Interlocal agreement and representation

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Fun CH
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Re: Interlocal agreement and representation

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pasayten wrote: ↑Sat Oct 07, 2023 9:41 am FOTP may be using $$ that folks contributed for the maintenance of the Wagner pool…. πŸ˜΅β€πŸ’«πŸ˜΅β€πŸ’«πŸ˜΅β€πŸ’«
I found some WA State rules concerning nonprofits reporting money contributed to a PAC. If they contribute under $25,000 per year to that PAC they may be exempt from disclosing those donors. If the FOP was truly interested in voter transparency they would disclose that donor list to the voters.

Also found some Federal IRS rules.

"In general, no organization may qualify for section 501(c)(3) status if a substantial part of its activities is attempting to influence legislation (commonly known as lobbying). A 501(c)(3) organization may engage in some lobbying, but too much lobbying activity risks loss of tax-exempt status.

Legislation includes action by Congress, any state legislature, any local council, or similar governing body, with respect to acts, bills, resolutions, or similar items (such as legislative confirmation of appointive office), or by the public in referendum, ballot initiative, constitutional amendment, or similar procedure. It does not include actions by executive, judicial, or administrative bodies.

An organization will be regarded as attempting to influence legislation if it contacts, or urges the public to contact, members or employees of a legislative body for the purpose of proposing, supporting, or opposing legislation, or if the organization advocates the adoption or rejection of legislation.

Organizations may, however, involve themselves in issues of public policy without the activity being considered as lobbying. For example, organizations may conduct educational meetings, prepare and distribute educational materials, or otherwise consider public policy issues in an educational manner without jeopardizing their tax-exempt status."
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Fun CH
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Re: Interlocal agreement and representation

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pasayten wrote: ↑Sat Oct 07, 2023 9:41 am FOTP may be using $$ that folks contributed for the maintenance of the Wagner pool…. πŸ˜΅β€πŸ’«πŸ˜΅β€πŸ’«πŸ˜΅β€πŸ’«
I told either Justin or Blue or both that when transparency is lacking, people will try to fill in the blanks with the information that they have available. Like that whole FOP story that there is no interlocal agreement in place and it would be a waste of resources to do that prior to forming a Metropolitan Park District (reported Justin speaking to Steve O).

A public documents search with the county turned up a draft interlocal agreement posted on this pasayten web site.

Well they had a draft interlocal agreement that they could have released to the public which would ended any speculation as to the governance structure of their proposed Metropolitan Park District. Its fairly important to know that there can be 2 Town Council Members from Winthrop and 2 Town Council Members from Twisp sitting on the appointed MPD board.

How do we know that it's an appointed board and not an elected board? Its stated on the ballot that the five member board will be appointed according to the interlocal agreement.

I notice that the draft inner local agreement is defining a rather large business structure. I guess it takes a lot of corporate officers to manage bond debt and a project of this magnitude.

It's frightening to think that voters would give such power to a Metropolitan Park District in a rural community.A MPD in our school district has the ability to borrow around 62 million dollars (based on the current total assessed value of our school district at around $3 billion dollars) All that dept is backed by our tax money and we pay the interest.

The breakdown is around 7 million dollars of non-voter approved debt in the form of General obligation bonds payable over a maximum of 20 years.

The rest, 55 million dollars would need to be voter approved along with an increase in the levy rate ceiling.

This is on top of being able to take in around 2 million dollars per year of our property tax money. And most of use won't even use that Mega MAC.

So a 20 million dollar and Counting indoor Aquatics Center, running at a $500,000 per year deficit operation budget. No thanks. Vote no on prop 1.



"Corporate officers are responsible for maintaining awareness of company objectives and policies, employee behavior, financial records and other important areas. They have a responsibility to avoid conflicts of interest and promote the best interest of the company and any shareholders".

"What are Bonds?
Bonds are debt instruments, which implies that they work on the principle of loans, where a company issues bonds to borrow money from the lender. The company promises the lender a regular predetermined interest on the principal amount. In bond terms, this interest rate is called a coupon."
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Can't talk to a man who don't want to understand--Carol King
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pasayten
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Re: Interlocal agreement and representation

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FOTP may be using $$ that folks contributed for the maintenance of the Wagner pool…. πŸ˜΅β€πŸ’«πŸ˜΅β€πŸ’«πŸ˜΅β€πŸ’«
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Ray Peterson
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Re: Interlocal agreement and representation

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pasayten wrote: ↑Thu Oct 05, 2023 9:37 am Friends of the Pool contributed $10,000 to the "Committee for the Methow Aquatic Center Sponsored by Friends of the Pool" political action committee.
They only had two other $100 donations...Jessica Kuzma and anonymous

https://www.pdc.wa.gov/political-disclo ... 2023-32098

They used publicly donated funds to the not-for-profit Friends of the Pool organization to fund the political action committee.
If this legal in Washington???
Friends of the Pool has donated an additional $2,000 on October 2nd to their political action committee, for a total of $15,000. You do pose an interesting question whether thats legal. I thought the purpose of these types of public records was transparency as to who the donors are to a political campaign. They are spending money on legal counsel so I'd have to assume what they are doing is legal.

However this doesn't bode well for the FOP transparency argument. Who is paying to sponsor this political campaign that may ultimately obtain control of our tax dollars? Small local donors or big money special interests with self gain goals?

I have made a request to view any PAC records during the 10 days prior to this election as required by law. Not sure if that process will reveal the donors list.

Perhaps filing a complaint with the State Attorney's General office will answer any questions we have concerning donors. I'll get on that.
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pasayten
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Re: Interlocal agreement and representation

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Friends of the Pool contributed $10,000 to the "Committee for the Methow Aquatic Center Sponsored by Friends of the Pool" political action committee.
They only had two other $100 donations...Jessica Kuzma and anonymous

https://www.pdc.wa.gov/political-disclo ... 2023-32098

They used publicly donated funds to the not-for-profit Friends of the Pool organization to fund the political action committee.
If this legal in Washington???
pasayten
Ray Peterson
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Re: Interlocal agreement and representation

Post by Fun CH »

Didn't one FOP board member tell Steve O. that there wasn't a interlocal agreement because it would be a waste of resources at this time.? That's kind of true but they could have released a draft. Isn't that More indication that they really don't trust voters and are not "beholden" to voters as they have indicated?.

We need more information on the political action committee that they formed and who's funding that.

Follow the money.

It's also interesting what Pearl wrote that the next mayor of Twisp is the former head of the fop board husband Sarah Schrock who is now on the FOP Advisory board.
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pasayten
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Re: Interlocal agreement and representation

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snowchaser... I totally agree! Vote NO on Proposition 1
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Interlocal agreement and representation

Post by snowchaser »

Of all the flaws with this pool proposal, the interlocal agreement might be the most flawed IMO. Nearly three quarters of the population of MVSD lives outside of city limits. Under the current interlocal agreement draft, those 4,300 residents have a single representative (the county commissioner from the Methow) on the five-member board. Meanwhile, the 500 residents of Winthrop have two representatives in addition to also being constituents of the county commissioner. To make matters worse, the unincorporated voters of the Methow Valley didn't even choose their county representative, because county commissioner general elections are county-wide. In the 2020 election, voters from MVSD precincts voted for Katie Haven over Andy Hover 59% to 41%. When the board is considering imposing a high tax to pay for a pool in their town (whether that be Twisp or Winthrop), the town representatives are highly likely to approve spending other people's money, and all they need is one out of the remaining three board members to make it happen.

The final interlocal agreement may look different, but the towns are guaranteed to get outsized representation. This doesn't work in a rural area where most residents live outside of town. Perhaps Metropolitan Park Districts are best used in metropolitan areas?
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