Liberty Lake hearing examiner dismisses ethics complaint against City Council member

A hearing examiner Tuesday ruled that a Liberty Lake politician isn’t violating the city’s ethics code by voting against all of the mayor’s appointees.

Hearing examiner Brian T. McGinn’s decision comes after former Liberty Lake City Councilman Tom Sahlberg in October filed an ethics complaint against fellow City Councilman Chris Cargill.

Sahlberg alleged that Cargill was violating the city’s ethics code by voting against all of Mayor Cris Kaminskas’ recommendations for volunteer boards. Cargill in June vowed to vote against all appointees until the City Council obtains more authority over the Liberty Lake Municipal Library.

Cargill made his vow as a form of protest after Kaminskas this spring vetoed a City Council ordinance. The veto successfully blocked an amendment to Liberty Lake law that would have given the City Council final say over library policies.

The City Council on Tuesday could vote once more to give itself authority over library policies.

The library board, whose members are appointed by the mayor and confirmed by the City Council, has authority over all book-banning decisions and policies. Liberty Lake leaders have been debating book bans and library oversight for over a year, ever since a resident lobbied to remove “Gender Queer,” a sexually explicit graphic novel about gender identity, from the library’s shelves.

In his investigation, McGinn said Cargill has no obligation to vote for or against mayoral appointees.

“A council member may have a duty to consider a Mayoral appointment,” McGinn wrote. “However, a council member does not have a duty to approve a Mayoral Candidate.”

McGinn also disagreed with one of Sahlberg’s key arguments – that Cargill’s actions are biased and therefore unethical.

Sahlberg, a retired police officer, noted in his ethics complaint that the oath of office City Council members take requires them to perform their duties impartially.

Cargill is acting partially because he’s voting against the mayor’s appointees without considering the merits of individual candidates, Sahlberg argued.

McGinn wrote that Sahlberg’s understanding of the word “partial” is incorrect in this context.

“A council member is not ‘partial’ merely because he or she has strong opinions about policy matters and votes accordingly,’ ” McGinn wrote. “ ‘Impartiality,’ under the Code of Ethics, does not mean free from opinions. It means free from improper influence or conflict of interest that compromises that officer’s ability to be fair.”

Sahlberg, who has since left the City Council, said in an interview that he was surprised by McGinn’s findings.

“But I was ready to accept whatever the hearing examiner’s decision was,” he said.

Cargill said he was unsurprised by the hearing examiner’s report and thought from the start that Sahlberg’s ethics complaint was “silly.”

The city councilman said he worries ethics complaints like this one could dissuade people from participating in local politics.

“I can handle it,” he said, “but I sure feel bad for folks who are considering running for office.”

Editor’s note: The caption to the photo has been edited to accurately state Bob West’s residency.