KVI talk upheld as donation

OLYMPIA — Comments made by radio talk-show hosts this past summer supporting anti-gas-tax Initiative 912 should be considered in-kind political contributions, a Thurston County Superior Court judge reaffirmed Wednesday.

Judge Chris Wickham also found that the I-912 campaign had complied with his ruling by reporting the contributions to the state and closed the case.

The ruling was called a blow to free speech by the law firm representing the I-912 campaign, which is seeking to overturn a 9.5-cent-a-gallon increase in the state gas tax. They vowed to appeal to the state Supreme Court.

"Campaigns and media figures are going to have this in the back of their heads. 'Am I too close to this, am I talking about this too much? Should I be having lunch with this guy from the campaign?' " said William Maurer, executive director of the Institute for Justice Washington Chapter, which represents I-912 in the case.

Others, however, say Wickham's ruling was narrowly focused and does not infringe on free-speech rights.

"We did not ever want to be in a situation where anyone felt that their speech was limited," said Michael Vaska, a Seattle attorney who helped bring the case. "We just wanted people to have the right to know who was paying for this campaign."

The issue stems from a lawsuit filed by San Juan County and the cities of Seattle, Auburn and Kent. It sought to force I-912 sponsors to fully disclose the identities of contributors who gave money via the Internet and to disclose what they considered in-kind contributions from the talk-radio station KVI.

The plaintiffs argued that KVI hosts John Carlson and Kirby Wilbur were actively involved in the initiative and used their shows to promote the measure.

Wickham entered a preliminary injunction in July requiring I-912 backers to report Internet donations and in-kind contributions from Fisher Communications, the parent company of KVI.

The judge's ruling Wednesday essentially reaffirmed his initial decision, but he also specified that the ruling dealt only with the roughly two-month period from when the initiative was filed to when it qualified for the ballot in July.

Limiting the time frame set aside concerns raised by I-912 backers that the state could come after them for violating limits on in-kind contributions during the final weeks of the election. No such limits were in place during the time period specified by Wickham.

Doug Ellis, assistant director of the state Public Disclosure Commission, said his agency considers the matter closed. The I-912 campaign complied with the court ruling by reporting the KVI commentary as in-kind contributions. The I-912 campaign has listed five in-kind contributions from Fisher Communications valued at $20,000 each.

Carlson said he doesn't believe anything he or Wilbur said on the air should be considered a contribution. "I disagree that openly supporting a campaign for any cause or candidate constitutes a political contribution," he said.

Andrew Garber: 360-943-9882 or agarber@seattletimes.com