He acknowledges, "your underlying concerns are reasonable as a voting citizen." regarding his, "nearly eight years of land-use application involvement."
He points out the Public Disclosure Law does not require him to disclose the names or amount of payments he receives through his business if they are less than $10,000 during the reporting year.
He assures us this has never occurred and would infer that in all cases he has employed an "overabundance of caution ... to avoid any and all appearance of fairness or conflict of interest."
Mr. Crawford concludes by saying, " I am and will remain very receptive and openly discuss any aspect of my business in a general nature that does not compromise my client's appropriate entitlement to privacy. I am always glad to provide references for serious land-use inquiries."
In response to that offer, it would be a good start if the council member would exceed the letter of the law and share with us how much he has received in his consultant capacity since gaining office. It is hard to imagine that all his clients demand privacy.
But the gravamen of the earlier article might be simply stated: why would one on the council pursue a career so open to conflicts of interest, or why would one with a career so potentially in conflict with the duties of a council member seek to be on the council?
Below is the full text of his response, which he offered be published here. (editor)
Mr. Greg Kirsch,
Regarding your website posting:
Someone directed me to your website, and your discussion about potential conflicts-of-interest that may come about for a council member (specifically me) who also works as a land-use consultant. You bring up excellent questions, and even though they characterize the situation quite suspiciously in tone, your underlying concerns are reasonable as a voting citizen.
As you can imagine, I am extremely careful about conducting my client relationships and transactions in a manner that is above-board and not conflicting with my role as an elected official. I also observed in past years former council member McShane appropriately expressing a similar transparency in his business relationships, and I respect his diligence regarding potential conflicts or the appearance thereof.
But regardless of my good intentions and integrity, which will be vouched for by anyone I ever worked with in the business arena and the political arena, could there be some unintentional advantage for a client of mine who has pursued a land-use permit with Whatcom County government? (To be clear, the financial outcome is the same for me in every application process because I have never 'partnered' on any project, and I bill clients hourly with detailed invoices.) This is a matter to which I am extremely alert and diligent, and I have never received the slightest hint or implied response from any city or county planning or public works staff interaction to the contrary. The thought has crossed by mind that my elected status may actually subject an application I have submitted on behalf of a landowner to a review that is even more extensive than would normally be the case. But after nearly eight years of land-use application involvement, I will again state there has never appeared to be any special consideration - lesser or greater - that is either short of or beyond a standard review, and client applications for various proposals I've worked on have ended up with both acceptance and rejection by various county or city staff.
Regarding public disclosure: the state law requires I disclose (on an annual basis to the Public Disclosure Commission) the name of any client (regardless of the nature of my business) that has provided $10,000 or more in revenue to my business. This has never occurred, either within a single year, or in the aggregate for a single client over all the years of my experience. The most extensive applications I have worked on have involved considerably smaller fees in total than that amount. I assist people with applications and then give them feedback to clarify the municipality's regulatory response, as well as speculate on the next steps to take in what is very often a somewhat complex process. I am not an attorney, a habitat biologist, a real-estate professional, an engineer, nor a surveyor, but I coordinate communication between clients (who have no experience in these areas) and the qualified professionals needed to meet the respective municipalities requirements.
Regarding recusing myself as a council member from a council action, I have seen potential conflicts with my business and client relationships extremely rarely, but there have been several times. A number of years ago when I worked at Ayers Consulting, there was a request to the council by an Ayers client to receive a one-year long-subdivision approval extension allowed by law (Mr. Ayers presented the request, not me). Not only did I not participate in any discussion or vote on that matter, I actually left the council dais when it was brought before the council. Also a year or two ago there was a road improvement to be voted on that was about a quarter mile from a Bellingham short plat - inside but near the city limits - I had worked on previously. Although unnecessary, I recused myself from participating in that discussion or vote, simply because I speculated that someone might think I was voting on a benefit to the existing or future nearby residents of infill lots in the city I had assisted in creating. I use that overabundance of caution as an example of my extreme effort to avoid any and all appearance of fairness or conflict of interest issues.
I am and will remain very receptive and openly discuss any aspect of my business in a general nature that does not compromise my client's appropriate entitlement to privacy. I am always glad to provide references for serious land-use inquiries.
As you can see, I am forwarding this communication to the County Executive, Deputy Administrator, Planning Director, and council attorney, in case there are any additional clarifications deemed appropriate. Please feel free to post this response on your website.
Sincerely,
Sam Crawford
