The Washington state Public Disclosure Commission (PDC) has dismissed a complaint against CT Publishing and The Silver Agency, both owned by Chad and Coralee Taylor, that alleged the companies failed to maintain publicly available commercial advertiser books.
CT Publishing is the parent company of The Chronicle.
In a letter Thursday, a PDC representative stated the commission will not “conduct a more formal investigation into these allegations or take further enforcement action.”
A lawyer representing the newspaper previously acknowledged the error to the PDC. According to the PDC, the May 16 letter serves as a “formal warning” and will be considered if future violations occur. The complaint was filed by Kyle Wheeler on Feb. 13.
“Both the Chronicle newspaper and the Silver Agency marketing firm were very reluctant to even provide the books for public inspection as required under RCW 42.17A.345,” Wheeler wrote in the complaint. “When these books were eventually provided, they were incomplete in not only the required categories listed in this RCW but I later discovered a transaction listed on the Lewis County Republican Party financial statements which were not included on the Silver Agency books until pointed out and corrected."
In response, the Dan Brady Law Firm said that CT Publishing, “was surprised that the public could access company records that in almost any other circumstance are not available to the public.”
Once The Chronicle became aware of the campaign finance and public disclosure requirements, it “began assembling the records requested."
“However, the records were not organized or formatted in such a manner that would allow immediate and complete disclosure,” the letter reads.
According to the response, the requested records are now available “to the extent they exist."
The Chronicle and the Silver Agency created “an internal record retention and data fulfillment process to ensure timely and complete disbursement of any information requested.” The Chronicle and the Silver Agency also established email addresses to service future responses.
“Based on our findings, staff has determined that, in this instance, CT Publishing and The Silver Agency’s failure to maintain and collect all required information …. so as to provide upon request an inspection of the books of account for political advertising, does not amount to a finding of a violation that calls for further investigation,” the PDC wrote in an email to Wheeler Thursday.
Chad and Coralee Taylor purchased The Chronicle and its sister publications in January 2021.
In recent months, Wheeler has filed several other PDC complaints against local officials and entities, including Centralia Mayor Kelly Smith Johnston, the Lewis County Republican Central Committee, Commissioner Scott Brummer and commissioner candidate Christina Riley.
Riley received a written warning on April 18 for a failure to report contributions during her campaign. In the letter warning Riley, the PDC stated it did not discover evidence that “the late reporting was done to intentionally conceal campaign activity from the public.”
“Based on our findings staff has determined that, in this instance, failure to timely and accurately submit C-4 reports disclosing a minor amount in expenditures and in-kind contributions does not amount to a finding of a violation that warrants further investigation,” the PDC wrote.
The Lewis County Republican Central Committee (LCRCC) received a written warning on Wednesday for failing to “timely and accurately disclose an in-kind contribution on a C-4 report for election year 2023.” The PDC found the error did not warrant a violation that needed additional investigation.
Complaints against Brummer and Smith Johnston are currently in the “assessment of facts” status, according to the PDC. They can be found at https://tinyurl.com/3mdmrnzu.
In a response on April 17, Brummer disputed the complaint.
“Mr. Wheeler claims I have failed to report a significant expenditure totaling $6,923.76 paid to the Silver Agency. I did not fail to report this expenditure,” Brummer wrote. “It was listed on the C-4 filing for the coverage period of July 26, 2022-August 31, 2022 under Schedule B: section 3 Debts and Obligations. This report was submitted on September 12, 2022.”
In a response dated April 17, Smith Johnston said the failure to report an expenditure was an “unintentional error.” According to the response, a campaign treasurer failed to file an expenditure report with the PDC “at some point along the way.”
“I apologize to the public for this error. I value openness and transparency with campaigning and it was my understanding and expectation that all financial information for my campaign was reported in a timely manner,” Smith Johnston wrote. “All reports have now been updated with correct expenditure information added.”
