Radio ads criticize Gregoire on handling of sex offenders, funding for foster care

OLYMPIA — A building-industry group is running radio ads statewide that accuse Democratic Gov. Christine Gregoire of cutting funding for children in foster care and being lenient with sex offenders.

One ad features a woman who says her 12-year-old granddaughter was sexually assaulted. "The governor has made it easier for these perpetrators to get away with what they want to do," the woman says in the ad. "I don't know how she can go to sleep at night."

The Governor's Office and Gregoire's campaign staff disagree with the ads and say the governor actually has increased funding for children in foster care and cracked down on sex predators.

The radio ads, which began running Monday, are paid for by It's Time for a Change, a political-action committee primarily funded by the Building Industry Association of Washington (BIAW).

The BIAW is an ardent supporter of Dino Rossi, the Republican candidate for governor. Rossi narrowly lost to Gregoire in the 2004 election.

Two other radio ads, criticizing the governor's policies on transportation and taxes, ran earlier this month. The same group paid for them. Financial-disclosure reports filed with the state earlier this month show It's Time for a Change has spent more than $270,000 on airtime for radio ads.

They won't be the last ads. "Obviously, we're very focused on this election, so I'm sure there will be more in the future," said BIAW spokeswoman Erin Shannon.

The radio spot talking about sex offenders states in part that "during Christine Gregoire's term as governor, hundreds of dangerous child predators have eluded justice through Washington state's Sexual Offender Sentencing Alternative program."

Anmarie Aylward, who oversees sex-offender treatment for the state Department of Corrections, said the alternative-sentencing program started years before Gregoire became governor.

It deals only with low-risk, first-time offenders and has been evaluated and found useful, Aylward said.

Fewer than 200 people a year are sentenced under the program, she said, noting that there's a low rate of repeat offenders. The program imposes a shorter jail or prison sentence if the offender goes through treatment.

The foster-care radio ad contends Gregoire has not done enough for children in the system. A woman in the ad, identified as a court-appointed special advocate, criticizes the governor, saying, "I think Governor Gregoire has failed."

However, Linda Katz, the program manager for the King County Dependency CASA program, said the woman left the group in May and does not speak for CASA, which provides advocates for children in the court system.

Timothy Harris, BIAW's attorney, said the ads were taped around the time the woman resigned and will be changed to say that she is a former CASA volunteer.

The foster-care ad also states: "This year, Governor Gregoire vetoed nearly $3 million in state funds for our foster-care system, depriving children of a chance for a better future."

Marty Brown, Gregoire's legislative liaison, said the governor did veto about $3 million in funding related to foster care. That included $500,000 for a two-year pilot program in Clark County to develop a screening tool to identify "reactive attachment disorder," a rare condition in which young children don't create healthy bonds with parents or caregivers.

In her veto message, Gregoire said the programs, "although valuable, are not essential to do right now. These are instances where there are additions to existing programs or new programs that are started that we may not be able to sustain."

Brown noted that Gregoire, in the budget passed earlier this year, increased foster-care funding by more than $12 million, including $1.6 million for increased supervised visits between biological parents and their children and $1.8 million for siblings in foster care to visit each other.

Andrew Garber: 360-236-8268 or agarber@seattletimes.com