Failure To Comply With Ethics Rules Widespread
Two-thirds of the campaigns that were required to file financial reports in 2006 failed to comply fully with state ethics rules regarding disclosure of contributors' occupations and employers, a report released Friday shows.
The worst offenders were Scott Pruitt, Republican candidate for lieutenant governor, and Tim Harris, the Tulsa County district attorney. Pruitt had 258 rules violations and Harris had 240, the report said.
Issued by the Ethics Commission staff, the report says the staff found 293 candidates who submitted reports that failed to include the occupation and/or employer of at least one contributor.
Ethics Commission member John Raley suggested that the panel get the word out to future candidates that the reporting requirement is to be taken "very seriously."
"I am concerned about the apparent cavalier attitude of a few who have failed to put down just the very modest amount of information," Raley said. "At the next cycle two years hence, prior to that time I think we need to fire a shot across the bow, give them warning, from now on we are going to view this as a serious transgression and it will be noted and appropriately punished."
The report was generated following a review of 566 candidate campaign contribution reports. Nearly half of the candidates, 273, fully complied with the reports, but that number includes 129 who were exempt from reporting because they did not accept or spend more than $500.
That leaves only 144 who got the required paperwork right and 293 who did not. Among the noncompliant campaigns, 115 candidates had one to five contributions that failed to list appropriately either the occupation or employer.
Ethics Commission Executive Director Marilyn Hughes said a total of 7,320 contributors were missing this information. "We probably had around 40 that were serious violations out of all of our (candidate) committees," Hughes said. Candidates who listed a contributor only as "self-employed" were deemed noncompliant with the rule, Hughes said.
Harris told the Tulsa World he made every effort to comply with the ethics rules, reporting whatever information a contributor provided. "It's my understanding you make your best effort to get that information," Harris said. "You make a good-faith effort to do that, to list what their employer is." Harris said he understands that the rule is intended to identify potential conflicts of interest, and he will supplement the reports with the required information if that's what the Ethics Commission desires. "It would be burdensome because I'm here to do the people's work in prosecuting crime, but if it was that important of an issue and they want me to go back and do that, I would gladly do that," Harris said.
Hughes said the current rules do not provide for a candidate's "good-faith effort" in obtaining the required information, other than allowing 10 business days to obtain the information after receipt of the contribution.
The Ethics Commission staff will send letters to the identified candidates, beginning with the campaigns that have at least 50 violations, asking them to update their contributor information, Hughes said. The commission can levy fines of as much as $1,000 per violation of the rule, Hughes said.
Other candidates with more than 100 violations of the reporting rule were: Ernest Istook, 181; Robbie Kerr, 168; Johnnie Crutchfield, 161; John Sparks, 161; John Luton, 154; Mary Easley, 132; Brad Henry, 118; Lance Cargill, 112; John Mark Young, 111; Wayne Walters, 109; Todd Hiett, 108; T. Brett Swab, 106; and Anastasia Pittman, 102.
The worst offenders were Scott Pruitt, Republican candidate for lieutenant governor, and Tim Harris, the Tulsa County district attorney. Pruitt had 258 rules violations and Harris had 240, the report said.
Issued by the Ethics Commission staff, the report says the staff found 293 candidates who submitted reports that failed to include the occupation and/or employer of at least one contributor.
Ethics Commission member John Raley suggested that the panel get the word out to future candidates that the reporting requirement is to be taken "very seriously."
"I am concerned about the apparent cavalier attitude of a few who have failed to put down just the very modest amount of information," Raley said. "At the next cycle two years hence, prior to that time I think we need to fire a shot across the bow, give them warning, from now on we are going to view this as a serious transgression and it will be noted and appropriately punished."
The report was generated following a review of 566 candidate campaign contribution reports. Nearly half of the candidates, 273, fully complied with the reports, but that number includes 129 who were exempt from reporting because they did not accept or spend more than $500.
That leaves only 144 who got the required paperwork right and 293 who did not. Among the noncompliant campaigns, 115 candidates had one to five contributions that failed to list appropriately either the occupation or employer.
Ethics Commission Executive Director Marilyn Hughes said a total of 7,320 contributors were missing this information. "We probably had around 40 that were serious violations out of all of our (candidate) committees," Hughes said. Candidates who listed a contributor only as "self-employed" were deemed noncompliant with the rule, Hughes said.
Harris told the Tulsa World he made every effort to comply with the ethics rules, reporting whatever information a contributor provided. "It's my understanding you make your best effort to get that information," Harris said. "You make a good-faith effort to do that, to list what their employer is." Harris said he understands that the rule is intended to identify potential conflicts of interest, and he will supplement the reports with the required information if that's what the Ethics Commission desires. "It would be burdensome because I'm here to do the people's work in prosecuting crime, but if it was that important of an issue and they want me to go back and do that, I would gladly do that," Harris said.
Hughes said the current rules do not provide for a candidate's "good-faith effort" in obtaining the required information, other than allowing 10 business days to obtain the information after receipt of the contribution.
The Ethics Commission staff will send letters to the identified candidates, beginning with the campaigns that have at least 50 violations, asking them to update their contributor information, Hughes said. The commission can levy fines of as much as $1,000 per violation of the rule, Hughes said.
Other candidates with more than 100 violations of the reporting rule were: Ernest Istook, 181; Robbie Kerr, 168; Johnnie Crutchfield, 161; John Sparks, 161; John Luton, 154; Mary Easley, 132; Brad Henry, 118; Lance Cargill, 112; John Mark Young, 111; Wayne Walters, 109; Todd Hiett, 108; T. Brett Swab, 106; and Anastasia Pittman, 102.
Labels: Ethics
posted by Mike McCarville @ 8:06 AM
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