Public Disclosure Complaint Against Tahoma Parents – Our Response and Path Forward
On 3/28/2022 Maple Valley community member Alex Brady filed a Public Disclosure Commission (PDC) complaint against Tahoma Parents. The allegations claimed we were acting in the capacity of a Political Action Committee (PAC) by telling people “how to engage with the Tahoma School Board…”
Alex Brady’s Complaint to the PDC
What is a PAC and why does it matter?
PACs are extremely effective organizations within politics, as they are essentially allowed to receive and expend high dollar amounts for elections. While individuals in Washington State are limited in how much they may donate to a local candidate directly ($1000), they can donate unlimited money to a local PAC. PACs can carry funds long-term allowing for a form of electoral advocacy that spans multiple years of elections, candidates, and ballot measures. Furthermore, PACs can operate separately from a candidate’s campaign, allowing them to have limitless spending ability.
In short, PACs are a powerful long-term tool for winning elections.
When Tahoma Parents was founded, we were careful to ensure that we avoided operating in a manner that would force us to register as a PAC. While Political Action Committees are powerful, management is extensive, time consuming, and we simply did not have the resources to operate in such a manner. We also believed we could still effectively advocate in legal ways outside of the realm of “political advertising” which would have moved us into PAC territory. We responded to the complaint in kind.
Tahoma Parents Initial Response to the PDC
We believe the allegations against us were baseless, but as you can see we did acknowledge that we needed to further clarify our donation statement to ensure donors understood how we planned to execute spending. We are an honest organization made up of parents who simply want to advocate for our kids. We have no problem acknowledging mistakes and improving upon them. At the time of the complaint, we had no intention of spending money on “political advertising,” but the PDC’s response to us during the “Assessment of Facts” caused us to rethink this strategy.
In review of your website and responses, Tahoma Parents solicited contributions with the express intent to advocate for candidates. This activity meets the requirements under Washington State law for Tahoma Parents to register with the Public Disclosure Commission as a political committee and report its contributions and expenditures. As you changed the website text and indicated you would not be advocating for and endorsing political candidates, the information should be reported up to the point the organization changed its website text.
The PDC ruled that Tahoma Parents must file for PAC status during the time where our donation statement was not specific enough. The PDC was clearly not concerned with the allegations of how we were operating, but rather concerned that we had received money from donors who may have not been fully aware of how our money was to be used (mind you, all existing donors were familiar with the project and not misled).
In response, we had initially requested authorization to simply refund all donations made within the specified timeframe. While we awaited the PDC’s decision to our request, the founders of the Tahoma Parents project met to discuss the situation as the experience caused us to rethink our strategy. We asked ourselves one simple question.
“What’s stopping us from becoming a PAC?”
At the time of our founding we knew we could be much more effective as a PAC, but we simply did not have the resources or knowledge to operate in such a capacity. We have since gained incredibly talented supporters and people willing to help with the project, so was this restriction still real or was it simply an imagined limitation carried from the past? After pondering this dilemma, we came to the realization that we not only had the resources to become a PAC, but that we would be far more effective operating as one.
We are happy to announce that Tahoma Parents is now a full-fledged registered Political Action Committee.
Tahoma Parents can now advocate as a major force within the Tahoma School District to ensure the best candidates for our kids serve on the board. We are no longer just an information outlet, but an entity that can spend money to raise awareness for quality candidates who put education first. We are already forming digital, airwave, and ground strategies for 2023. “Education First” candidates will no longer be alone and will have support the moment they start their campaign.
We would like to thank Alex Brady for filing this complaint. We fully expected people to come after us for advocating parental rights and “Education First” candidates/policies. This was no surprise, but let it be known that what was intended as a lawfare tool to harm us has instead helped us to realize a much greater potential.
…PAID FOR BY TAHOMA PARENTS
While this change gives us greater advocacy power, it comes with some important changes that supporters need to be aware of. While content submitters can still remain completely anonymous, donations of more than $25 dollars will now require reporting by Tahoma Parents to the PDC.
