Published 10/23/08
Secretary of State Mary Herrera issued a letter Monday imposing more than $20,000 in fines and penalties on Jerome Block Jr. after reviewing several questionable and apparently illegal expenditures his campaign made using public funds. In return, the Democratic candidate for the state Public Regulation Commission District 3 seat filed a complaint against his opponent, Rick Lass, alleging his campaign received improper funding from the Green Party.
Attorney General spokesman Phil Sisneros stated in an email that his office is also examining Block’s campaign information and working with the Secretary of State’s office to address the issue. According to state law, anyone who knowingly violates the Voter Action Act or makes a false statement in a report the Act requires is guilty of a fourth degree felony.
Block received about $36,000 in public financing during the Democratic primary, which eventually led to the investigation by the Secretary of State’s office. Block reported spending $2,500 on a rally performance by a band called Wyld Country but later said the performance never happened. Office spokesman James Flores said a political watchdog group called Common Cause New Mexico filed a complaint against Block Sept. 26 for misspending public funds, and Block returned the $2,500 the same day. Herrera wrote Block’s report contained false information and therefore violated state law.
“It appears that Wyld Country not only never played, but never intended to do so,” Herrera wrote.
The letter states the office is assessing a $5,000 fine for the apparent violation of state law “in light of your attempts to hide the truth.” San Miguel County Clerk Paul Maez is a member of Wyld Country, and Block has also been criticized for a $300 payment to Maez for “campaign coordination.” That expenditure was not mentioned in Herrera’s letter, however.
Block stated in an Oct. 10 response to Herrera that he made the expenditure to Wyld Country “for the purpose of paying the band for its performance in the future.”
According to state law, candidates must use public funds for “campaign-related purposes in the election cycle in which the money was distributed.” The funds Block used to pay the band were given to his campaign specifically for the primary election. The primary election was held June 3, and the expenditure for a “performance in the future” was not made until June 9. The law also states any unused primary funds should have been returned to the state within 30 days of the election, or July 3; Block did not return the $2,500 until Sept. 26.
In her letter, Herrera states the office will assess another $5,000 fine for violating that law.
Block stood behind a $700 expenditure in August to Clinton for President to help retire that committee’s debt. State law requires money distributed to a candidate to be used for campaign-related purposes “in the election cycle in which the money was distributed.” Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) conceded in the primary against Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) in June. Block said he attended an event in Albuquerque using the funds and met influential Democrats there who could help him in his campaign.
Herrera thought differently and levied another $1,000 fine against Block’s campaign for the expenditure.
“Using New Mexico public funds to help a national office candidate retire campaign debt is a clear violation of the Voter Action Act,” she wrote.
In addition to the $11,000 in fines, the office is demanding Block return $10,000 of the public funds his campaign received from the state.
“Using public funds in the manner described above undermines the purpose of the Voter Action Act and unnecessarily drains the public treasury,” Herrera wrote.
The letter states Block has 10 days to offer a response to the Secretary. Block would not comment in detail about Herrera’s letter but said his campaign would respond.
Block also said he hand-delivered a complaint to the Secretary of State Oct. 21, alleging Lass received illegal contributions (Lass’s campaign is also publicly funded). The complaint takes issue with a $3,000 contribution to Lass’s campaign from the New Mexico Green Party, citing a state statute that prohibits candidates for the Commission from accepting more than $500 per election “from any other person.”
State elections law differentiates between individuals and qualified political parties, however. Publicly-funded candidates are allowed to accept contributions from a political party not to exceed 10 percent of the value of their public financing. The $3,250 amounts to about 5 percent of Lass’s public financing.
Block’s complaint also names the political action committee Democrats for Rick Lass, which Santa Fe Democratic ward chairman Bernie Logue y Perea started. The complaint lists several contributions to the committee that are more than $500 and claims they violate the same statute.
, which specifically limits the actions of “a candidate for election to the Public Regulation Commission.”
However, state law does draw distinctions between individuals and qualified political parties. For example, parties have to file rules and regulations with the Secretary of State, and they can lose their “qualified” status if two successive general elections go by without at least one of their candidates on the ballot.