03132015 - News Article - Fines considered for late campaign reports

Fines considered for late campaign reports
Post-Tribune
March 13, 2015
http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/news/ct-ptb-elect-board-meeting-st-0315-20150313-story.html

VALPARAISO – Candidates who aren't filing their campaign finance reports on time are officially on notice.

The Porter County Election Board is moving forward with steps to let candidates and their treasurers know that there will be penalties for filing late reports, including sending them letters in the coming weeks.

"This is notice to everyone that this is it. They've got to file in a timely fashion," said board president David Bengs, a Republican, during Friday's meeting. He added some candidates, including those in major races, didn't file their reports, and faced no penalties for their inaction. "The game's over."

The matter first came up because Portage Mayor James Snyder, a Republican seeking his second term in office, didn't file his report on time because he got a new campaign treasurer, Kenard Taylor, who's also executive director of the county's Republican Party.

With the proper steps in place, which are being put together by board attorney Ethan Lowe, candidates will have a remediation process if they are fined for a late report, and the board can set the fine on the side for good cause, said board member J.J. Stankiewicz, a Democrat.

"I understand Democrats are going to get hit as well as Republicans, but our credibility is starting to take a hit," he said.

Bengs said "it's all over the board" how other counties handle late campaign reports, and Porter County isn't alone.

"No one even knows the last time there's been a fine. That's how long it's been," he said.

The board also addressed concerns raised by the county's Democratic Party about Snyder's campaign finances, including receiving more than the $2,000 that's allowable by state statute from a single corporate donor, and donations received from four companies sharing the same Portage address.

"We found a number of discrepancies I felt were egregious," said Democratic Party Chair Jeffrey Chidester.

At a minimum, he said he wanted proof to the election board that Snyder was paying back the extra funds, and clarification over the donations from the businesses with the same address.

Taylor said he has been hand-delivering the checks to the donors who went over the limit and explaining the state statute to them, so they won't make the mistake in the future. One business made a donation to a round table and then paid to be in a golf outing, without knowing that the fee for the golf outing was considered a campaign contribution.

"A lot of these are smaller corporations and they don't understand the rules," he said.

The refunds will be reflected on Snyder's pre-primary report, which is due April 17. Any penalty for a donation that's over the limit is against the donor, not the candidate, Bengs said.

He also said it's not unusual for different companies to have the same address.

"It does look fishy, but you can have multiple corporations in the same building," he said.

Additionally, the board approved early voting locations, times and dates. Early voting will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, starting April 7, in Room 309 of the County Administration Building, 155 N. Indiana Ave; in the North County Government Complex, 3560 Willowcreek Road, Portage; and Chesterton City Hall, 1490 Broadway.

Early voting also will be held at those times in those locations on the Saturday before the election, May 2. Early voting ends at all locations at noon on May 4.