On second thought... Official pays fine with his $

Seattle City Councilman Richard McIver, soundly criticized for using taxpayer money to pay a $1,000 ethics fine, has backtracked and paid the fine with his own money.

The next likely step is for the city council to repeal the ordinance that McIver pointed to when he used taxpayer money to pay the fine. While there's no word on which way he'd vote on that, he released a statement saying:

"While my earlier action to have the city's Judgment Claims Fund pay this fine is legally defensible, it is clear that it is not politically acceptable and creates the appearance that I somehow feel that the city's ethics sanctions do not apply to me. That is not the case and not the impression that I want to give to the citizens of Seattle."