A lewd act during a golf tournament got Snohomish County's planning director fired.
For critics who think the construction industry has too much influence over county politics, that isn't the only disturbing image.
It's planning director Craig Ladiser riding in a golf cart, carousing with members of an industry he was supposed to police. It doesn't help appearances that the Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties paid his way, waiving a $130 entry fee that included free drink tickets.
The view brings to mind the cynical picture of the other Washington where lobbyists wine and dine members of Congress.
“Even if it was technically allowed for him to go to this, maybe it was wiser if he didn't, because he's a public official,” said Paul Guppy, vice president for policy research with the Seattle-based Washington Policy Center.
Banning officials from attending such events, however, isn't the solution, he said. Common sense is.
The county executive's office fired Ladiser, 59, after concluding that he exposed himself to a woman during the June 24 tournament in Redmond.
Nothing in county policy would have kept the planning director from going to the event in the first place, said Christopher Schwarzen, County Executive Aaron Reardon's spokesman. Ladiser took time off and told a supervisor what he was doing.
“The office expects its employes to interact with all parties, but to interact in a responsible manner,” Schwarzen said.
Ladiser met regularly not only with the Master Builders, Schwarzen said, but also with controlled-development groups such as Futurewise, the Cascade Land Conservancy and the Housing Consortium of Everett and Snohomish County.
Were Ladiser still employed at the county, ethics policies would have required him to disclose any gifts of more than $100, Schwarzen said. The same guidelines apply to county councilmen when they vote on land-use appeals, he said.
Ladiser left his job abruptly on June 29, citing a family emergency. The executive's office was notified of possible lewd behavior on July 8, when it received a letter from a woman who works for the Master Builders. She accused Ladiser of walking over to her on the golf course, unzipping his pants and rubbing against her. He later admitted to drinking heavily during the tournament and that it was likely he exposed himself.
On July 20, after The Herald checked into a rumor about Ladiser's absence, Schwarzen forwarded an e-mail from the director to staff.
“I have an unexpected family emergency,” the e-mail read, in part. “I expect to be out of the office for the next 30 days with little ability to manage the department.”
There was no mention of an investigation, even though the county had by then hired law firm Perkins Coie to look into the complaint against Ladiser.
Reardon's spokesman said the e-mail was the only information he had at the time.
The county fired Ladiser on Aug. 20. The law firm substantiated much of the complaint, but concluded Ladiser “was not acting within the course and scope of his employment with the county” when it happened.
That wasn't the impression of the woman who wrote the letter. She referred to “Ladiser, who was representing Snohomish County.”
The Master Builders Association insisted that the planning director attended privately, not as a public official.
“I don't think Craig paid, he came as our guest,” said Sam Anderson, the association's executive officer. “It's just a mixer. It doesn't raise money for any charity. We just put them on as meeting opportunities or entertainment.”
Ladiser was invited as a guest and given a complimentary ticket because he is friends with Mike Pattison, a Master Builders government affairs manager, Anderson said.
“I don't think he was representing Snohomish County,” he said. “No, that would be inaccurate.”
The 100-year-old Master Builders Association has long been politically active, trying to serve the interest of its 4,100 member companies.
A big part of the association's lobbying job includes fighting the many government regulations that make new houses and development more expensive.
A former employee with the association, Brian Parry, is one of the top officials in the county executive's office. Parry, an executive director, worked for Reardon in the Legislature, then with the Master Builders, before Reardon hired him at the county in 2006.
Anderson downplayed that history.
“We can go above that,” he said. “We strongly supported his boss (getting) elected.”
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Anderson added, “We don't win every battle with the county and certainly not with the executive.”
The Affordable Housing Council, the Master Builders' political action committee, has given Reardon $4,750 since 2000, state campaign-finance records show.
This year the Affordable Housing Council has given money to four of the five county councilmen's campaigns. Councilmen Dave Somers, Dave Gossett and John Koster all received $800, while Brian Sullivan received $1,600.
Other construction and development companies, who may be members of the Master Builders, donate under their own names.
Snohomish County Council Chairman Mike Cooper, the only member who didn't receive money, said it was not only OK, but desirable to mingle socially with the builders and other groups.
“Going to those events and paying your own way is probably better for networking purposes than almost anything else you can do,” Cooper said. “Advocacy groups entertaining government officials is the way things go. It's the way business is done.”
Sullivan said he once stopped by a Master Builders picnic, but didn't think going to a golf tournament was a good idea.
“I would tend to shy away from those things, even though it's not technically illegal,” he said. “Just the appearance is a problem.”
Gossett worried that overreaching policies attempting to dictate ethics could keep officials from getting involved in the community and with important causes. As an example, he cited his personal donations to Futurewise, a lobbying group that often is at the opposite end of the political spectrum from the Master Builders when it comes to land use.
That, he said, doesn't affect his ability to vote impartially on issues when Futurewise is involved.
Reardon hired Ladiser in 2004. Before that, the planning director had worked as a planner for Seattle. He previous worked in Snohomish County, from 1986 to 1994.
Ladiser was known for bringing opposing sides to the table to settle disagreements, and for translating complex planning policies into plain English so the public could understand what was happening and what was at stake.
In 2007, he was named public employee of the year by the Master Builders and the Puget Sound Chapter of the American Planning Association.
He has his critics, too.
County Council candidate Ellen Hiatt Watson, Koster's opponent in this year's election, faults Ladiser for siding too often with developers. This year, she and others took the planning department to court and won, overturning a decision that allowed duplexes on substandard lots in the Warm Beach area.
“We need development, we need a positive environment for our builders,” she said. “But the citizens deserve a fair shake too, don't they?”
The planning director's free ticket to the golf course made her wonder if the public is well represented.
Tom Barry is a professional land surveyor who has done business with the county's planning department for 15 years.
He said problems in the county's Planning and Development Services department stretch back to previous directors and county executives.
“The environment at the planning and development services in Snohomish County is so political that it cannot address the community's concerns,” Barry said. “I just want efficiency, and I want integrity and I want fairness. That's all I'm asking for. Why is it so hard to get? Politics, I guess.”
Schwarzen said the executive has worked hard to streamline the department and that it's easy to find people who are pleased with it.
Noah Haglund: 425-339-3465, nhaglund@heraldnet.com.