Volunteers for GOP-backed Candidates for Wenatchee School Board Caught Campaigning On District Property
Representatives of the three Republican-backed candidates for Wenatchee School Board broke state election law by campaigning on school district property on Friday, Oct. 15, according to Wenatchee School District officials.
They were there on behalf of candidates Matt Van Bogart, Katherine Thomas and incumbent Julie Norton said Diana Haglund, Communications Director for the Wenatchee School District. Haglund said they were on school district property near Pioneer Middle School, Triangle Park and the Apple Bowl, soliciting on behalf of the candidates as people lined up to get into the Wenatchee High School football game.
All three of those properties belong to the district.
“The District was notified that school board campaign activities were taking place at the entrance of the Apple Bowl during the football game Friday, October 15. WSD Board Policy 4400, Election Activities, states that the District’s ‘public facilities will not be used to assist in any candidate’s campaign or to support or oppose any ballot measure,’” Haglund wrote in an email. “The District’s public facilities include the Apple Bowl. RCW 42.17A.555 also stipulates that ‘No local office or agency may authorize a use of public facilities for the purpose of assisting a candidate’s campaign…’”
Haglund said the District has been in contact with all of the candidates running for school board positions to notify them of these rules and provide them with a copy of the Public Disclosure Commission’s informational brochure entitled “Guidelines for School Districts in Election Campaigns (Public Disclosure Law Re: Use of Public Facilities in Campaigns.)”
I reached out to the three candidates to ask if they were there themselves and if they knew that was in violation of both state law and school district policy. As of the time I write this, only Julie Norton has responded.
“I am familiar with the referenced statute and District policy. I was not at the game Friday and cannot speak to who was there or what occurred,” she wrote in an email. “My campaign team was having a separate meeting at my home during that time. However, the members of my campaign team have been advised of these requirements.”
If I hear back from the other candidates about the matter I will update this post with their responses and date and time stamp.
It’s not the first time the GOP-backed candidates have been caught breaking the rules. You may recall the Aug. 24 Wenatchee School Board meeting in which Van Bogart and Thomas joined a crowd of anti-mask, anti-vaccine conservative activists who were organized, in part, by Grace City Church pastor Carey McPherson. You can read more about that here and watch the entire in-person portion of that meeting, until it was shut down by an angry and emotional man who approached the council members while shouting about masks, here.
At that meeting both Thomas and Van Bogart refused to put on masks even after WSD staff told the crowd that assembled that the district must follow the state mask mandate for public meetings. Norton, a sitting board member, did wear a mask at that meeting.
But this isn’t the first time Van Bogart has been caught violating WSD Board Policy 4400, regarding district facilities being used to campaign for candidates. Earlier this election season Van Bogart’s campaign got caught for putting a sign up on school district property. The district had the sign removed, according to Communications Director Haglund.
“On July 25th the district was notified that a campaign sign was displayed on owned district property located near the intersection of Methow and Crawford Street in Wenatchee. Upon investigation, the District determined that the sign belonged to Mr. Van Bogart,” Haglund wrote in another email. “The District contacted Mr. Van Bogart and advised him that the sign had been removed and he could retrieve it at the district office.”
It begs the question: do Van Bogart and Thomas not understand the rules, or are they simply disregarding them?
Like I wrote above, I’ll include their responses to my questions about this if they choose to respond. Thomas might not have known about the RCW or board policy 4400, but Van Bogart certainly did.
As for the statement that these three candidates are backed by the Republican party, if you’re a Wenatchee voter you only have to look at the recent mailer that was paid for by the Washington State Republican Party.
Of course, you don’t need this recent mailer to prove these three candidates have close ties to the Republican party. The Chelan County GOP has enthusiastically supported them.
The political club even advertised the fact that candidates like Matt Van Bogart would be at their summer picnic at Bianchi Vineyards in East Wenatchee (in Douglas County).
Van Bogart attended the rally and posted about it on his campaign Facebook page, claiming that at 700 to 800 people attended or “maybe a 1000?”
School board seats are non-partisan positions, which means candidates do not declare party allegiance when running for those positions. Yet it has been clear from the beginning of this campaign season that Norton, Thomas and Van Bogart are in the pocket of the Republican party, both state and local.
But what can be done about the blatant violation of state election law and district policy that occurred on Oct. 15? Well, citizens can file tickets about the incident with the state Washington State Public Disclosure Commission, which is the agency regulating candidates, campaigns, and lobbyists. That can be done here.
The other thing you can do is vote. Ballots are out now and due on Nov. 2. The stakes are high and the future of this district and our children's’ educations are on the line.
This election isn’t just about who will be sitting on the Wenatchee School Board after Nov. 2, it’s a referendum on honesty and respect for others in the Wenatchee Valley.
