Former Costco CEO gets bill for Obama fundraising visit; Seattle to absorb $40k cost
Sep 12, 2014, 1:41 PM | Updated: 1:42 pm
Former Costco CEO Jim Sinegal will be getting a bill to cover the costs of police overtime for
President Obama’s fundraiser at his Hunt’s Point home this summer. But it’ll hardly break the bank.
The City of Medina, which contracts to provide police services to neighboring Hunt’s Point, is charging Sinegal $2,467.73, The Seattle Times reports.
“The City Council doesn’t believe the taxpayers should have to pay for something like that,” Medina City Manager Mike Sauerwein told KIRO Radio about the private fundraiser.
Sinegal tells the Times he doesn’t mind paying the bill, as long as the city charges everyone fairly, not just Democrats.
Sauerwein says there are no partisan politics in play, just covering the costs.
The City of Seattle, meanwhile, isn’t worrying about the costs incurred by the presidential visit. The Times reports the city spent $39,474 for police overtime during the July 22 visit, which included a quick fundraiser at the Madrona home of commercial real-estate developer Bruce Blume and his wife, Ann.
Although the trip was purely political, a spokesman for mayor Ed Murray says the city’s policy has been to not bill for presidential visits of any kind, regardless of the reason.
