Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Public Comment Audits Mini Reporting topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Public commenters urge PDC to resume audits, tighten small-dollar reporting
Summary
Two public commenters at the Feb. 12 meeting urged the Public Disclosure Commission to resume statutory audits and to reform mini (small-dollar) reporting to prevent anonymous or out-of-area 'dark money' influence in local elections.
During the public comment period on Feb. 12, two citizens raised concerns about enforcement, audits and small-dollar ("mini") reporting.
Connor Edwards told commissioners that a recent enforcement penalty appeared unlikely to be collectible because the campaign entity had wound down, and urged the PDC to ensure orders are entered against responsible individuals when appropriate. He also urged the commission to resume statutory audits, saying the agency had paused a formal audit program for many years and that state law requires a statistically valid audit program. "For reasons I hope I don't have to explain to you, audits are an important part of compliance," Edwards said.
Joe Kunstler urged reforms to mini reporting, describing an outside committee calling itself "Save Willie" that he said made it difficult to know whether funds were local or from outside the community. Kunstler warned that undisclosed outside spending could force the Cedar Willie School District to call a second special election or make deep cuts to services. "We don't know who they are," Kunstler said of the group, and he called for easier public disclosure of small-dollar contributions uploaded to the PDC website.
Commissioners thanked the commenters and staff provided a brief response on the agency’s enforcement and audit approaches. No formal policy change was recorded at the meeting; commissioners and staff discussed enforcement approaches and the agency's use of group enforcement as a broad form of audit-like review.
