McIver draws on city funds to pay fine

Seattle City Councilman Richard McIver used city money to pay a $1,000 fine levied by the Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission last month after finding that he had given the appearance of favoritism in awarding city contracts to a longtime friend.

Ethics and Elections Director Wayne Barnett said he will return the money to the city's law department, which issued the check. Tuesday, he sent a letter saying the fine is meant to be paid by the councilman with his own money, not by the city.

"It is absurd," Barnett said. "It violates the public trust to pay the fine with public money.

	McIver

"The Commission expects Councilmember McIver to settle this judgment, and will explore seeking to enforce its order in Superior Court" barring McIver's payment of the fine with city funds, Barnett said.

The ethics commission order says specifically that McIver should pay $500 for each of his two violations from his personal funds.

In a brief response Tuesday, McIver said he and the law department believe the Municipal Code allows the city's judgment claims fund to pay the fine, because the violation happened during the course of his work as a city councilman.

"It is regrettable that I am now caught in the middle of a disagreement over the interpretation of the law," McIver said in the statement.

Barnett said the code may need to be changed in that case.

"If the Commission lacks the authority to fine city officers or employees for violating the Ethics Code, then the code should be amended to reflect that reality," he said.

McIver, 67, has been in and out of the hospital in recent weeks after colon surgery that was scheduled after precancerous cells were found. He went home a few days later, but was readmitted after complaining of fatigue.

He is back home now and feeling well enough that he came into the office to work for a while Monday, said his legislative aide, Paul Elliott.

McIver has served on the council since 1997, when he was appointed to fill a vacancy. He was elected later that year to a four-year term and re-elected in 2001 and 2005. He is chairman of the council's Housing and Economic Development Committee.

In July, McIver was fined $1,000 for awarding a $42,000, no-bid contract to a consulting firm to evaluate the city Auditor's Office within days of vacationing at the Virgin Islands condominium of Joann Francis, a principal in the firm.

Although McIver did not intend to violate city laws and did not personally gain from the award, "the ethics code of the city of Seattle requires the decision maker to consider the appearance of their decision, as well as the reality of their decision," Michele Radosevich, chairwoman of the commission, said at the time.

In October, McIver spent two nights in jail and was charged with fourth-degree assault after a late-night incident at his home.

On the eve of trial in January, King County prosecutors dropped the charges after a judge ruled jurors would not be allowed to hear statements the alleged victim, his wife, made that night to police and a 911 operator. Marlaina Kiner-McIver had refused to testify against her husband.