The Allen County Election Board might meet again to talk about the campaign finances of Republican mayoral nominee Matt Kelty.
The board is investigating a complaint that Kelty failed to properly disclose a $1,000 donation before the primary election. Jeff Pruitt, an author of a local left-leaning blog, asked the board Monday to investigate Kelty for not reporting a $1,000 donation given by Dan Turkette, the author of a local right-leaning blog.
Kelty's most recent campaign filing shows he received $1,000 from Turkette on May 3. State law requires candidates to report contributions $1,000 or larger received after the pre-primary deadline of April 13 and two days before the election of May 8. Kelty did report several other large donations before the primary. The reports are due within 48 hours of a candidate receiving it.
Kelty on Tuesday filed the proper form listing Turkette's May contribution, although he dated it Oct. 4.
Andy Downs, Democratic election board member, said the matter will be investigated and could result in a fine of up to $100. The board previously agreed to more strictly enforce deadlines.
See the most recent filing
http://fwnextweb1.fortwayne.com/jgtest/jg/pdf/Kelty.pdf
PAC backers
Republican mayoral nominee Matt Kelty received a large amount of money from the Northeast Indiana PAC for Better Government. The group reported giving Kelty $50,000 to aid in his campaign bid. It was his largest contributor.
Not surprisingly, one of the larger contributors to the political action committee was someone who has long supported Kelty. John V. Tippman gave the group $22,000 this year after giving $24,500 to Kelty directly.
Also supporting the PAC this year were Donald McArdle, $15,500; Richard Freeland, $12,000; Glenbrook Dodge Hyundai, $12,000; Riverside Manufacturing, $12,000; Byron Lamm, $10,000; Star Financial Bank, $7,000; Star PAC, $5,000; Ronda Hanning, $5,000; and Fred Merrett, $2,500.
The group gave $10,000 to Allen County Commissioner Nelson Peters and $5,000 to Kelty before the primary. It gave the remaining $45,000 to Kelty since the summer. The PAC also supported Councilman Tom Didier, R-3rd, Councilman John Crawford, R-at large, and Republican council candidates Joe Smith and Liz Brown. It also paid $8,490 to McLaughlin & Associates of Blauvelt, N.Y., for poll data.
Average disclosure
Indiana is average when it comes to access to state-level candidate campaign disclosure data, according to a recent study by the California Voter Foundation.
States with the strongest campaign disclosure programs are Ohio, California, Oregon, Florida, Hawaii, Michigan, Virginia, Georgia, Illinois, New Jersey and Washington.
States with the weakest campaign disclosure programs are Delaware, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Nevada, North Dakota, Mississippi, Montana, South Dakota, Alabama and Wyoming.
Indiana stands in the middle of the pack, earning a C and ranking 25th. The state slightly improved from a C-minus in the same study two years ago.
In all, 18 states earned grades in the A or B range while 14 received an F in the assessment.
Indiana performed best in the Disclosure Content Accessibility category, earning a B-plus. The report found that the Secretary of State's Web site offers well-designed, searchable databases of contributions and expenditures.
The study also cited significant improvement in electronic filing - 40 states now permit candidates to file disclosure reports electronically. The number of states requiring electronic filing by legislative and statewide candidates has nearly doubled in the past four years, increasing from 12 in 2003 to 23 today.
“Access to campaign finance data enables voters to make informed election choices and hold politicians accountable,” said Kim Alexander, president of the California Voter Foundation. “This study helps the public determine how their state's disclosure programs compare with others, and provides resources and incentives to help states improve.”
Cultural discussion
Fort Wayne mayoral and council candidates will discuss how they plan to enhance the image of Fort Wayne and its multicultural community this weekend.
The Fort Wayne Urban League and Eric Hackley are sponsoring a forum to discuss issues involving blacks, Hispanics, Burmese and Miami Indians. Jonathan Ray, president/CEO of the Urban League, said having members of the different groups ask questions will better show the needs of each group.
The event is free and open to the public. It will be from 3 to 5 p.m. Sunday in the Fort Wayne Urban League meeting room, 2135 S. Hanna St.
