Mayoral candidate raises questions about opponent’s transparency

Ariana Lake by Ariana Lake

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There are still months before voters decide who will be the next Mayor of Spokane, but there are already accusations being leveled against one of the most high-profile candidates.

Mayoral candidate Andy Rathbun issued a statement Saturday claiming opponent Nadine Woodward missed the deadline to file certain campaign finance reports.

“The former reporter failed to report her transparency documents. I would think that Ms. Woodward, as a former journalist, would be the first to file documents that bring sunlight to the citizens regarding her campaign finances,” Rathbun said in a statement. “Campaigns are a proving-ground for leadership, and when it comes to transparency, Ms. Woodward is not off to a good start.”

Woodward’s campaign responded to KXLY4’s request for a comment, saying “this kind of “Gotcha” petty politics hurts our campaigns and the search for practical solutions. I welcome the chance to hear more about all the candidates’ plans for reducing homelessness and property crime — real issues that we need to solve.”

At question is an F-1 form that all candidates must file with the state’s Public Disclosure Commission (PDC).

The personal financial affairs statement shows whether candidates have any conflicts on interest, according to the PDC.

The document must be filed within two weeks of:

first raising or spending money for the campaign

reserving space or purchasing advertising to promote candidacy

authorizing someone else to do those activities

publicly announcing candidacy

filing the declaration of candidacy

The PDC confirmed with KXLY that Woodward filed the F-1 form Monday, which is less than two weeks after her announcement April 2 that she was a candidate for mayor. She also filed her candidacy declaration form with the PDC that day.

Rathbun claimed Woodward should have filed sooner because she registered a website URL March 13, 2019.

Woodward’s campaign said the website URL was reserved in case she ran for some kind of public office in the future. A spokesperson’s statement went on to say that Woodward “was considering running for mayor during March, but did not make a final decision until the end of that month.”

Woodward’s website is registered with WIX, but appears to be part of their paid website subscription. Her campaign would not provide a receipt of the website’s URL purchase to KXLY.

A spokesperson with the PDC couldn’t speak to this situation, but said that “in general, spending money to register a domain in anticipation of running for a particular office would make the person a candidate in the eyes of the PDC.”

Campaign spending and donations have to be reported monthly to the PDC. The form, known as a C-4, is prompted when there is $200 or more in activity, according to a PDC spokesperson. So, if Woodward’s campaign had spent less than that in March, her first C-4 report would be due in May.

Her campaign said “we did not open a bank accounty until April 2,” adding that there were “no expenditures” at the time.

No formal complaints have been filed with the PDC against Woodward as of news time. Rathbun said he does not intend to file a complain because “he does not want to be known as a ‘litigist’.” He added that he issued a statement over the weekend because he wanted people to know about these requirements.

The full list of candidates for mayor includes Ben Stuckart, Shawn Poole, Andy Rathbun, Jonathan Bingle, Chris Schroll, Jason Dixon, Kelly Cruz, and Nadine Woodward.

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