and the safety of our children here in Central Washington.”
And even though Nikki Sessler received a round of applause from the audience after her talk, a school board meeting should not be used as a forum to promote a candidate’s political ambitions.
The time for comments during school board and other local governmental meetings is set aside so citizens can address their elected officials, and candidates running for office shouldn’t intrude on time reserved for constituent concerns.
Can you imagine what would happen if every political hopeful started using school board and city council meetings to garner support?
Such a trend could get out of hand, with candidates attending only to boost their image. And in the process they would be taking time away from the work at hand.
Brown said the public comment portion of a school board meeting is not required by law, and if it ever gets to the point where candidates are regularly abusing the forum, he will advise the school board to do away with it.
That would be a travesty.
We already have seen how partisan politics invaded nonpartisan races in this community during the last election.
We don’t need campaign rhetoric also hijacking local government meetings — especially when there are state election laws against it.
This story was originally published December 19, 2021 at 4:00 AM.