An ethics complaint was filed this week against Ray McBerry, and 11 others running for office around the state. The complaint is based upon the failure of each candidate to file their Campaign Contribution Disclosure Report with the State Ethics Commission.
The report is due no later than January 8th, which is the end of the grace period for filing. As of today at the time of this writing, McBerry and the others still have not filed. The report discloses cash on hand, individual contributions, and expenditures among other things.
McBerry, a Republican candidate for Governor, is campaigning on the promise of totally restructuring state government. It looks like he is trying to get started before he’s even elected.
The others candidates are:
Darwin Carter – Agriculture Commissioner
Curt Thompson – State Senate 5th District
Carlotta Harrell – State House District 76
Keith Gross – State House District 80
William Lee – State House District 95
Earnest Smith – State House District 122
Rodney Edenfield – State House District 159
Diana Williams – State Senate 43rd District*
Bradley Ploeger – State House 59th District*
Joseph Flint – State House District 61*
Susan Holmes – State House District 151*
* These candidates filed their Declaration of Intention after January 1, 2010. A Campaign Contribution Disclosure report must be completed by anyone who filed a DOI in 2009. These candidates were included with the ethics complaint regarding Campaign Contribution Disclosure reports due to the fact that it is alleged that they began to campaign in 2009 even though they did not file a DOI.
**Please note: A complaint does not prove guilt. A hearing will be held by the State Ethics Commission to determine if an ethics violation actually occurred.
Absolutely no excuse for ANY of these people not to have filed their financial disclosure reports. It’s not like they didn’t know going into their respective campaigns that the disclosures are a necessary evil. I keep wondering what good is a State Ethics Commission, if these people basically only get a slap on the wrist for not filing? Seems to me that the Ethics Commission should have a little more authority. Perhaps legislation should be passed that gives the Ethics Commission the right to deny a candidate from continuing in a campaign if they fail/refuse to follow the rules. I have said it before, and I’ll say it again, if these elected officials (or wannabees) cannot follow rules, then how can we expect them to enforce the rules (or to look out for our best interests)?
When Ray McBerry spoke to our group the other day he did explain the reason behind this. They let go of their campaign manager and then found out that 6 months of financial data had to be entered. They have since filed with the Secretary of State.
Ray’s reports: http://ethics.georgia.gov/Reports/Campaign/Campaign_Name.aspx?NameID=1109&FilerID=C2009000006&Type=candidate
I still call BS on that one Dawn. They had 3 weeks from when Jenny was fired and Jon left until the deadline. Had it been my campaign in that situation, I would have made DANG sure that report became my first priority, and if necessary I would have used the holidays as the perfect cover for my lack of being on the road.