Complaint: Election laws broken

By BRIAN WALKER

Staff Writer

A local political activist is accusing two fellow Republican groups of being sluggish on their financial reporting for Tuesday's primary election.

Sandy Patano, chair of the North Idaho Political Action Committee (NIPAC), blasted the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee and the Kootenai County Republican Concerned Citizens PAC for an alleged lack of transparency in a complaint to Secretary of State Lawerence Denney late Thursday.

"The offenders behind this activity obviously do not embrace accountability or transparency," Patano wrote to Denney.

She was referring to no financial forms posted for the KCRCC and no individual contribution or expenditure information for the Concerned Citizens PAC as of Thursday night on the Secretary of State’s website, when Tuesday was the deadline for the reports.

Concerned Citizens PAC Treasurer David Jensen III told The Press on Friday that he submitted the additional information on Friday morning. He said he was granted an extension on the report because he was having a computer problem with some of the forms.

Dorothy Canary, of the Secretary of State’s office, clarified the situation.

"He did not get an extension,” she said. “He was told to get it in as soon as possible. We do not offer extensions."

A hand-written report was posted on Friday afternoon, showing contributions of $6,220, including $5,000 from C4 Hundred LLC of Idaho Falls and $500 from Mitchell Properties of Coeur d'Alene. Among the expenditures was $1,195.85 to John Cross of Post Falls.

The Concerned Citizens PAC sent out a postcard this week listing the candidates it endorses.

When asked approximately how many people are directly affiliated with the PAC, Jensen said, "As far as I know, it's just me."

On the KCRCC financial reporting matter, Brent Regan, chairman of the committee, said Friday the first he heard about it was when he was contacted by The Press. He said he then left a message with Treasurer Doug Balija to find out why a financial report hadn't been posted as of early Friday afternoon.

"Out of an abundance of caution, I have directed the Central Committee's treasurer to contact the Secretary of State's office to verify that the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee is in compliance and to resolve any issues found," Regan wrote in an email to The Press. "I have asked him to report his findings back to me as soon as possible and to the committee at large at our next public meeting."

Messages left with Balija were not returned as of deadline Friday night.

Tim Hurst, chief deputy with the Secretary of State office, said on Friday afternoon his agency was looking into Patano's complaint. He said he couldn't answer some questions from The Press until he knows more about the circumstances with both groups.

"The Kootenai County Republican Central Committee has not filed a report," he said late Friday afternoon. "They were contacted by our office and said they would get the report in this weekend."

Regan said the Central Committee doesn't have anything to hide.

"The meetings are open to the public and are fully transparent," he wrote.

In her complaint, Patano said she has concerns that lines between elected Central Committee members and PACs are being increasingly blurred. She submitted an email exchange between elected Central Committee members corresponding on distributing signs backing a specific candidate.

"It is highly questionable in the primary and didn't used to happen," Patano said of such activity. "Party committees used to remain neutral. Just because the law allows (committees to take a position on candidates) doesn't make it ethical or appropriate."

Regan said the KCRCC has remained neutral on candidates.

"There have been no reportable donations or expenditures directed at any primary candidate or candidate's committee," he wrote, adding that the committee's policy states that members can't speak on behalf of the committee unless they are authorized by the committee to do so.

Regan said that, individually, of course, committee members can support the candidates of their choosing and all are encouraged to be active in their communities.

With financial reporting by the two groups, Patano said she believes laws were broken. She hopes the Secretary of State provides the complaint to the Attorney General for an investigation.

"These laws were put in place to make sure candidates don't gain an unfair advantage, and that if somebody wants to influence an election, they do it out in the open," she said. "We are growing concerned that a handful of dishonest ideological zealots are sneaking around, trying to wield more influence than the law allows by playing a shell game with numerous PACs and phony publications. They don't want the voters to know who's trying to buy the elections."

Kootenai County Clerk Jim Brannon said that if a PAC supports a county candidate, it needs to file a disclosure form with the county regardless if it has done so with the state in support of legislative or statewide candidates.

He said there have been cases in recent years where the county has had to inform PACs and candidates to file additional information — some are new to politics — but he doesn't believe they have been egregious. When notified, Brannon said, they typically comply with filing the proper documents in a timely fashion.