SOME CANDIDATES DIDN'T FILE CAMPAIGN REPORTS:
Some board candidates didn't file campaign reports
By Ken Fountain
from the Katy Courier in August 2005
The three incumbents and one challenger in last spring's Katy ISD board elections did not file final campaign contribution reports as required by state law, as a frequent KISD critic charged in Monday's board meeting. But according to a spokesman for the Texas Ethics Commission, many officeholders and office seekers are confused about the specifics of the filing requirements.
During the public forum of Monday's board meeting, political consultant A. D. Muller, who has long been critical of the KISD administration and board, repeated his charge that incumbents Jacqueline Birkel, Eric Duhon and Judith Snyder failed to file a final report of their campaign contributions and expenditures by the state-mandated July 15 deadline.
Muller said he was concerned that without those final reports, there was no way for the public to know whether vendors and contractors had made large monetary contributions to the incumbents.
Copies of the financial filings of all the candidates in the elections obtained by the Katy Courier indicate that the three incumbents, as well as challenger Gregory Gibbs, did not file the final reports.
In February, Birkel, who ran unopposed, Duhon and Gibbs, who ran against incumbent Snyder, all filed forms appointing their campaign treasurers, and forms stating that they did not expect to receive more than $500 in their campaigns.
The three other challengers --energy industry engineer A. J. Durrani, attorney Stephen Wesolick, and stay-at-home mother Kari Crow --all filed final campaign finance reports.
Tim Sorrells, assistant general counsel and spokesman for the Texas Ethics Commissions, said Tuesday when a candidate files a modified report stating that he or she does not expect to raise or spend $500 that candidate does not have to file periodic reports before the election.
But, Sorrells said, if the candidate still has an active treasurer, he or she must still file the "semi-annual" report by July 15. Failure to do so is a class C misdemeanor, and could also lead to a civil complaint being filed with the ethics commission. He said he frequently gives talks around the state explaining the finer points of the filing requirements.
Duhon filed the final report. Informed that such a report was not among those provided to the Courier by the Katy ISD elections supervisor, Duhon said he would do so.
"I spent about $50 total," mostly in postage. Duhon said. He said that during the campaign, he used signs left over from his previous campaign.
Duhon said he wondered if Muller was speaking about just the incumbents in his remarks or about the challengers, since there had been rumors that some of the challengers had spent large sums of money in the election. According to the documents obtained by the Courier, challenger Durrani spent the largest amount of money, $3,508.08, among the candidates. Durrani raised $2,040 from 11 individuals, the single largest contribution being $500.
"Nobody is giving hundreds of thousands of dollars to buy influence in a job that pays nothing," Duhon said, challenging Muller's claim that corporate donations fueled the election campaign.
Neither Snyder or Birkel could be reached for comment Tuesday.
*Of note is the fact that Board member Judy Snyder also did not file a final report when she was defeated a few years later, and a complaint was filed against her, and the Texas Ethics Commission fined her $500.
It was also only a few years before Board members started receiving large campaign contributions from contractors and vendors of the school district.
Mr. Muller was right to be concerned about their lack of due diligence.