Seattle ethics commission suspends $5,000 fine for Kubly violation

The City of Seattle’s Ethics Commission was all set Wednesday. It had the complete investigation into department of transportation director Scott Kubly’s ethics violation. It had a settlement agreement over that investigation. The discussion was slated for that afternoon, but there was one thing the commission didn’t have: Kubly.

Kubly showed up about 30 minutes late for the ethics commission’s meeting. Commission Chair Eileen Norton said she was “very disappointed” that Kubly was not present at the start of the meeting.

Related: SDOT Director Scott Kubly violated ethics rules, settles with Seattle

“Do we know why he is not here,” Norton asked.

Ethics hearing on #seattle DOT director Scott Kubly. Ethics chair: I’m very disappointed Mr. Kubly is not here.Do we know why he’s not here?

— Linzi Sheldon (@LinziKIRO7) July 6, 2016

But Kubly soon rushed into the room, explaining he was not aware that he was expected to be there.

“I didn’t realize I was needed at the meeting, but I had my chief of staff attending,” Kubly said after the meeting. “Once I learned the ethics commission wanted me there I went right upstairs.”

The investigation into Kubly’s relationship with Motivate, the company that operates Seattle’s bike share Pronto!, found that the SDOT director had a conflict of interest. Kubly worked to have the city purchase the bike share system. Kubly is served as president of the company under its previous name, Alta. It was further discovered that he was contacted by city officials at the start of his employment in Seattle about any potential conflicts of interest. Kubly then continued to lead the effort for the city to purchase the bike share.

“I was a contract employee acting in the role of president of the company,” Kubly told KIRO Radio. “I was acting as president for about six months. It was subsequently bought by a private equity firm and the ownership changed. My day-to-day responsibilities were around the operations of the bike shares that were up and running in New York, Boston and DC and Toronto. And a couple other cities but not Seattle and not Chicago.”

A settlement agreement between Kubly and the city had suggested a fine of $10,000. The ethics commission suspended $5,000 as long as Kubly doesn’t violate any more ethics codes within two years. That leaves $5,000 of a fine for the SDOT director to pay.

In an April 11 letter to investigator Marilyn Brenneman, Kubly said that he would agree to pay a $500 fine for the violations.

“My initial proposal, I made in an effort to get closure quickly,” Kubly said. “I went into the investigation acknowledging that I did not have a waiver (for a conflict of interest) and that it was an oversight. I have no history of any fines or any reasons for those fines. So I made a proposal without knowing what other fines have been. This seems in line with what other penalties are out there.”

An apology

As the commission discussed the violation, Kubly took the opportunity to apologize.

“The confusion was my own,” Kubly said about not responding to the city’s request to clarify his conflicts of interests. “I have worked in the public sector enough to recognize that I should have followed up. And I did not.”

“I want to take a moment up front to apologize for this happening and for the distraction it’s caused,” Kubly told the ethics commission. “I take full responsibility for my actions and the violation of the ethics code.”

Kubly repeated his regrets after the meeting while speaking with KIRO Radio.

“I can assure listeners and residents of Seattle that it is not going to happen again,” Kubly said. “I’m hoping and happy to get closure today and refocus the public’s attention on the work that the department is going to help Seattle residents with their transportation needs.”

Kubly expressed his disappointment that his ethics violation has distracted Seattle from the work SDOT is engaged in.

“I’m really frustrated with myself, that a mistake I made has become a distraction from the work the department is doing,” he said. “That it’s in anyway reflective of anybody but myself. I take it really seriously that I am representing this department.”

“I am focused on making sure we are doing everything we can to demonstrate to voters and residents of Seattle that we are delivering on our commitments,” he said. “It is really frustrating that this ethics investigation is overshadowing (other) news – just today we got a $5 million grant to pay for the lander street overpass.”

Kubly noted that the project has been in the works for nearly two decades and will help connect freight to the Port of Seattle.

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