Maine news, sports, weather | Kennebec Journal, Augusta, Maine

Issuesrevealed in probe by state

By Susan M. Cover scover@mainetoday.com
State House Bureau

AUGUSTA -- Problems with the Clean Election application of Democrat John Richardson became evident when ethics commission staff started calling donors.

Donors are supposed to complete a two-step process: Sign a document, and donate $5 to the candidate.

When staff talked to several people who said they signed some paperwork -- but didn't give any money -- a red flag went up, ethics commission Executive Director Jonathan Wayne said Monday.

"We had 39 situations where people told us, even though they had signed a form that says they gave $5, they hadn't (given money)," Wayne said.

As a result, four campaign workers are suspected of violating state law that governs the public-funding system by "falsely stating that they collected qualifying contributions," and because submitted documents contained "material false statements," Wayne wrote in a letter to Richardson.

A decision is pending on whether campaign workers will face fines or penalties. Wayne declined to identify the workers Monday.

Part of that determination will be made by the Office of the Attorney General, which helped ethics commission staff conduct its investigation.

A spokeswoman for the attorney general's office confirmed Monday that that office has been involved, but said she could neither confirm nor deny whether an additional investigation would take place.

Wayne said the five-member Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices also could make a recommendation for an attorney general investigation. The panel meets again Thursday.

"If there are candidates who violate Clean Elections, they face civil penalties," Wayne said. "In this case, they are grassroots campaign workers. I don't know whether the commission will pursue action against them."

One worker was paid $680 by the campaign for what was described as "campaign field work," while the three others are believed to be volunteers, Wayne said.

Problems were found in contributions gathered in Fort Kent, Perry, Topsham, Hallowell, Brunswick and at an unidentified southern Maine company, according to the commission.

Wayne emphasized that, while the workers could face an investigation, he had no reason to believe that Richardson or Campaign Manager Monica Castellanos had anything to do with the apparent fraud.

"The staff's investigation did not reveal any indication that the candidate himself made false statements in documents submitted to the commission," Wayne wrote.

Richardson, forced to quit the race for governor Monday, was one of four major candidates seeking public money to pay for their campaign. Candidates who make it through the primary and general election this year will be eligible for up to $1.8 million in taxpayer funds.

While Sen. Peter Mills, R-Cornville; Senate President Elizabeth Mitchell, D-Vassalboro; and Democrat Patrick McGowan all received their initial funds within days of their application, ethics staff took more than three weeks to review -- and, ultimately, deny -- Richardson's application.

For all gubernatorial candidates who want to use public funding, the commission checks an initial sample of at least 50 to 100 donors to make sure they are valid.

In this instance, Wayne said once the staff started hearing from people that they had not given any money, they widened the search by sending out 180 letters.

Commission staff found evidence that some circulators falsified qualifying contributions by getting signatures -- but not $5 checks -- from individuals around the state.

To qualify for public funding, candidates must show grassroots support from the public by collecting 3,250 checks in the amount of $5. The money must come "from their personal funds," according to state law. Richardson met a separate requirement that he raise at least $40,000 in "seed money."

But in some instances, circulators working on behalf of Richardson either did not ask for the contribution or said they would cover the expense, according to the commission.

In one incident in southern Maine, a campaign worker approached people in a parking lot to ask for signatures. Someone reported it to the commission.

"He stated that he was told by 'Richardson people' that, if an employee wished to support your campaign, one of the company owners would pay the $5 for the contribution," Wayne wrote.

Also, ethics staff found a separate reason for denying the funding request.

Wayne wrote that forms were submitted by "campaign workers who did not collect all the signatures on the forms," which "supports the staff finding that the campaign submitted documents with material false statements."

In total, the campaign submitted 3,597 names to count toward the 3,250 necessary. But ethics commission staff found that:

* 65 signatures were duplicate contributors;

* 210 were rejected as invalid;

* seven did not match the voter record;

* 115 were collected by circulators who made false statements; and

* 32 were found to have deficiencies not corrected by the campaign.

That left 3,168 that were deemed acceptable -- but that's short of the number necessary, according to the commission.

Once Richardson found out about the problems, he instructed those involved to call the ethics commission, Wayne said.

"The campaign was cooperative during the staff investigation and encouraged campaign workers who had not done it correctly to give me a call," Wayne said.

Richardson had the option to appeal the decision to the full commission, but chose to depart the race.

"Candidates for governor seeking public funding must be held to the standard of organizing their campaigns in such a way that grassroots level workers -- whether paid or volunteer -- are following the procedures spelled out in law to qualify the candidate for public funding," Wayne wrote. "Establishing an effective campaign structure to ensure compliance is a reasonable standard to hold any candidate seeking public funding to become the chief executive officer of the state of Maine."

Susan Cover -- 620-7015

scover@centralmaine.com