Not-So-In-Kind Accounting
The fiction of Ward 5 D.C. Council candidate Harry Thomas Jr.’s field-leading campaign war chest has been exposed in a July 26 response to an inquiry from the D.C. Office of Campaign Finance.
On paper, Thomas is the Ward 5 fundraising champ. According to his June 10 report, Thomas raised $49,545 and had $42,052 cash on hand. Thomas appeared to be leaving his rivals in the dust.
In a July 12 letter his Thomas’ campaign treasurer and wife, Diane Romo Thomas, OCF asked her to provide a little more information about the June 10 filing. “You report several in-kind contributions, but you failed to report these as expenditures,” the office wrote, reminding the campaign that all in-kind contributions must be itemized on the spending side of the ledger. By “several” OCF meant a total of $22,350 of Thomas’ receipts were of the in-kind variety—including $10,000 in-kind from himself.
The July 26 amended report provides a leaner bottom line for Team Thomas. His total remains the same, but once the sketchy in-kind contributions are subtracted as campaign expenditures, his cash balance shrinks to $18,787.
July 28th, 2006 at 9:15 am
I believe this is the exact type of accounting and leadership practices we can expect from Mr. Thomas if elected to the city council. He is demonstrating that he is willing to do whatever it takes (ethical or not) to win this seat. If this was a corporation Mr. Thomas would be fined and possibly jailed for such fraud in misleading the voters of Ward 5.
July 29th, 2006 at 9:03 am
IN 2006 (AND BEYOND) LET’S ELECT SUBSTANCE FOR MAYOR!
By Forgotten Washingtonian -
It never ceases to amaze me how every election year the same drone and dribble of news coverage and punditry about mayoral and council candidates gets discussed. Will there ever come a time when the REAL issues and concerns of everyday average hard working Washingtonians (long-timers and newcomers) get comprehensively addressed. After 38 years in DC, it appears that what matters is the money, moronic campaign rhetoric, irrelevant candidate statistics, and the same predictable stale candidate choices. To quote a lesser known, but highly engaged and articulate candidate, “D.C. is not an abbreviation for Dumb Citizens.” Hopefully local news media, the usual cast of candidates, and blogs will raise the level of intelligent discussion to what really matters to most District residents: effective public safety, genuine affordable housing, much better schools, responsible spending of our tax money, and TRULY ACCOUNTABLE public officials. In the meantime, as quiet as it’s kept, our REAL best bet for an intelligent, substantive, and capable mayoral candidate — and a smart discussion of what really matters in our city — may be found at the website of Dennis Moore. Dare to compare and become more aware. This year, on election day, you can’t say “I didn’t know!”
http://www.mooreforpeople.com/html/dennis_moore_for_dc_mayor.html
http://www.mooreforpeople.com