During a regularly scheduled meeting today, the Campaign Finance Board assessed penalties against two campaigns and issued two advisory opinions.
Penalties were assessed against the 2005 City Council campaigns of Edwin Marcial and Dan Quart. For a complete list, see below.
The Board issued an advisory opinion requested by Melinda R. Katz, 2009 candidate for comptroller and another requested by Anthony Weiner, 2009 candidate for mayor. Ms. Katz requested that the Board make a determination that a Democratic Party run-off primary is “reasonably anticipated” in the comptroller’s race, which would allow candidates to begin raising money for the run-off election. The Board determined that a run-off election is not “reasonably anticipated” at this time.
Mr. Weiner requested the Board clarify the new intermediary provisions of the Campaign Finance Act. The Weiner campaign sought guidance on how to report an intermediary (or “bundler”) to the Board if more than one person had solicited a contribution, if the solicitor of the contribution was different from the person who delivered the contribution, or if the solicitor was different than the host of a non-campaign sponsored fundraiser. The Board determined that the campaign is required to disclose a known solicitor for a particular contribution, even where a different person or entity delivered the contribution. In the case where more than one known solicitor exists, the campaign should report the one intermediary the campaign deems to be the most responsible for the solicitation of the contribution.
The advisory opinions will be available here later today.
Candidate | Office | Public Funds Received | Violation | Penalty | Total Penalties |
Marcial, Edwin (2005) | CD #08 | $0 | Accepting a $250 over-the-limit contribution | $500 | $13,104 |
Accepting an $8,004 over-the-limit contribution | $8,504 | ||||
Failing to report (2) in-kind contributions | $100 | ||||
Monetary receipts variance of 18.12% | $250 | ||||
Monetary disbursements variance of 23.18% | $250 | ||||
Failing to report 20 transactions | Violation, but No Penalty | ||||
Cash deposit variance of 86% | $1,000 | ||||
Fraud and/or material misrepresentation | $2,500 and breach of certification | ||||
Quart, Dan (2005) | CD #05 | $82,500 | Exceeding the primary election expenditure limit by $1,302 | $1,302 | $1,402 |
Failing to file required pre-election disclosure statements | $100 |