Residents file PDC complaint about Dano endorsement list

OLYMPIA - Former state senator Joyce Mulliken, past Port of Moses Lake manager Col. Clyde Owen and three other Basin residents complained to the state's public disclosure commission that county prosecutor candidate Garth Dano erroneously listed them as supporters in a political ad and Facebook post.

The complaint signed by each person was filed Thursday and states Moses Lake city councilman Bill Ecret, and Basin residents Ron Tebow and Bob Johnson actually support Dano's opponent Angus Lee as county prosecutor even though they were listed as Dano supporters.

Owen said he does not support either candidate for the position. Dano said he thought all the complainants supported him based on conversations he had with them.

He said listing them as supporters was "an innocent mistake" and he has removed them from a list of supporters.

According to the complaint, Dano listed several names in a Facebook post earlier in the month as being supporters. Some of those people complained to Dano and their names were removed from the post.

Days later, Dano ran a two-page ad in the Oct. 10 edition of the Columbia Basin Herald listing Owen, Johnson, Mulliken and Tebow as supporters. The same ad appeared in Thursday's CBH.

"Garth Dano recently included mine and my wife's name on his endorsement list without permission. Setting criminals free through quick and easy plea deals is not something I can endorse," Ecret said in the complaint. Ecret was not listed in the political ad, but was on the Facebook post.

Owen said a similar thing happened "some years back" when a Grant County PUD commissioner listed his name as a supporter.

"I have not given permission for my name to be used for any candidate running for political office," Owen said.

The ad was changed recently to remove at least two dead people.