(The Center Square) – Months after Spokane City Councilmember Zach Zappone was accused of campaign finance violations, the Washington State Public Disclosure Commission has dismissed the matter without taking any action.
The initial complaint was filed by self-styled “investigative citizen journalist” Glen Morgan on May 4, alleging that Zappone should be reprimanded for moving approximately $7,900 from his unsuccessful 2020 state Legislature campaign into his 2021 Spokane City Council campaign fund.
The complaint also alleged failure to timely file financial disclosure documents, failure to accurately report income/contribution data with the PDC and failure to get written approval by donors to transfer funds to a campaign for different office.
The PDC found merit in some of the allegations, replying on June 1 that it was investigating Zappone for failure to timely and accurately disclose fund transfer information between campaigns, as well as for transferring funds from his legislative campaign to the city council campaign without written authorization from contributors
The commission heard testimony on Zappone’s case at its June 22 regular meeting in Spokane, but decided to delay rendering a decision until its July 27 meeting. The PDC’s decision was announced in a news release on Wednesday.
“In dismissing the matter against Zappone, the Commission cited that Zappone was following existing PDC guidance in 2021 and could not have foreseen the change in guidance in 2023,” the news release reads. “It also highlighted that the election in question is over, all funds have been spent and ‘the application of Interpretation 23-01 to completed prior year elections in this case is unwarranted.'”
In May, the PDC clarified that its rollover guidelines are only applied to candidates running multiple times for the same office. The PDC also changed the rules and said rolled-over donations must include the donors’ names and other information.
Noting that Zappone’s 2021 surplus transfer happened before the rules changed, the PDC opted not to retroactively reprimand Zappone.
The written order dismissing the case can be found here. A full list of other documents related to the complaint, including Zappone’s response, can be found here.
