Tyler Weaver probably wrapped it up best for the Bainbridge Island Ethics Board members.

“There’s a lot of smoke, but we can’t find the fire,” he said at a recent Zoom meeting.

The board was addressing complaints filed against former City Councilmember Kol Medina, who has resigned and taken a job in Walla Walla.

Complaints had to do with Medina being CEO of the Kitsap Community Foundation, while at the same time being mayor of BI. As mayor he made decisions that dealt with members of the public who also made contributions to the foundation.

“We wish Kol Medina had talked about this while it was going on,” Weaver said of Medina not saying he had a potential conflict of interest.

He added that there is a lot of speculation about what happened that has brought the transaction back into question. That referred to the purchase of the Harrison Medical Center property for the new police-court building.

“”We didn’t find we could make that leap credibly,” Weaver said. “It doesn’t mean it wouldn’t have been better if he had talked about it. We know people are upset about it.”

Weaver said the first time he read the ethics complaint he was upset, too. But the more he looked at it, the more he realized there wasn’t enough there.

“It didn’t meet the burden of proof,” member Karen Anderson said, adding it didn’t look like Medina personally profitted or gained from the relationship.

Anderson emphasized that the public should know the ethics board has no power to investigate complaints.

Dona Keating said the board is not punitive, but educational. “That’s why we’re here,” she said.

Jim Cash agreed. “We’re a teaching body that educates people on ethics.”

David Mallon, the new chairman of the ethics board since Jennifer Hodges has moved away, said the only power the board has is to recommend the hearing examiner rule on a complaint.

For much of the rest of the meeting the board talked about needing more direction from the City Council.

Anderson said the board is restrained by the council on what it can do. “Do they make the rules or us?” she asked.

Members wanted to talk about part of the process – whether their emails should be available to the public – but they weren’t sure if they could make the decision.

“Our hands are tied,” Anderson said, adding part of the process needs to include the council communicating with the ethics board.

Weaver said about emails from the public, “We can be as clear as we want, but they’re going to be inquiries anyway.”

Mallon said if the board accepted emails it could open a “floodgate we can’t control.” He also said the emails can say anything, and the board has no power to probe them for clarification.

During public comments, a caller said emails to the ethics board need to be able to be anonymous. As an example, she said Medina wrote to the attorney of someone who filed a complaint against him and said something that could have been interpreted as a threat. Also, she said Medina recused himself from a previous vote involving a foundation contributor, but did not do so in a later instance that was part of the ethics complaint.

Pollock complaint

In another matter, the ethics board discussed a complaint filed against City Councilmember Michael Pollock regarding his actions on a recent vote on replacing Medina on the City Council.

The council deadlocked 3-3 between candidates Brenda Fantroy-Johnson and Jane Lindley. Pollock sent information to Kitsap County commissioners, a state leader and others, alleging the three councilmembers who voted against Fantroy-Johnson did so because of race. She is black. Lindley dropped out of the competition after the uproar that followed.

At a recent council meeting, members criticized Pollock for his actions, calling them intimidating and demeaning. While the council voted not to admonish Pollock, a complaint to the ethics board was filed.

The ethics board decided that the complaints were credible and true and constitute a violation. The board said Pollock and Lindley should meet with a mediator, with an apology coming from Pollock.

“We have to have respect for others, bottom line,” Anderson said.

Weaver added, “The only way that’s going to happen is mediation.”

Attorney input

The ethics board did not rule on an anonymous complaint against Medina because it wanted to contemplate seven pages of information provided by attorney Wyatt Golding of Seattle. He reminded the board that ruling on a violation is up to the hearing examiner. Their job is to determine if the facts are credible and that ethics may have been compromised.

Wyatt’s letter says even Medina does not dispute the facts. He was CEO of the foundation when it accepted donations from people associated with Harrison Medical Center and Olympic Property Group. Those entities, when Medina was mayor, received contracts of $9 million for Harrison and $800,000 for Olympic.

Medina did not disclose that, but did talk privately to two city attorneys about it, the letter alleges. No corruption or quid pro quo is alleged, only that it was a “potentially problematic relationship.” When in doubt, councilmembers are supposed to disclose to have maximum transparency, the letter says.

Finally, Wyatt writes that it’s not a moot point since Medina has left the council. It’s actually exactly what the ethics board was set up for. “Relief sought is public education;” it’s not personal, the letter states.

In closing, Wyatt writes the board should send the complaint to the hearing examiner to provide an experienced and independent analysis.

“The facts alleged are well-documented, uncontested and credible. The facts ‘appear to constitute’ several violations of the Code of Ethics… These aspects … focus on the inherent tension in an individual serving dual roles in the public and private interest, and the need for transparency…”, the letter says.

“Medina’s repeated private discussion of these issues with the city attorney, and subsequent failure to publicly disclose these conflicts, confirms that he himself recognized the potential conflict and concerns with disclosing it.”