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Ethics commission fines VOICE PAC treasurer $1,000
By T.L. Hamilton
THE WOODLANDS – The Texas Ethics Commission fined Rebecca Tatum, treasurer of The Woodlands Vote Our Independent Choice Election Political Action Committee, $1,000 for improperly reporting political contributions and political expenditures in campaign finance reports.
As the treasurer for a PAC, Tatum can ask for assistance from the PAC’s other members, but ultimately she is liable for the fine, TEC deputy general counsel Tim Sorrells said.
The commission’s decision was released Nov. 13.
The Woodlands VOICE PAC supported three propositions, which Woodlands voters passed on Nov. 6, 2007, tied to a regional participation agreement preventing Houston and Conroe from annexing the 85,000-resident community.
Propositions 1 and 2 expanded the community’s boundaries and altered the makeup of the board of directors for the Town Center Improvement District. Proposition 3 allowed the district to collect an ad valorem tax.
Attempts to contact Tatum were unsuccessful.
PAC co-chair Kenny Speight did not return repeated calls, and co-chair Barry Millenson, reached at his office Thursday, declined to comment.
The complaint alleged that the PAC’s campaign finance reports were missing addresses of some contributors, had some contributions listed on reports for a different time period than when the contribution was received and that one report includes typewritten pages, a format that was not pre-approved.
In all, 17 addresses of contributors were left out of the report, in violation of the state election code.
On May 6, 2008, and July 3, 2008, Tatum filed corrected reports which included an additional in-kind contribution for office space that was not originally reported or addressed in the complaint.
As a result, both of Tatum’s corrected reports have a different amount for total political contributions than was disclosed on the original reports.
The failure to report this in-kind contribution originally is in violation of the election code, according to the order.
Tatum told the commission that the reports were not originally filed on the proper forms because she did not understand the instructions.
She also said she didn’t intend to withhold information or fail to fully disclose the PAC’s financial activities, the order states.
A week before the election, as campaigning heightened between The Woodlands VOICE PAC and its counterpart, WoodlandskNOw, The Woodlands Development Company contributed $142,500 to the VOICE PAC, the largest contribution to either organization.
Other major corporate contributors to the VOICE PAC were Entergy, which donated $10,000; Schwartz, Page and Harding, a Houston-based law firm in which The Woodlands Township attorney Mike Page is a named partner ($1,000); and First Community Bank in Tomball ($500).
By that point in the campaign, WoodlandskNOw had collected $3,100 in donations – primarily from individuals who had donated $100 or $200 – and $2,515 in in-kind contributions.
Fines assessed by the commission in 2008 range from $100 to $17,300. The fine amount of $1,000 has been assessed 10 times so far this year.
As the treasurer for a PAC, Tatum can ask for assistance from the PAC’s other members, but ultimately she is liable for the fine, TEC deputy general counsel Tim Sorrells said.
The commission’s decision was released Nov. 13.
The Woodlands VOICE PAC supported three propositions, which Woodlands voters passed on Nov. 6, 2007, tied to a regional participation agreement preventing Houston and Conroe from annexing the 85,000-resident community.
Propositions 1 and 2 expanded the community’s boundaries and altered the makeup of the board of directors for the Town Center Improvement District. Proposition 3 allowed the district to collect an ad valorem tax.
Attempts to contact Tatum were unsuccessful.
PAC co-chair Kenny Speight did not return repeated calls, and co-chair Barry Millenson, reached at his office Thursday, declined to comment.
The complaint alleged that the PAC’s campaign finance reports were missing addresses of some contributors, had some contributions listed on reports for a different time period than when the contribution was received and that one report includes typewritten pages, a format that was not pre-approved.
In all, 17 addresses of contributors were left out of the report, in violation of the state election code.
On May 6, 2008, and July 3, 2008, Tatum filed corrected reports which included an additional in-kind contribution for office space that was not originally reported or addressed in the complaint.
As a result, both of Tatum’s corrected reports have a different amount for total political contributions than was disclosed on the original reports.
The failure to report this in-kind contribution originally is in violation of the election code, according to the order.
Tatum told the commission that the reports were not originally filed on the proper forms because she did not understand the instructions.
She also said she didn’t intend to withhold information or fail to fully disclose the PAC’s financial activities, the order states.
A week before the election, as campaigning heightened between The Woodlands VOICE PAC and its counterpart, WoodlandskNOw, The Woodlands Development Company contributed $142,500 to the VOICE PAC, the largest contribution to either organization.
Other major corporate contributors to the VOICE PAC were Entergy, which donated $10,000; Schwartz, Page and Harding, a Houston-based law firm in which The Woodlands Township attorney Mike Page is a named partner ($1,000); and First Community Bank in Tomball ($500).
By that point in the campaign, WoodlandskNOw had collected $3,100 in donations – primarily from individuals who had donated $100 or $200 – and $2,515 in in-kind contributions.
Fines assessed by the commission in 2008 range from $100 to $17,300. The fine amount of $1,000 has been assessed 10 times so far this year.
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Reader Comments
mdonn76405 wrote on Nov 21, 2008 7:31 AM:
" http://www.thewoodlandsmonitor.com/modules/wordpress/?p=112
The developer put this PAC together and contributed a whole lot of money. "
The developer put this PAC together and contributed a whole lot of money. "
mdonn76405 wrote on Nov 21, 2008 9:17 AM:
" Correction on link:
http://www.thewoodlandsmonitor.com/modules/wordpress/?p=139 "
http://www.thewoodlandsmonitor.com/modules/wordpress/?p=139 "
BigTexN wrote on Nov 21, 2008 9:33 AM:
" Hmmm, I think I will start a PAC too. Its good business!
I can drag in donations like $142,500 from the WDC and only have to pay a fine of $1,000?
SIGN ME UP!
Goodness knows I can't make investments like that in this stock market!
Rate of return = 14,250%
YEAH BABY!!! GOIN' TO SIZZLER! GOIN' TO SIZZLER! EATIN' STEAKS! EATIN' STEAKS!
Tired of Rinos, does Sadler have the paperwork for one of these things? "
I can drag in donations like $142,500 from the WDC and only have to pay a fine of $1,000?
SIGN ME UP!
Goodness knows I can't make investments like that in this stock market!
Rate of return = 14,250%
YEAH BABY!!! GOIN' TO SIZZLER! GOIN' TO SIZZLER! EATIN' STEAKS! EATIN' STEAKS!
Tired of Rinos, does Sadler have the paperwork for one of these things? "
Whiskyecho wrote on Nov 21, 2008 7:21 AM: