Rick Seeker’s campaign for Washington County Commissioner of Precinct One did not file the latest required campaign finance report within the proper deadline.
Rick Seeker
(Mark Whitehead)
According to records in the office of County Clerk Beth Rothermel, Seeker did submit a report on January 14th ahead of the January 15th deadline, but did not file the report required by the 30-day prior-to-election deadline on February 3rd. The report discloses any contributions received or expenditures made related to a candidate’s campaign, and how campaign funds are spent.
KWHI spoke with Seeker this (Friday) afternoon, who said his campaign “probably just didn’t know” about the deadline, and that the rules and regulations regarding the campaign are “all new to us”. He said they “just screwed up is all, plain and simple”, and confirmed his office did get the report in this afternoon.
Rothermel told KWHI that Seeker, whose campaign treasurer is Jerry Crews, was given a packet for proper reporting guidelines, and that he signed for the information on December 9th. She added that, in the instruction guide given to candidates, they are informed that they, not their campaign treasurer, are responsible for filing a report. Failing to file on time or filing an incomplete report may subject the candidate to criminal or civil penalties.
At Wednesday night’s Candidate’s Forum hosted by KWHI, candidates were asked if they filed all their political and financial reports required within a certain timeline. Each candidate responded in the affirmative.
Seeker’s report submitted today indicated that his campaign has spent $4,483 in expenses—excluding a $750 fee to file for candidacy—and received $2,750 in contributions.
The latest report of incumbent Don Koester, Seeker’s opponent in the Precinct One race, shows that Koester’s campaign has spent $1,970 and received $1,000 in contributions. Koester did not pay the $750 filing fee, as he got on the ballot by petition.
For the Washington County Tax Assessor-Collector race, reports show that Daphne Kohring has spent $1,746, not including the $750 filing fee, and has not received any contributions. Opponent Cheryl Gaskamp has spent $800, in addition to the $750 filing fee, and has pledged contributions of $2,000.
The next deadline for candidates to submit financial reports is February 24th, eight days before the election. The reports, filed with the county clerk, become public record. Reports are available for the public to view in the county clerk’s office, in a large notebook divided by each candidate’s name.
Yes rules are to be followed but let’s not make election filings that are really small dollar items become a reason to vote for a candidate. Every citizen who enters the political process will have a learning curve. If we become intolerant of that then we only elect incumbents.
Please clarify….why have a jan 15th deadline when elections are feb 3rd? For those who aren’t already in office or familiar with the inner workings, doesnt it seem confusing? We spend our entire adult life going by due dates and our brains are programmed to remember those, a 30 day prior date will naturally not be a priority in our minds. Everyone who has the desire and has done the work should be considered, thats my personal take on it, but im a dreamer of fairness….
We had a similar situation not long ago with a candidate for County Judge. She was pursued relentlessly for a small paperwork violation like this one and was faced with criminal prosecution. I really think we are making it to hard for people trying to run for local positions. These are not large, professionally run campaigns like you see at the state or federal level. As you can see in the article the amounts of money involved are very small. Maybe we need to consider simplifying this process for our local elections.
If you want to run for office then you follow all the rules laid out to do so – and those are not set by the County but are State rules. And if you can not follow the rules to run for office how can I trust you to follow all the rules and timelines that are involved in the office you are running for?? Saying ‘we just screwed up’ will not fly for most of the things that have deadlines in most of our County Offices.
You make some interesting and even valid points. However I am questioning the wisdom of “the rules” in local elections. When you see this happening a few time in the county for local races, it might be that the rules have become to complicated for small campaigns who do not employee professional staff to ensure compliance with election laws. I think it may be time to separate local elections from the bigger more well financed campaigns we see in larger races.
Time to Reconsider, I strongly disagree. If a person running for an office can not figure out how to adhere to some very well defined rules for the election, how can they ever be reliable enough to serve an elected position? I have rules to follow on my job and if I don’t/can’t comply my employer will be happy to replace me.
Rules are set in place to be followed. I Agree with you 100%.
I totally Agree!!!