PDC chair denies one request to withhold home address but grants confidential-address status in a separate record

Chair Jay Leach presiding over the Washington State Public Disclosure Commission’s brief adjudicative hearing addressed a request to partially exempt a candidate’s residential address from public disclosure. Tabitha presented a modification request she said was filed on 05/23/2025 by (identified in the record as) Jose/Gwen Mims, a 2025 Renton city council candidate, arguing the request was made because of safety concerns. Tabitha told the commission she had not received a timely clarification about the asserted safety risk.

Leach said the commission could not rely on a “generalized safety concern” without factual support. “I'm going to deny the request. I'm gonna find there's an insufficient factual basis to support the statutory requirement,” he said, explaining that disclosure by legal description rather than street address would be sufficient unless more evidence of personal risk were shown. At the same hearing Leach also reviewed a separate record in which he found the individual had demonstrated the statutory basis for a confidential address and said he would apply confidential status to records created before that person's certification. The commission cited the statutory and administrative standards discussed on the record: RCW 42.17A.120 and WAC 390-28-080.

The hearing transcript shows the commission treated requests on an individualized basis: one request was denied for lack of supporting facts; another record met the confidential-address criteria and was granted retrospective application to earlier records. Tabitha and staff will coordinate any follow-up requests for documentation if parties seek rehearing or administrative review.