Chief accountant used county e-mail to campaign

EPHRATA - A state Public Disclosure Commission investigation into Grant County chief accountant and auditor candidate Jacob Taylor shows he used his county e-mail address at least a dozen times to aid his campaign.

Earlier Taylor denied using his county e-mail to campaign, saying he only used his work computer during lunch breaks and never used his county e-mail account for political gain.

Records show Taylor began using his county e-mail account in May to complete candidate questionnaires. He also used his county e-mail address about 7 p.m. on two occasions to order campaign literature.

In August, Taylor used his county e-mail account after work hours to ask a local business owner to place a campaign sign in front of her business. When she said he could, he responded in an e-mail saying he would promote her business to county contracted employees.

"That left me speechless," said Grant County Commissioner Cindy Carter after she read a copy of the e-mail Taylor sent to the business owner. "That is definitely using your position to further your campaign and it is just wrong," she said. Carter is seeking re-election and said she uses her personal e-mail address and computer at night to campaign.

Most of the e-mails Taylor sent were outside of regular work hours, but three e-mails were sent between 11:30 a.m. and 1:15 p.m., corroborating his statement that he worked on his campaign during lunch breaks. In August Taylor used his county e-mail about 3 p.m. to send a candidate questionnaire to his campaign e-mail address.

Grant County officials sent this information to the PDC after commissioners told the state agency Taylor used his computer to aid his campaign, which is illegal under state law. The information first came to light after a public records' request from Grant County resident Barbara Gordon.

According to the Grant County Employee Handbook, county employees should not use their official position for personal gain and are prohibited from promoting businesses to other county employees at any time during the work day.

Lori Anderson, of the PDC, said while she could not comment on a specific ongoing investigation, anyone who uses a county-owned computer, including email address, to campaign for public office, violates state law and could be subject to a fine up to $10,000.

She said it is irrelevant whether someone uses county-owned equipment during business hours or after hours, it is still a violation.