Lieutenant Governor under investigation
The Washington State Executive Ethics Board has determined that reasonable cause exists to believe Lieutenant Governor Brad Owen used state resources to oppose Initiative 685, the 1997 ballot measure that would have allowed doctors to prescribe schedule I drugs such as marijuana, heroin and LSD.
The Ethics Board exists to investigate alleged violations of RCW 42.52, the chapter of Washington law dealing with ethics in public service. Section 180 of this chapter states that "No state officer or state employee may use or authorize the use of facilities of an agency, directly or indirectly, for the purpose of assisting a campaign for election of a person to an office or for the promotion of or opposition to a ballot proposition."
Two separate complaints were filed with the board regarding Owen's questionable campaigning, one by the board itself and the other by attorney Jeff Haley on behalf of Citizens for Drug Policy Reform, the organization behind I-685. The complaints included eight alleged violations.
On April 2, Owen responded to a request for an opinion on I-683. This initiative was reworded and later resubmitted as I-685. While public officials are allowed to respond to inquiries about their stance on an issue, Owen then forwarded the response to every legislator.
In conjunction with the April 2 letter, Owen directed Tim McGillivray, an employee of the Senate Democratic Caucus, to develop a press release announcing the letter Owen sent to all the legislators.
In response to a request for information on AIDS and marijuana, Owen allegedly directed staff member Vaughn Bunch to include a copy of the press release and the initial letter to the legislators.
On April 17 and April 24, Owen sent out letters titled "Today's Pot Shots!" in response to inquiries. The first addressed the issue of marijuana as medicine and the second touched on Arizona's proposition 200 and the release of nonviolent drug offenders. As with the April 2 letter, Owen forwarded both of these letters to every legislator. While the letters didn't specifically address I-683 or I-685, the Ethics Board believes a violation may exist because the unsolicited letters concerned key provisions of the Initiatives.
The rest of the alleged violations deal with Owen's speaking engagements and his "Marijuana Awareness" program. The Lieutenant Governor was asked to administer the "Marijuana Awareness/ Education Effort" component of the 1997 High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area federal grant. The Office of National Drug Control Policy awarded the Lieutenant Governor's office $168,117 for this task. At the seminars put on throughout the state using funding from this grant, Owen allegedly campaigned against I-685.
The Ethics Board found reasonable cause did not exist in only one of the accusations. Haley claimed the Lieutenant Governor illegally used public resources when he traveled to Yakima to give a one hour speech against I-685 before the Washington State Medical Association. As Lieutenant Governor, Owen is entitled to security services provided by the Washington State Patrol's Executive Protection Unit (EPU) for transportation. The board found that the mere presence of the EPU did not constitute the use of state facilities for the purpose of opposing I-685. Because the speech was made on Owen's own time without the use of public resources other than the EPU, no violation was found.
Owen says the main focus of his office is drug prevention and related policy. He views the complaints as attempts to stifle his responses to proposed changes to drug policy.
The Ethics Board has yet to schedule a hearing to confirm its findings. It is expected to be held this Fall.