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Candidate Fails to Account for More Than $7,700

9/19/2013

11 Comments

 
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Campaign seasons are hectic, and across the state thousands of candidates are running for office. Sometimes the WA Public Disclosure Commission (PDC) doesn’t catch discrepancies that it should on its own. But it posts everything it receives for public review and scrutiny, and relies on that to help keep campaign finance forthright.

Ken Mann, running for re-election as a county councilman, reported in July on his PDC Form C-4 that his 2013 campaign fund was being seeded with a modest “left over” cash balance of $73.60 from his 2009 campaign fund.

There was a problem with that figure.

Following his election to Council in 2009, Mann’s end-of-cycle PDC Form C-4 dated January 11, 2010, reported unspent campaign funds of $7,787.47.

So $7,713.87 has gone unreported or missing. WE have no idea which. But this needs to get straightened out officially.

Elected folks who plan to stand for election more than once are required to follow the provisions of state law found in RCW 42.17A.430 (6), “Disposal of surplus funds.” They’re supposed to set up a “surplus account” to properly account for unspent funds.This law clearly states that “The surplus funds of a candidate or a candidate’s authorized committee may only be disposed of in any one or more of "... the several ways" spelled out in the statute.

But between January 2010 and May 2013, the PDC didn’t receive or post any reports amended or otherwise from Mann concerning the “left over” funds from the 2009 campaign. Despite having more than three years to do so, it appears that the PDC (and thus Mann’s contributors and the public) has no idea how he spent or otherwise disposed of these campaign funds.

Washington State’s public disclosure laws establish a citizen-complaint driven process. On July 3, a complaint was filed with the state’s Public Disclosure Commission to bring the matter to their attention. On July 10 the PDC acknowledged receipt of the complaint and advised they were undertaking a preliminary review of the matter. Because the Commission sometimes receives complaints deemed frivolous, they advise filers they have not made a determination whether a formal investigation or any enforcement action may be warranted at the preliminary stage. Candidates are given time to get their paperwork caught up, as a practical courtesy.

When weeks passed without a response from Mann, on August 16 PDC Director of Compliance Philip Stutzman wrote to confirm that a formal investigation would be made (PDC Case No. 14-001), and he advised Mann of this to provide yet another opportunity to explain what happened to the money and to file amended PDC reports. The PDC posts the reports that it receives to the public promptly, usually within 24 hours of receipt.

When the discrepancy continued to go uncorrected, on August 27 a package of hard copies of the complaint with supporting documents, PDC letters, and a cover letter were delivered directly to Mr. Ralph Schwartz at the Bellingham Herald offices. According to a first-hand account, Mr. Schwartz opened the package, took a quick look at the contents and remarked, “Almost $8,000 – that’s not chump change!” and Schwartz added that he’d take the matter up with his editor, Debbie Townsend, when she returned from vacation after Labor Day. WE understand that he then added that the paper “would likely not want to do anything that might impact the outcome of an election.”

Really?

According to further accounts since, it seems the Herald has made it clear that it has no interest of informing the public or keeping them otherwise abreast of this until the PDC investigation is finished “hopefully by late October.” Apparently the “newspaper” does not want to inform the general public of the publically-available but not easily located facts that have led the state Public Disclosure Commission itself to pursue a formal investigation. As of this writing, the investigation is very “live”, and ongoing.

WE are citizen journalists who fundamentally “do what we do” because the public has little choice but to share news on its own around here, filling in gaps that the “official” press refuses to address.

All we’re saying is (a) Mann ought to get with it and straighten this out well before October, and (b) the Herald shouldn’t turn a blind eye to the PDC's official concerns about a confirmed problem. WE think the press could handle this tactfully, if it wanted to. Straight up reporting shouldn't be considered a matter of taking sides. We need a press that will report news as it happens, to be worthy of our respect and reliance. Mann's campaign would probably benefit from the same kind of trustworthy openness with the PDC right now, too.

Update (10/06/13): We received this press release: Whatcom County Councilman Under PDC Investigation for Campaign Finance Violations

11 Comments
Joan Dow
9/19/2013 03:41:09 am

Am I mistaken, or is Ken Mann the Chairman of the Finance Committee?

Reply
childofww2
9/19/2013 05:36:29 am

Am passing this around - the light must be seen.. keep up the good work

Reply
Ken Mann link
9/19/2013 10:38:46 am

Dear WE readers and journalists - I respectfully request the following corrections and additions to your piece:
1. The allegation that "weeks passed without a response from Mann" is totally false. I responded immediately and directly to the PDC. We have had continuous phone and email dialog to resolve the issue.
2. We submitted paper bank records and a letter to the PDC in July.
3. When some helpful political operatives alerted the Herald to the situation, copies of all the files were provided to the Herald.
4. The PDC requested more bank records on August 16. I had to order more from Chase/WAMU and I sent them on Monday.
5. I would be happy to meet with anybody from the WE or any publication or any citizen to provide copies of all of the documentation.
I appreciate your article and I appreciate the PDC. With hectic campaign schedules and volunteer treasurers, bookkeeping and paperwork errors do happen. Feel free to contact me directly if you have any questions - 360-483-6020. Thanks, Ken

Reply
Greg Brown
9/19/2013 01:27:15 pm

So, show us the money? It has been a long time since January 2010. What was the hold up? Without "helpful political operatives" would there have been any resolution...

Reply
Ken Mann link
9/19/2013 04:15:52 pm

Mr. Brown,

Thank you for asking. The majority of the discrepancy is composed of payments to Lithtex NW, CopySource, and my campaign manager. I take full responsibility for the oversight and I apologize to the public.

On Monday, I sent the PDC the full spreadsheet of corrections and paper copies of all 2009 bank statements. Once they confirm that my documentation is satisfactory I will file the appropriate amended C-4s and I expect they will close the complaint.

Feel free to contact me directly if you have any questions - 360-483-6020. Thanks, Ken

Reply
Greg Brown
9/20/2013 01:50:48 am

Councilman Mann,

Thank you for showing us the money. "Oversight" must be the answer to the rest of my concerns. Do you think that you should officially explain and actually "apologize to the public" and not just the readers of WE?
Our local media choses not to inform the public...

Ralph Schwartz
9/23/2013 02:22:04 am

This article also misrepresented my statement. I said the Herald wouldn't want to influence the outcome of an election *for no good reason.* Unless and until the PDC comes up with a finding, there is no story. No amount of slanting the recent chain of events to make people look bad will change that.

Reply
Comrade X
9/27/2013 01:13:09 am

We all know when it comes to the Herald "slanting" the story "to make people look bad" only applies to conservatives.

With the Herald that is the only "good reason" for them.

Reply
Bill Crawford
9/27/2013 01:58:19 am

Mr. Schwartz, on 9/20 (3 days before the post you made) Ken Mann submitted 18 reports to the PDC which either adds too or amends things he reported during his 2009 campaign. As expected, they include almost $5,000 in spending that was never reported in 2009. But they also itemize over 50 campaign contributions that were never reported in 2009, and deletes 5 bank deposits that were originally reported in 2009. These are serious errors and compliance failures under Washington State law. Regardless of the eventual outcome of the PDC investigation, how is this not a story now?

Reply
Karl Uppiano link
9/27/2013 12:56:23 pm

How about newspapers objectively report the facts, and the torpedoes be damned? Ken Mann responded to the allegations made here, and it appears that we had a good discussion about it.

Facts WILL influence an election. It's part of the game. If you won't do your job, then it looks like blogs and other alternative media will eat your lunch. I have been outraged by the "mainstream" media's claims of objectivity when they are clearly anything but. At least rags like Whatcom Excavator make no bones about their bias. That's not a problem. Between this and Riley Sweeney's blog (in the free market of ideas), things even out right nicely, thank you very much.

Reply
Joan Dow
10/1/2013 03:23:59 am

I thought newspapers were supposed to report the facts, and let the public draw its own conclusions.

Silly me.

Reply

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