At the October 26 Election Committee meeting, one of the many complaints that
Karen Benker has brought forward was found to be a violation, with a fine of
$600. This was in reference to
Longmont Leadership Committee for filing a report of an Independent Expenditure 3 days beyond the 72 hour requirement.
(UPDATED AND MORE ACCURATE INFORMATION BELOW)
So in the first completed action by this committee under the
Longmont Fair Campaigns Act the city just netted
$600.
Unfortunately, the cost to get that
$600 was probably in excess of
$1,800!
How's that? The
special prosecutor they hired
specifically to do these cases charges around $200 per hour, but the backup attorney stood in at
$190/hour, he was there for 5 hours. In addition, they also have a
special counsel separate from the prosecutor, again hired
specifically for this committee. They charge
$185/hour, she was also there for 5 hours, so put that all together and you end up with
$1,875 spent to squeeze
$600 out of an organization.
So the city just lost
$1,275, and this case cost more than
triple the amount of the fine leveled.
Brilliant. And this case could have gone either way, imagine if no fine was leveled!
So when you people who have been very vocal about the City Council having no empathy for your financial situation - levying new taxes, I mean fees - now you have a poster child for it.
Karen Benker.
I expect she'll be crowing about this "victory" (nevermind most of her other complaints, and those of her surrogates are getting tossed out by the Election Committee) and has no problem with the special prosecutor and special counsel she voted for being the only ones to actually make any money out of her hissy fit. Meanwhile, us taxpayers pick up the tab.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
©2009 Chris Rodriguez/Longmont Advocate LLC (Chris Rodriguez is a Longmont resident, and the publisher and broadcaster of Longmont Advocate, a community website and podcast that raises local issues to increase public awareness and interest)