THE CAMPAIGN FINANCE BOARD ASSESSES PENALTIES, FILES SUIT AGAINST A CITY COUNCIL MEMBER, AND ANNOUNCES ISSUANCE OF AN ADVISORY OPINION AT ITS REGULARLY SCHEDULED MEETING
The Board also welcomes new member Alan N. Rechtschaffen

 

Contact:	FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Molly Watkins  (212) 306-7150	November 13, 2003
Greg Bensinger (212) 306-7145

The New York City Campaign Finance Board today assessed penalties against five candidates for various violations of the Campaign Finance Act, including failure to respond to a draft audit report, failure to file disclosure statements, late disclosure statement filings, and acceptance of over-the-limit contributions (a complete list of candidates and violations appears below).

The Board announced that it has filed suit in Manhattan Supreme Court against Council District #15 candidate Joel Rivera for the return of public funds owed the Board from both the 2001 election and 2001A special election. Mr. Rivera’s campaign received $70,444 in public funds during the 2001 election, but did not provide sufficient documentation verifying that $16,766 was spent on qualified campaign expenditures. The Board is seeking the repayment of the full $16,766, plus an additional penalty of $10,000 for failure to repay the public funds. For the 2001A special election, in which Mr. Rivera’s campaign received $39,204 in public funds from the Board, Mr. Rivera’s campaign’s receipts exceed its expenditures by $19,479 and it could not account for the difference. The Board is seeking the repayment of $19,479, plus an additional penalty of $10,000 for failure to repay the public funds. The total amount the Board is seeking from Mr. Rivera is $56,245, plus interest, costs and reasonable attorney’s fees.

Also today, the Board issued an advisory opinion clarifying a previously stated Board policy confirming a candidate’s liability for public funds repayment obligations owed by the candidate’s campaign. Candidates must address repayment obligations from previous elections before becoming eligible to receive public funds in subsequent elections.

Penalties

Candidate	Office Sought	Type of Violation	Assessed Penalty	Total Assessed Penalties
Ciafone, John	CD #22	Unreported in-kind contribution	$40	$880
		Unreported in-kind contribution	$40
		Credit variance	$200
		Failure to provide deposit slips	$200
		Inadequate response to complaint	$400
		Filed Statements 11 and 12 (21) days late	Violations no penalties
Golding, Kenneth	Mayor
	Failure to report contributions in disclosure statements	$2,500	$8,813
	Failure to report expenditures or other disbursements totaling $8,579	$1,250
	Filed Statement 8 (23) days late	$1,000
	Filed Statement 12 (203) days late	Violation, no penalty
	Filed Statement 13 (182) days late	$1,563
Filed Statement 14 (144) days late	$1,250
Filed Statement 15 (31) days late	$1,250
Simon, Lew	CD #32	3 improper post-election expenditures	$300	$300
Vernet, Jean	CD #40	Failure to respond to draft audit report	$7,064	$10,674
		$2,000 over-the-limit contribution	$180
		Failure to deposit contributions within 10 business days	$100
		Failure to report a subcontractor	$40
		Failure to report a loan repayment	$40
		Failure to document two in-kind contributions	Violation, no penalty
		Failure to provide deposit slips	Violation, no penalty
		Failure to provide bank statements	Violation, no penalty
		Failure to provide intermediary affirmation statements	Violation, no penalty
		Failure to file Statement 13	$1,250
		Failure to file Statement 14	$1,000
		Failure to file Statement 15	$1,000
Wai, Sidique	CD #35	Failure to respond to the draft audit report	$6,218	$8,147
		Failure to file Statement 15	$1,000
		$4,150 over-the-limit contribution	$500
		$1,100 over-the-limit contribution	$200
		$89 over-the-limit contribution	$89
		Cash receipts variance	$100
		Failure to document a contribution refund	$40
		Failure to provide bank statements	Violation, no penalty

 

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