The state will pay $70,000 to settle a public records lawsuit over two of Gov. Jay Inslee’s appointments to the State Building Code Council. Two of Inslee’s recent appointments to the council will also step down after a settlement with state building associations.

State law requires that two of the council’s 15 members must be nominated by trade associations representing residential and commercial builders. However, last year Inslee ignored major builder group recommendations and instead named two of his own picks, The Seattle Times reports.

Last September the Building Industry Association of Washington and the Associated General Contractors of Washington sued over the appointments. In November they sued again, saying Inslee’s office had not turned over relevant documents. The state later admitted that a member of Inslee’s staff had made a materially false statement in court by falsely stating that one of Inslee’s nominees had been put forward by another building trade group.

In December, Thurston County Superior Court Judge James Dixon called that misrepresentation “at a minimum … negligent. It may have been reckless, it may have been intentional.” However, he declined to immediately impose sanctions against the state over it.

In April the state and the builder groups agreed to a settlement agreementunder which both of Inslee’s appointees would resign and the governor would replace them with two new members from a list of nominees provided by the BIAA and AGC.

Contact AWB’s Peter Godlewski or Mike Ennis to learn more.