(Updated) State Elections Division Proposes Civil Penalties Against Defunct Right-Wing Vera Katz Recall Campaign
Note: This post has been updated. Any and all updates appear at the end of the original post.
Longtime readers here will (ahem) recall the short-lived pair of recall campaigns mounted last year against Mayor Vera Katz, one from the left and one from the right, both of which became irrelevant when Katz announced she would not be seeking another term.
Some readers might also (ahem) recall that Marvin Moore, the chief petitioner of the left-wing campaign, at one point had filed complaints against the right-wing group.
News comes this week that the Elections Division of the Secretary of State has proposed two civil penalties against John Belgarde, treasurer of the right-wing campaign, as a result of one of these complaints.
According to Marvin Moore via email on Monday, the Elections Division proposed fines totalling $1,100 in penalty notices mailed last week, and are for failure to file timely and sufficient reports of contributions and expenditures as required by state law.
(That filing-related complaint, which Moore filed last July, had come only two weeks after the Elections Division had already acted on an earlier complaint by Moore. Responding to that first complaint, the Elections Division had discontinued the Better Portland Alliance -- the original organization behind the right-wing recall effort -- as a political committee because it was not properly formed under state law. The BPA then replaced itself with recallvera.com, with Belgarde as treasurer.)
"The initial recall report was due at the time of filing the prospective recall petition - June 6, 2003," says Nancy E. Ferry, compliance specialist with the Elections Division. "The second report - the recall drive report - was due the 15th day after the deadline for submitting signatures for verification."
That report, according to Ferry is required even when signatures are not submitted and was due on September 19, 2003. Both reports, however, were not received in the Portland City Auditor's office until October 13, 2003.
According to Moore, the proposed penalty breaks down into $100 for the first violation and $1,000 for the second.
"The actual first penalty was calculated at $1,699.90 due to the lateness of 89 days," says Moore, "but state law allows a $100 maximum for a treasurer's first violation and $1,000 for the second."
"The BPA was against the First Amendment rights of peace activists to peaceably assemble," Moore added in his Monday email. "It's highly ironic that they loudly accused activists of breaking minor pedestrian laws when they themselves flagrantly violate the requirements of state election law."
Update
Missing from the above is a sense of what happens once a penalty has been proposed. That information I now have, courtesy again of Nancy E. Ferry from the Elections Division. Most of what follows is taken more or less verbatim from Ferry's email.
If the recallvera.com committee wishes to demand a hearing on the penalty, he must do so within 20 days of receiving notice from the Elections Division. If the committee does not contest the proposed penalty, a final order is issued by default and the penalty imposed.
Should the committee demand a hearing, it can be in person or by telephone with an administrative law judge, or by submitting written notarized testimony. The Elections Division and/or the judge will then make a determination based on the evidence submitted by the committee.
There are certain mitigating circumstances which will be considered, such as fire, flood, or fraud. Only if the committee can prove one of these mitigating circumstances will the penalty be reduced or waived. After a determination is made, a final order will be issued and the penalty will be imposed or not, depending upon the decision.