A Bothell lawyer filed a complaint with the Washington State Public Disclosure Commission against City Council candidate Tris Samberg on Oct. 24. The complaint alleges four PDC violations but Samberg said that only one of the complaints is valid and was an oversight from her 2011 campaign.
The complaint, filed by Steven J. Fields, states that Samberg violated PDC rules in December of 2011 when she failed to file the last C-4 report in her 2011 campaign against current Bothell Mayor Mark Lamb. Samberg, who occupied Position 2 on the council, chose not to run for reelection for that seat and instead challenged Lamb for Position 6.
After losing to Lamb, Samberg was required to file her last C-4 by Dec. 10, 2011. A C-4 is used to report total contributions and expenditures for a defined period and overall campaign. Samberg did not file the form until June 17, 2013.
“[The issue] is valid, and was an oversight and mistake on my part, with the 2011 campaign being my first time reporting to the PDC as a ‘full-reporting’ candidate,” Samberg said. “I made several first-timer mistakes during the 2011 campaign, including ‘contributing’ instead of ‘loaning’ money to my campaign, which required me to carry-over $544.99 to the 2013 campaign. Ironically, I spent less than $5,000 in the 2011 campaign, which had I not selected ‘full-reporting’ and not given my campaign money I didn’t use, I wouldn’t have had to do any PDC reporting at all beyond the initial C-1 and F-1. Again, these first-timer mistakes worked to my disadvantage, but were certainly not intended to deceive the public.”
Field’s complaint goes on to allege that Samberg filed her C-1 form late during the current campaign.
The form, which is a political committee registration form, was to be filed by May 31 and the complaint states that Samberg filed the form on June 17.
“I filed my initial C-1 on May 30 in a timely fashion,” Samberg said. “I also requested a timely change to full-reporting on June 18 and was granted that request on June 20.”
The Reporter has confirmed Samberg’s information regarding the C-1 report with the PDC website.
Fields’s third complaint alleges that Samberg filed her F-1, or personal financial affairs form, 15 days late.
“I attempted to file the F-1 electronically but unknowingly failed to complete the transaction,” said Samberg. “The PDC staff member said this was a ‘common mistake’ compounded by the fact that you can’t check your F-1 online. When I received the letter that they didn’t have my F-1 on file, I mailed a printed copy to the office.”
The final complaint by Fields states that in 2011 Samberg failed to report contributions, which she subsequently made to her 2013 campaign.
“[The PDC] confirmed that I correctly reported my 2011 contribution to my 2013 campaign on my June 18 C-4 statement, so Mr. Fields is also wrong on that complaint,” said Samberg. “When I discovered that I had not correctly closed my 2011 campaign in June, I asked the PDC staff member to walk me through the process to make sure I had closed the 2011 campaign and reported the funds correctly to the 2013 campaign.”
