I had forwarded to me two complaints (with multiple possible infractions) filed against Longmont City Council at-large candidate
Kaye Fissinger. Apparently, the City Clerk will present these to the
Election Committee on Monday Oct. 26 for them to do their Preliminary Findings one way or the other. I wrote about the first possible violation, but didn't file a complaint as I figured the Election Committee would just find it on their own as they went through campaign reports. They didn't, but someone else went through the trouble of reporting it, good for them.
I guess we'll see if there's a sliding standard for different candidates.
The first complaint has to do with an amended report, the second has to do with the huge billboard that's been driven around town. It's hard to miss, and probably scares kids. Personally, I think Ms. Fissinger will be a footnote to a footnote in this election and propelled into 4th place (out of 5) since Ed Dloughy isn't even campaigning. And then it will be back to screaming at us from the podium with all kinds of conspiracy theories and anti-church rhetoric.
If you're torn on who to vote for in this at-large race (you get 2 votes for 2 people), and don't want to
throw away a vote on Ms. Fissinger, you can pick
Bill Van Dusen (but if you were thinking of voting for Ms. Fissinger you probably already voted for Mr. Van Dusen),
Alex Sammoury or current City Council member
Gabe Santos. The latter two offer you the best chance at actual grown-up leadership, not the abrasive style of Ms. Fissinger or the
go along with the Benker Bloc rubberstamping of Mr. Van Dusen. We already got the "
look Ma, I got elected" scenario with
Brian Hansen two years ago, we don't need to repeat it with Mr. Van Dusen, with all due respect.
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Three (3) separate loans were made to this campaign, but were not reported on the 10/13/09 campaign report SCHEDULE E, which is a violation of
2.04.204(G) (promissory note or report on a form filed with City Clerk for candidate loan to themselves).
2.04.207(A)1 states this shall be reported on the 21st day before the election. The penalty for not filing this report
2.204.211(C)1 is
$400/day, 3 days elapsed before this report was made. The Election Committee needs to determine if this is three (3) separate reports (although they each have different dates as noted below) or one(1) report of three (3) loans. The total fine is either
$1,200 or $400.
The dates and amounts of these loans were: 8/20/09
$579.35, 9/4/09
$231, 10/9/09
$94.54 - totaling
$904.89. As stated above, these loans were later reported in an amended report on 10/16/09 (3 days later). Under
2.04.211(C)5 the penalty is
$100/day for each violation. 3 violations x 3 days =
$900 fine.
The source of these funds were not disclosed and it needs to be determined if this could be a violation of
2.04.204(A) ("conduit"), whereas the candidate is trying to hide a contribution or contributor.
2.204.211(C)4 penalty for "acting as a conduit" is
$400 for each violation.
2.04.207(A)1(c), separate from the
2.04.207(A)1 violation above, was also violated for 3 days as the incorrect amounts were reported for total of contributions reported (loans), expenditures made (incorrectly denoted in original campaign report as "In-Kind Contributions), and balance of funds at end of reporting period (off by $
25.95). There are no specific fines for these types of mistakes entered on campaign reports, so
2.204.211(C)13 ("Any violation of this Act not otherwise set forth herein") may need to be applied, which is
$100. The Election Committee needs to determine how many of these "not otherwise set" kinds of violations occurred.
Supporting documentation is the 10/13/09 and 10/16/09 original and amended reports made by "Elect Kaye Fissinger" that the City Clerk and Election Committee already have copies of.
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There is no accounting for the expenditure or in-kind contribution in the 10/13, 10/16, or 10/20 Elect Kaye Fissinger campaign reports for a large billboard that has been driven around Longmont that bears Ms. Fissingers likeness, name, and electioneering information (Vote For Kaye Fissinger). In addition, the added expense of the use of the vehicle and fuel must be accounted for. This is not a yard sign, it's approximately 10' x 20' and can only be displayed on a stationary or moving vehicle.
This has been seen around Longmont since at least 10/8/09 at the Candidate forum at Silvercreek High School, and is still in use at this date.
2.04.211(C)5 Failing to disclose a contribution or expenditure -
$100 per day for each violation, for up to 10 days.
It has been displayed for over 10 days and should be subject to the maximum
$1,000 fine.
The expenditure or in-kind contribution of the use of the vehicle and fuel is a separate infraction of over 10 days equaling an additional
$1,000 fine.
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