Draining The Swamp In Porter County Indiana: March 2013

03112013 - News Article - Snyder: Separating campaign, mayor's duties 'no-win' situation

Snyder: Separating campaign, mayor's duties 'no-win' situation
NWI Times
Mar 11, 2013
http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/porter/portage/snyder-separating-campaign-mayor-s-duties-no-winsituation/article_4be36bdf-4f01-53c3-9cdf-719aca83705b.html
PORTAGE | Mayor James Snyder may have raised more than $117,000 in campaign funds last year, but he spent more than $105,000.

Of those expenses, the Portage mayor paid his own company, SRC Properties, $36,000.

The Citizens for Snyder committee made payments to SRC of $24,000 on May 21, 2012, and $12,000 on Dec. 19, 2012.

Snyder said Monday his election committee and his mortgage company have had a lease agreement for the last two years. The $24,000 payment was for the 2011 lease and the $12,000 payment was for 2012.

"We believe it is important for our campaign efforts to be completely separate from day-to-day operations of the mayor's office and the city of Portage," said Snyder, adding the agreement does not only include the use of office space at his building at 5955 Central Ave., but also includes outdoor signs, staff, telephones, equipment and other necessities.

Snyder said in the past he believes previous administrations, who did not maintained year-round campaign offices, conducted campaign business from the mayor's office. He said he and his committee decided they would not do the same.

"It is a no-win situation," he said, saying his campaign committee holds quarterly fundraisers, a golf outing and other functions that require planning and meetings.

"State law requires these expenditures to be reported on a finance report and we are complying the the state campaign finance law," said Snyder, who filed his annual report last week. The deadline, however, to file the report was Jan. 16.

Snyder said he anticipates raising twice the amount of money this year as he looks toward running for re-election in 2015.

"I enjoy being the mayor of Portage and believe that is is important to be ready for the next campaign as our vision will take more than one term to accomplish," he said.

His largest expenditure totaled about $36,000 for his annual golf outing. Snyder said he also made several contributions to other political campaigns during the year.

03072013 - Portage Mayor James Snyder's campaign finance report - PDF - Google Drive

03072013--Portage-Mayor-James-Snyder's-Campaign-Finance-Report--Citizens-For-Snyder

03072013 - News Article - Mayor Snyder month and half late with campaign finance report

Mayor Snyder month and half late with campaign finance report
NWI Times
Mar 7, 2013
http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/porter/duneland/mayor-snyder-month-and-half-late-with-campaign-financereport/article_7008f28e-262c-51a5-b422-11c8c5de3f94.html
VALPARAISO | Portage Mayor James Snyder, a Republican, turned in his year-end campaign finance report Thursday, more than a month and a half beyond the deadline and on the same day the Democrat Party chair called for action on the delinquency.

Snyder reported income of $117,530 and had a balance left of $50,615 for 2012, which was a non-election year and his first year in office.

When asked about the late filing Thursday afternoon, Snyder said, "It's been an extremely busy year. It's still not an excuse to be late."

He pointed out he also filed a document changing campaign treasurers and wanted to make sure the report was accurate.

The report had not been turned in by the time of an early Thursday afternoon meeting of the Porter County Election Board, whose members discussed the late document.

Members were presented with a letter from Porter County Democratic Chairman Jeffrey Chidester, who said it was his understanding Snyder's report had not been filed by the deadline of noon Jan. 16.

He asked the election board "to take the appropriate action necessary."

"If any present or future candidates of either political party know that no reprizeals (sic) or repercussions will happen to them for late filing then the public, the political parties, or their opponents will be in the dark concerning who is financing campaigns," Chidester wrote.

"For the record this is not a political witch hunt, this is just what it is at face value ... Transparency!" he wrote.

Sundae Schoon, the Republican director at the county voter registration office, said other than a few reports coming in a few weeks late, the only other finance report that did not arrive until this week was from Ralph Levi, who made a failed bid as a Republican candidate for sheriff in 2010.

The election board did not act on Chidester's request after being told by Schoon that she expected to receive a report from Snyder by the end of the day Thursday.

Snyder said of the large amount of money raised in 2012 that he intends to double the amount this year in preparation for his bid for re-election in 2015.

In other business Thursday, it was announced to the election board that early voting begins April 8 on the referendums for proposed property tax increases for the Metropolitan School District of Boone Township and the Union Township School Corp.

The same day is the deadline to register to vote for the special May 7 election, which is being financed by the school corporations, said Kathy Kozuszek, the Democratic director at the county voter registration office.

Early voting will be offered at the county administration center in Valparaiso from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, and from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Saturdays April 27 and May 4.