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PDC moves to publish complaint‑publication draft rule, replacing 'news media' notice with website publication
Summary
The commission authorized staff to publish a proposed rule modernizing the complaint publication process so publishing complaints and responses on the PDC website will satisfy notice obligations; commissioners also required a clerical correction in the draft before publication.
The Washington State Public Disclosure Commission voted on May 28 to publish a draft proposed rule to modernize the agency's complaint publication process by treating posting on the PDC website as the mechanism for notifying the public and media.
Staff explained that older rule language required the executive director to notify the "news media," wording that predates widespread online publication. "The purpose of this rule would be to change the notification for the news media simply to publishing the complaint and response on the agency's website," staff member Sean Flint told the commission. He said the website is where reporters and the public now look for enforcement updates.
Commissioners asked follow‑up questions about how media would be notified in practice, whether the agency would maintain a media list and whether the website post alone would be sufficient to achieve the intended publicity. Staff said the agency uses a media list, targeted emails and allows any member of the public or media to sign up for notifications on particular cases.
A procedural correction also surfaced: a repeated typographical reference to an "executor" rather than the correct term "executive director." Commissioners directed staff to correct that clerical error before publishing. The motion to publish the draft as the agency's proposed rule, with the correction, carried unanimously.
What happens next: The agency will publish the proposed rule for public comment through the Administrative Procedure Act process; staff will accept public comment and return to the commission with any recommended changes before possible adoption.
