10262011 - News Article - MARK KIESLING: Political contributions likely legal, but not wise

MARK KIESLING: Political contributions likely legal, but not wise
NWI Times
Oct 26, 2011
http://www.nwitimes.com/news/opinion/columnists/mark-kiesling/mark-kiesling-political-contributions-likely-legalbut-not-wise/article_f3f7069c-4aae-5dcb-9a00-c34ed8f70cb3.html
I guess we will only know after the November mayoral election if the flap over Portage Mayor Olga Velazquez had any significance.

Or whether it was much ado about nothing, or sound and fury signifying nothing, to continue the Shakespeare analogies.

Velazquez accepted $500 from the Portage Economic Development Corp., on which she serves on the board of directors.

Whether this was some kind of conflict of interest has yet to be determined. Did she use her mayoral agenda to further PEDCO's agenda because of the donation? So far, there is no evidence that this is the case.

Yet in Northwest Indiana, where political shenanigans are more of a holy mission than a crime, it might have been smarter of Velazquez to have bypassed that $500. She doesn't need it that badly.

"We weren't looking at it as a campaign contribution," said Bert Cook, the executive director of PEDCO, of the decision to buy the $500 in tickets to a mayoral golf outing.

I'm not saying I don't believe Cook, but if he's telling the truth he must be incredibly naive. Golf outings are one of the primary sources of campaign funding, and Cook must know the $500 went into the re-election war chest of Velazquez, the Democratic incumbent.

And even though Cook says the foursome of golf was perfectly legal under PEDCO and nonprofit lobbying regulations, he admitted he likely will steer clear of doing it again.

Ditto with the Portage Township Schools, which also took part in the same golf outing and which also kicked in the same $500.

The school district is re-evaluating a decision by its athletic department to take part in the golf outing.

There's nothing wrong with contributions to a political campaign, even from people who stand to benefit from the victory of the candidate.

But I say that with a caveat: Entities like schools should steer completely clear of appearing to back one candidate over another. Schools should not be used for political purposes.

If the athletic director wants to golf on a nice fall day, fine. Let him or her spend his or her own money.

The PEDCO situation is a bit different. It is allowed, as a nonprofit, to spend as much as 20 percent of its annual total expenditures on lobbying, which includes contributions to candidates perceived as friendly to their cause.

But when the candidate sits on the board of directors, no one should be shocked when allegations of conflict of interest are raised, as they were by Velazquez's opponent, Republican James Snyder.

"It's a mayor's golf outing, not a charitable ball," he said.

I'm not convinced Velazquez can be bought for $500, either by PEDCO or the school corporation's athletic department.

But she would have been wiser to keep them at arm's length and avoid giving Snyder ammunition for his campaign.