Thurston County assessor denies campaign violations alleged by former employee

Thurston County’s incumbent assessor has been accused of campaign violations by his former chief deputy and a conservative activist.

Glen Morgan filed a complaint against Assessor Steven Drew with the Public Disclosure Commission on Oct. 4, and a case was opened the next day. The complaint includes allegations by former Chief Deputy Assessor Mike Brooks, saying that Drew pressured him to provide campaign donations while he still worked for him.

When reached for comment, Drew denied any wrongdoing and alleged Brooks turned to Morgan after becoming frustrated over an intellectual property dispute. He submitted an official response to the PDC investigation on Thursday.

The PDC case description for the complaint includes two alleged violations. The first alleges Drew used county facilities to support his candidacy for reelection. He supposedly did this by distributing an official Thurston County Assessor’s Office mailer during the current election year.

In the second matter, Drew has been accused of soliciting campaign contributions from Thurston County Assessor’s Office employees.

Campaign contributions

In his complaint, Morgan quoted an email he received from Brooks in early October.

Brooks said in the email that Drew asked for donations in the past three election cycles, including in February. He said he “begrudgingly complied” each time.

He alleges Drew called him to request $250 on Feb. 22, and he handed Drew the check in the parking lot of the county’s courthouse campus on Feb. 28. He further alleges Drew made “pseudo” requests during work hours by indicating he needed additional funds.

“Naturally, you may wonder, ‘Why did I give him the funds?’” Brooks said in the email. “The answer is it felt like a ‘shakedown.’ While it was not an excessive amount of money, I just considered it a form of required ‘tribute’ to a political boss system.”

In the email, Brooks said he felt he had to comply because he feared Drew would fire or harass him. He also alleged that he knew of one unnamed person who refused to contribute and subsequently experienced harassment.

Brooks confirmed the authenticity of the email and repeated these allegations in an interview with The Olympian. Brooks said he grew frustrated with Drew’s behavior and criticized his physical absence from the office in the ongoing pandemic.

Brooks submitted his resignation on Sept. 19 after working at the Assessor’s Office for eight years. Though he had issues with Drew, Brooks said he respects the professional staff at the Assessor’s Office.

In a statement to The Olympian, Drew called Brooks’ characterization of events “false exaggerations.” He said he believes Brooks contacted Morgan out of frustration because of a dispute over a product Brooks developed while employed with the county.

Drew said Brooks became “irate” when Drew would not sign an intellectual property agreement limiting the use of the product without first consulting the county’s attorney.

“Although I know my response was in the public interest, Mike (Brooks) threatened to sue me on several occasions in this period and abruptly retired,” Drew said.

Drew’s official response to the PDC complaint indicates he asked for donations from Brooks on his own time and without using county resources. He said Brooks had previously provided an unsolicited donation, so he was on a list of prior contributors.

“I have never abused the power of my position of trust, nor have I ever made threats, implied or explicit, to extort and extract cash from Mike (Brooks) or any employee of my office,” Drew said in his official response. “That is not true and an assertion that is most offensive to me.”

In a follow-up interview, Brooks told The Olympian he considers the intellectual property dispute a separate matter and reaffirmed he believes Drew committed campaign violations.

“The bottom line is he’s trying to deflect which is his modus operandi,” Brooks said. “He misrepresents facts.”

The mailer

Another alleged violation concerns a Property Value Change Notice that was mailed out to property owners earlier in the summer.

In the complaint, Morgan accuses Drew of using county resources to create a new, larger version of the notice during the election year. He called it a “carefully timed political self-promotion.”

The Assessor’s Office has traditionally mailed out property valuations as a small post card. The new notice included a message from Drew, explaining the extent to which property values factor into changing tax bills. It also explained how assessor staff conduct physical inspections.

Drew’s response to Morgan’s allegation indicates the county planned to change the notice over a year in advance. He said the county made it larger to dispel misconceptions about property taxes and better inform residents about inspections.

“Aside from general education and the legally required content, the mailing was designed to reduce the agitation and concern of property owners when our employees visit their properties to conduct inspections required by statute,” Drew said in a statement to The Olympian.

Drew said the county started this project after some residents confronted and even threatened inspectors with firearms. He said the Board of County Commissioners approved the new notices last year.

The Assessor’s Office mailed out 130,068 notices in 2021, which cost the county $44,941, Drew told the PDC.

In 2022, the county mailed 131,675 larger notices. This cost the county an additional $27,586 compared to 2021, according to Drew.