Kent School District Superintendent Israel Vela recently paid a second fine in a year to the state Public Disclosure Commission (PDC) for violations of election laws.
Vela paid a $1,000 fine (penalties of $550 and $450 in two cases) and signed a statement of understanding that he violated state election laws by authorizing the use of district facilities to promote ballot measures in the April 23, 2024 special election and the Nov. 5, 2024 general election, according to PDC documents posted on its website. Vela signed the statement on April 25, 2025.
Vela also signed a statement of understanding and paid a $300 fine in July 2024 for authorizing the use of district facilities to promote two ballot measures in the 2023 general election.
State law prohibits elected or appointed officials, their employees, and employees of a public office or agency from using, or authorizing the use of, public office/agency facilities (resources), directly or indirectly, for the purpose of assisting an election campaign or for the promotion of, or opposition to, any ballot proposition.
PDC staff investigated the alleged 2024 violations after complaints filed by district resident Joe Riley in August 2024 and October 2024. Joe Riley, Allison Riley and Justus Phelps filed complaints with the PDC in 2023 that led to the $300 fine in June 2024.
Staff investigators reviewed evidence and determined that during a Oct. 15, 2024 levy listening session, Wade Barringer, deputy superintendent, and Dave Bussard, executive director of operations, used language in their official capacity as public employees of the school district that is not consistent with an “objective and fair presentation of the facts,” according to a May 13 PDC letter.
The agency also concluded that the timing of the comments during a school district sponsored event is not consistent with permissible uses of facilities and/or resources.
“…people aren’t going anywhere if you keep on burning the district down by failing levies, only people we’re hurting are our kids…,” Barringer said in one of his several comments about passing the levy at the meeting.
PDC staff also found Barringer violated policies with statements in a district video to support the levy and violated policy with a March 12, 2024 email to staff directing them to campaign for the levy.
Barringer and Bussard each received formal written warnings from PDC staff for their violations.
“This formal written warning includes staff’s expectation that you will not in the future use public resources to influence the outcome of a ballot measure,” according to PDC documents.
PDC staff also sent a reminder to Faith Sisley, district director of communications and public affairs, “about the importance of not using communications to district staff, during elections, that are promotional in nature or that can be construed as pressure or coercion to vote in a particular way.”
Sisley, on Oct. 28, 2024, sent an email to staff reminding them about “a critical measure that supports students and staff on the Nov. 5 ballot”and the message also includes a link to the video, “What happens if the levy fails?”
Vela sent letters to the PDC in October and December 2024 claiming that “there has been no violation as no public resources were used to support the ballot measure.” Vela also requested that the complaint be dismissed.
PDC findings, however, led to the fines. With the payment of fines and the statement of understanding, the PDC has dismissed the matter.
PDC staff pointed out that the district, under the direction of Vela, has received previous warnings and violations of PDC requirements.
Those violations were about the 2023 ballot measures and included six announcements at French Field in Kent during district football games related to voting for levies; emails directing staff to send reminders and encourage people to vote; and an email from Vela to district staff stating that failure of the levy would mean reductions in staff and services.
Before Vela signed a statement of understanding in the 2023 case, the district hired a law firm to fight the complaints and ask the PDC that no violations be found.
An attorney with Seattle-based Pacific Law Group filed a 12-page letter in October 2023 with the PDC and in conclusion asked the PDC “to find that no violations have occurred and to dismiss the complaints.”
During a 2022 PDC investigation of a complaint by district resident Jeanette Barrage that the district may have violated election law by supporting a levy through a mailer, Vela and the school district received a written warning from PDC staff concerning the inclusion of non-factual language in a mailed brochure.
PDC staff determined the information in the brochure was due to a general lack of knowledge of what is and is not appropriate by law. Staff found no evidence that Vela, then the interim superintendent, or other officials intended to directly solicit support for the levy, and did not issue a fine.
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