Council candidate Logan Bowers files ethics complaint against Sawant
Mar 6, 2019, 1:45 PM
Councilmember Sawant speaking at the Feb. 21 Human Services Committee meeting. (Seattle Channel)
(Seattle Channel)
According to a report from Capitol Hill Seattle, District 3 council candidate Logan Bowers has filed a formal ethics complaint against incumbent, Kshama Sawant.
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The complaint alleges that “Sawant appropriated city funds and resources for use by a political party.”
Bowers seems to be citing an early-January report from SCC Insight, that laid out a host of evidence alleging that Councilmember Sawant “has handed over significant decision-making to (Socialist Alternative) — including how she votes on business that comes before the City Council, and the hiring and firing of government-payroll staff in her office.”
Sawant is said to be among the leadership of Socialist Alternative, a group with a stated view pointing toward “the global capitalist system as the root cause of the economic crisis, poverty, discrimination, war, and environmental destruction.”
SCC Insight had previously noted that Socialist Alternative “doesn’t publish information on its leadership, nor does it disclose any information on its finances,” making it difficult to confirm Sawant’s role in the group’s hierarchy.
Bowers’ complaint levies a handful of other charges against Sawant, including that she and her staff use third party communications services to conduct City of Seattle business, using that as a means to avoid providing correspondence in public records requests.
All the candidates running for Seattle City Council in 2019
The complaint will next be reviewed by the Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission, a committee comprised of seven citizen volunteers. It was also filed with Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson.
Meanwhile, the race to unseat Sawant in District 3 continues to heat up. Bowers has already raised over $21,000 in campaign contributions, hot on the heels of the almost $24,000 Sawant has raised (as of Feb. 27, when the numbers were last updated).
District 3 candidates outside of Sawant and Bowers also include neighborhood activist Pat Murakami, Seattle Public Defender Ami Nguyen, and local activist Asukaa Jaxx. Former District 3 challenger and early front-runner Beto Yarce suspended his campaign in February.
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