(The Center Square) – Gov. Bob Ferguson conceded this week to violating state ethics law, agreeing to accept a $4,000 fine for letting his former chief strategy officer take a taxpayer-funded flight with him last year.
The order Ferguson signed earlier this week could resolve a complaint the state Executive Ethics Board received last July, alleging that the governor misused state resources and gave the former advisor, Mike Webb, special privileges.
The board will consider approving the agreement during a meeting on May 8.
If approved, Ferguson will face a $4,000 fine, with half suspended if he pays $2,000 within 45 days of the board accepting the stipulations and avoids committing any more violations for the next two years.
Doing so would allow the first-term Democratic governor to avoid a hearing and facing additional fines.
“Governor Ferguson invited Mike Webb on the State Patrol aircraft because Mike Webb had a meeting in the Tri-Cities on the same day Governor Ferguson was scheduled to fly to the same area,” according to the order. “Ferguson knew there was an extra seat on the aircraft, so they offered it to Mike Webb.”
The agreement awaiting board approval states that Ferguson admits that Webb’s presence may have given the false impression that Webb still had a role in the administration.
The former aide resigned in March, several weeks before the flight, amid allegations that he created a hostile work environment.
According to an ethics investigation, the quick trip to Tri-Cities was billed at $2,094.68 per flight hour.
Ferguson argued in written responses to the board that he did not use state resources for private gain.
“The flight in question was not at capacity. The individual’s presence did not displace any state employee. It did not create additional cost in terms of fuel, staffing, or timе. The state incurred no financial burden or misuse of taxpayer resources,” he wrote in a response to the board last year.
The ethics board disagreed, declaring that Ferguson violated the state’s Ethics in Public Service Act.
The governor’s office did not respond to The Center Square’s request for comment before publishing.
“Please note this is not final until it is signed by the board,” Ruthann Bryant, an administrative officer for the state Executive Ethics Board, wrote in an email to The Center Square regarding the agreement.
