CFB Votes on Enforcement Matters for Six Campaigns
December 1, 2016
At a regularly scheduled meeting today, the New York City Campaign Finance Board determined that six campaigns involved in the 2013 citywide election cycle committed violations. The Board assessed penalties for those violations, determined that two campaigns are required to repay public funds, and approved a post-election public funds payment to one campaign. Refer to the chart below for details on these determinations.
During the meeting, Campaign Finance Board Chairperson Rose Gill Hearn issued the following statement:
"On November 21st, the City Council’s Committee on Standards and Ethics held a hearing to consider a package of 13 bills related to the city’s campaign finance program. The Board’s executive director, Amy Loprest, testified about these proposed changes to the law.
This legislation has been considered on an accelerated schedule. Many of these hastily drafted proposals would directly affect the Board’s operations, undermine our ability to conduct proper oversight of candidates in the system, and hamper our ability to protect public funds.
In particular, the Board is calling on the Council to reject Introduction Number 1355. It is the Board’s belief that this piece of legislation would significantly undermine the standards that the Board has used to protect the public’s investment in cleaner, fairer elections for nearly thirty years.
Specifically, 1355 would allow contribution cards to be “completed” or “corrected” by a candidate or his or her committee. The Board believes this bill will enable fraud, and remove a weapon for the CFB to detect and prevent it.
We are disappointed the Council is rushing to consider all of these significant changes to the matching funds program only ten months before the primary elections are held in 2017.
The Campaign Finance Board is committed to continuous improvement. The law requires the Board and CFB staff to conduct a thorough review of our procedures and processes after each election to propose changes to the Program that would improve its operations.
The bills introduced by the City Council, however, are not proposed in the same spirit. We urge the Council to delay consideration of many of these proposals until after the 2017 elections. This would allow for a thoughtful analysis of their impact. We look forward to engaging in ongoing discussions on ways to improve the Campaign Finance Program with the Council and others.
The Board would like to commend the Council for addressing the danger of influence- seeking raised by the activities of political non-profits connected with elected officials, an issue the Board raised earlier this year. The bill they have proposed would limit donations of lobbyists or people doing businesses before the city to such entities, and thereby, strengthen our protections against the possibility and perception of corruption associated with money in city politics.
However, as I’ve noted, this important piece of legislation is accompanied by several measures that would significantly weaken the CFB’s oversight of the matching funds program."
Violations and Penalties
(for details, follow the link in the Total Penalties column)
Candidate (Election Cycle) |
Office | Violation | Penalty | Total Penalties |
Alicia Barksdale (2013) Program Participant: $0 in public funds received |
City Council (District #7) | Failing to provide bank/merchant account statements | $267 | $1,468 |
Failing to demonstrate compliance with cash receipts reporting and documentation requirements | $79 | |||
Failing to demonstrate compliance with reporting requirements for disbursements | $535 | |||
Accepting contributions from corporations, limited liability companies, or partnerships | $187 | |||
Failing to respond to the Initial Documentation Request | $267 | |||
Late response to the Draft Audit Report | $133 |
Candidate (Election Cycle) |
Office | Violation | Penalty | Total Penalties |
Ralina Cardona (2013) Program Participant: $76,450 in public funds received |
City Council (District #8) | Failing to file and late filing of daily pre-election disclosure statements | $100 | $2,392 |
Accepting over-the-limit contributions | $1,062 | |||
Accepting contributions from unregistered political committees | $225 | |||
Failing to document a transaction | $50 | |||
Failing to demonstrate compliance with intermediary reporting and documentation requirements | $100 | |||
Failure to disgorge questioned contributions | $600 | |||
Failing to demonstrate that spending was in furtherance of the campaign | $255 |
Candidate (Election Cycle) |
Office | Violation | Penalty | Total Penalties |
Christina Gonzalez (2013) Program Participant: $0 in public funds received |
City Council (District #7) | Failing to provide bank account statements | $200 | $1,705 |
Failing to demonstrate compliance with reporting requirements for receipts or disbursements | $505 |
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Failing to file disclosure statements | No Penalty | |||
Failing to respond to the Initial Documentation Request and Draft Audit Report | $1,000 |
Candidate (Election Cycle) |
Office | Violation | Penalty | Total Penalties |
Joyce Johnson (2013) Program Participant: $90,996 in public funds received |
City Council (District #7) | Failing to provide a bank statement | No penalty | $3,064 |
Failing to report transactions | $46 | |||
Filing a late disclosure statement | $50 | |||
Accepting a contribution from an unregistered political committee | $25 |
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Failing to demonstrate that spending was in furtherance of the campaign | $2,314 | |||
Making impermissible post-election expenditures | $629 |
Candidate (Election Cycle) |
Office | Violation | Penalty | Total Penalties |
Cheryl Keeling (2013) Program Participant: $0 in public funds received |
City Council (District #11) | Failing to provide bank/merchant account statements | $50 | $2,908 |
Failing to report transactions | $230 | |||
Failing to demonstrate compliance with reporting requirements for receipts or disbursements | $1,000 |
|||
Filing late disclosure statements | $150 | |||
Failing to document transactions | $728 | |||
Failing to report and document basic campaign functions/activities | $250 |
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Late response to the Initial Documentation Request | $250 | |||
Late response to the Draft Audit Report | $250 |
Candidate (Election Cycle) |
Office | Violation | Penalty | Total Penalties |
Anthony Weiner (2013) Program Participant: $1,652,074 in public funds received |
Mayor | Failing to report transactions | $1,227 | $64,956 |
Filing a late disclosure statement | $200 | |||
Failing to file and late filing of daily pre-election disclosure statements | $312 | |||
Accepting over-the-limit contributions | $8,652 | |||
Accepting over-the-limit Doing Business contributions | $675 | |||
Accepting contributions from corporations, limited liability companies, or partnerships | $1,177 |
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Failing to demonstrate compliance with intermediary reporting and documentation requirements | $1,100 | |||
Failing to demonstrate that spending was in furtherance of the campaign | $22,031 |
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Converting campaign funds to a personal use | $2,308 | |||
Making impermissible post-election expenditures | $27,274 |
Public Funds Repayments
Candidate (Election Cycle) |
Public Funds Received | Public Funds Repayment |
Joyce Johnson (2013) City Council (District #7) |
$90,996 | $2,100 |
Anthony Weiner (2013) Mayor |
$1,652,074 | $195,377.79* |
Post-election Public Funds Payment
Candidate (Election Cycle) |
Office | Public Funds Payment |
Ralina Cardona (2013) Program Participant: $76,450 in public funds received |
City Council (District #8) | $1,160 |
Archived video of today’s meeting and hearing is available at www.nyccfb.info/live.
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