More details released about ethics allegation against SDOT’s Scott Kubly
Apr 13, 2016, 1:16 PM | Updated: 2:20 pm
All those bikes the city purchased for its bike-share program would be come obsolete with an all-electric system. (City of Seattle)
(City of Seattle)
Amid an ongoing investigation, additional details have been released about the ethics violations allegations against Seattle Department of Transportation Director Scott Kubly.
It has been known that the city is paying $20,000 to investigate an ethics complaint that involves the city’s recently acquired bike share program Pronto! and that Kubly had a previous working relationship with the operation’s parent company. That could imply a conflict of interest.
Related: How to combine bike sharing and municipal broadband into one effort
The Seattle Times now reports that Kubly never submitted a conflict-of-interest form, and therefore never got a conflict-of-interest waiver related to the bike share.
In July 2014, Lorena Gonzalez — then with the mayor’s office, and now a city council member — sent Kubly an email asking him to submit any potential conflicts of interest he may have as he came on board with the city. But, according to the city, Gonzalez never heard back from Kubly.
Kubly did respond, in a way. Records show that he sent a response to the conflict-of-interest issue from his personal email account to his government email account. That response, however, only went between his personal and work email and did not ever get to Gonzales. Kubly told the Times that he believes the email, despite never making it to Gonzelez, shows he intended to disclose any conflicts of interest.
