Posted: 8/22/06
Davids, opponents have different takes on complaint findings
By David Heiller
Argus News Editor
House District 31B State Representative Greg Davids (I-R, Preston) is ìvery pleasedî with the findings of the Campaign Finance and Public Disclosures Board (CFPDB) over campaign violation allegations filed against him in June.
His political opponent and the people who filed the complaint say that the charges have merit on several levels.
The 19-page ruling, dated August 15, dismissed allegations of:
ï insufficient reporting of noncampaign disbursements and reimbursements;
ï failure to properly reimburse his campaign committee for lodging costs in 2004;
ï misuse of mileage reimbursement for personal purposes;
ï improper reimbursement for his attendance at a 2004 National Conference of Insurance Legislators meeting;
ï using his constituent services office in Preston for personal business purposes.
It ordered Davids to submit his bills in a more timely manner, and to amend his 2005 Report of Receipts and Expenditures to change the classification of pens from noncampaign disbursements to campaign expenditures.
It also found that Davids exceeded his 2005 spending limit of $5,700 by $107.26.
Davids notified the board on his own initiative that two postage items were incorrectly reported and should be treated as campaign expenditures. He reclassified $281.20 of postage and $17 of copying from non-campaign disbursements to campaign disbursements.
He also reimbursed his campaign committee $200 for a golf tournament sponsored by chiropractors. Davids said that he attended a roundtable discussion as part of his participation, and that his participation provided a service to constituents.
ìWhen advised that it did not appear to be a constituent service, Representative Davids changed the cost to a noncampaign disbursement for food and beverages at a fundraising event,î the ruling states. ìUpon advice that the fundraising noncampaign disbursement exception applied only to fundraisers for the candidates own principal campaign committee, Representative Davids elected to personally reimburse the Committee $200 for this expenditure.î
ìPolitically motivatedî
ìOf course, these were politically motivated allegations and every allegation was dismissed, so Iím very pleased with the outcome,î Davids said on August 17 when asked to comment on the findings.
Peggy Hanson, who filed the complaint on June 23 with Frank Wright and Harlin Taylor, lost to Davids in the 2004 election by a margin of 10,349 to 9,435 votes. Davids referred to Hanson as the campaign manager for Ken Tschumper, who is currently running against him.
ìItís the Ken Tschumper campaign that did this,î Davids said.
Tschumper said that his wife, Robin, is his campaign manager.
Davids called Tschumper an ìextremely desperateî candidate who is not talking about issues.
See sidebar with this story for Ken Tschumperís reaction to the CFPDB ruling.
ìNo functioning treasurerî
Wright and Hanson deny that their motivation is political. They say they are being watchdogs and activist citizens. They also feel the political system could be more fair and do a better job of encouraging good people to run for office.
ìWe definitely smoked out the fact that there really is not a functioning treasurer,î Wright said on August 18. ìGreg cannot conduct business as usual. This is not an ATM machine. He has to have a functioning treasurer.î
He noted that the CFPDB ordered Davids to follow state laws regarding committee treasurer, including one that ìprohibits a committee from spending any money unless the expenditure is authorised by the treasurer or deputy treasurer.î
Itís important to have more than one person watching the piggy bank, Wright feels. ìThey have two people collecting at the potluck supper and things like that.î
Wright praised the job of the finance board, but he remains skeptical of much of Davids information. ìThey took a lot of things on faith,î he said. ìIt is my intention to go to finance board and look at the things he submitted and follow up as necessary.î
For example, Davids had business cards that had his constituent service number. ìHe said, ëOh, that was a mistake. As soon as we figured that out, we threw them away.í Well, I donít believe that, but what are you going to do.?
Wright also sees a pattern of campaign finance mistakes from Davids.
Wright and Harlin Taylor also filed a complaint with the Campaign Finance board in 2004. The board dismissed the part of that complaint that challenged certain postage expenses as non-campaign disbursements. Davids did have to pay $6,100 for newspaper ìidea adsî that he claimed as constituent services. The legislature changed campaign finance rules the following year to allow idea ads to be claimed as non-campaign disbursements.
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