About the FEC Audit
(Cross-Posted to DemNotes at: www.DemNotes.com)
As a few of you have heard, the FEC and the Colorado Democratic Party have reached a “conciliation agreement” with respect to an audit of the CDP’s federal campaign finance reports in 2001-2002. The press has reported on this a couple of times, so it’s not really new news, but if you open the newspapers in the morning, you’re likely to see another story about the fine that the CDP has agreed to.
Specifically, the Party has agreed to pay a $105,000 fine to the FEC for the violations. I want to again point out that these violations were not for any misconduct; instead, they were for an awful lot of bookkeeping errors that resulted in erroneous reports being filed with the FEC. None of the officers or staff currently involved with the Democratic Party — nor even the officers involved with the Party under Chair Chris Gates — were in those positions in the time period involved in this case.
More important is that all of you be reassured that safeguards have been put into place to ensure that this never happens again. Chair Pat Waak, on the State Party blog, best describes what we’ve done:
Nothing illegal was done in the 2001-2002 cycle. Instead this is a reminder of how important careful and thorough bookkeeping is, especially during a campaign cycle. Two years ago we put into play a new accounting system, hired a compliance firm, and added a full time accountant. Routine audits are done so that nothing like this happens again.
Mark Ferrandino has done a great job monitoring this whole process. He will be giving a treasurer’s report at the state executive meeting on April 29. If you have questions, we will be happy to answer them.
I want to echo Pat on that last statement, especially. Our State Party Treasurer, Mark Ferrandino, walked into the office and walked right into the ongoing FEC audit. He (as well as prior treasurer Shawn O’Buckley) have done a great job sorting out the issues raised by the FEC, answering their questions, and cooperating with the investigation. In theory, the fine from the FEC could have been much worse; I’m convinced that they took our cooperation — and that means Mark Ferrandino’s work — into account in this instance.
The Party has already paid $50,000 of the FEC fine, and we’ll pay the remainder in the months ahead. We saw this coming, and we budgeted for it in our 2007 budget approved last December. Here’s some good news, though: according to the most recent FEC reports, we’ll still be in good shape relative to the Colorado Republican Party even after we pay our fine. The CDP currently has about $160,000 on hand in its federal account with no debt. The state GOP? They have just $24,000 on hand, and they have a staggering $272,000 in debt still to repay! In other words, the Colorado Republican Party took out loans to end up with the results we saw in 2006!!! Wow.
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There are several events this weekend — I’d like to share a couple here in Southern Colorado:
Tomorrow night, I’ll be emceeing the “Tri-County Dinner” in La Junta, sponsored by the Democratic Parties in Otero, Bent and Crowley counties. More impressively, Speaker Andrew Romanoff is the keynote speaker. Here are the details:
Crowley, Otero, and Bent Counties invite you to join us for our annual JFK Dinner, Saturday, April 21 at the Otero Junior College Student Center, 2001 San Juan Ave., La Junta, CO. Social Hour at 6:00 PM, Dinner at 7:00 PM. Cost is $20
In addition, I’ve received word that the Latino Initiative in El Paso County is kicking off their work with a dinner tomorrow night, as well:
El Paso County Democratic Party—LATINO INITIATIVE BANQUET
APRIL 21, 2007 Silverwood Hotel, 505 Popes Bluff Trail (I-25 and Garden of the Gods) Cocktails: 5:30 pm Dinner: 6:30 pm to 7:30 pm Dance: 8:00 pm to 12:00 am (Music of PERSUASION) Guest Speakers Local businesses have donated items for auction. Price of tickets: $25 per individual for the dinner and dance. If you only want to attend the dance, $15 for a single or $20 per couple. For reservations and tickets, call Democratic Headquarters at 473-8713 (9:00 to 5:00 pm weekdays). In the spirit and belief that all Democratic functions should be accessible by all, if there is a financial concern for attending, please call Jennifer Trujillio-Sanchez at 719-651-0445 for arrangements.
Hope you can make it to one or the other if you’re in Southern Colorado this weekend!