BY DENNIS RICHTER
SEATTLE - The city of Seattle "shall take no further
enforcement action of any kind against any of the SWC
[Socialist Workers Campaign] parties regarding SWC's 1997
Seattle municipal campaign. In particular, the City parties
understand that the SWC parties do not intend to disclose to
the City the identity of any contributors to or vendors to
the SWC 1997 campaign." So reads part of the July 15
settlement agreement between the Socialist Workers 1997
Campaign Committee and the city of Seattle.
"Our goal in this fight has been to protect the privacy of the contributors and vendors of the campaign," said Scott Breen, in announcing the decision. Breen, an assembly mechanic at the Boeing Company and a member of International Association of Machinists (IAM) Local 751, was the Socialist Workers candidate for mayor of Seattle in 1997 and is the Socialist Workers 1998 candidate for state senate from the 37th district in Seattle.
"We believe this agreement satisfies that goal, even though the Seattle Ethics and Election Commission's (SEEC) decision to deny us an exemption in 1997 still stands," said Breen. "Our next step will be to fight for an exemption from disclosure of contributors and vendors to our 1998 state campaign. Sometime in August, we expect to appear before the Washington state Public Disclosure Commission (PDC) to request an exemption from disclosing the names of contributors to our 1998 campaign for state senate." The settlement with the city includes an agreement by the Socialist Workers campaign to not file a lawsuit against the SEEC ruling, which denied the campaign the exemption it requested from disclosing the names of its contributors and vendors.
"We wish to thank all those supporters of democratic rights who made it possible for us to reach this stage in our disclosure exemption fight," Breen said. In addition to volunteers in the Seattle Committee to Defend Free Speech who helped to publicize the fight and raise funds for it, those supporters included dozens of unionists, democratic rights supporters, and organizations who wrote letters of support to the SEEC on the socialists' behalf. "We're asking supporters to write additional letters of support to the PDC now and to join us at the PDC hearing in Olympia when it is scheduled," said Breen.
"In addition to concluding the 1997 fight with our contributors' and vendors' rights protected," said Breen, "we succeeded in substantially lowering the fine for noncompliance that was levied against us by the city." That fine was lowered from $6,040 to $330.
The Socialist Workers are fielding two other candidates in the 1998 elections. Nan Bailey, an aerospace laminator and member of IAM Local 1103, is the party's candidate for U.S. Senate. Jeff Powers, a railroad worker and member of United Transportation Union Local 845, is the Socialist Workers candidate for U.S. Congress in the 7th Congressional District. For financial reporting requirements, their campaigns for federal office are under the jurisdiction of the Federal Elections Commission (FEC), not the state of Washington. In 1996 the FEC granted the Socialist Workers campaigns a six-year extension of a disclosure exemption. For local campaigns in both Washington state and the city of Seattle, however, the Socialist Workers campaigns are required to submit a request for exemption each and every time a new state or municipal campaign is announced.
This year it means appearing before the state PDC to request the exemption for Breen's campaign. There, the socialists will argue their case that an exemption from disclosing the names of contributors and vendors is necessary to protect free speech and the right to privacy and voluntary association of these contributors and vendors. The socialists will offer evidence that turning over these names would be like giving a ready-made list to police agencies and government institutions that have a history of harassment and intimidation of Socialist Workers campaigns and their supporters.
Richard Berley, who represented the socialists in their 1997 case against the city of Seattle as an ACLU cooperating attorney, has agreed to represent the Socialist Workers 1998 State Campaign in its request for an exemption this year from the PDC. For more information or to find out how you can help, contact the Socialist Workers 1998 State Campaign, 1405 E. Madison, Seattle, WA 98122, (206) 323-3429; E-mail: 74461.2544@compuserve.com