Last week, The Portland Tribune and WW raised questions about an extensive poll done for mayoral candidate Sho Dozono. The gist of that reporting: Dozono’s failure to disclose or account for the poll may have violated state election law and may also have violated the rules that govern the City of Portland’s public financing of city elections.
On Friday, City Auditor Gary Blackmer, who wears two hats in this discussion—he is both a sponsor and leading advocate for public financing and the city’s top elections officer—issued a statement that appeared to clear Dozono of any violation.
Here’s that statement:
“On February 5, City Auditor Gary Blackmer and Elections Officer Andrew Carlstrom met with Sho Dozono to learn more about a poll that was conducted in December 2007. Based upon the information provided, the Auditor’s Office concluded that the poll is not likely to threaten Dozono’s qualification for public campaign finance funds.
The Campaign Finance Fund code does not apply until a person becomes a candidate which is defined as “an individual whose name is or is expected to be printed on the official ballot.” The poll preceded actions by Dozono to file for office, before making any public declarations that he was a candidate, and before signing the declaration to qualify for public campaign finance funds and limit spending.
‘I believe the intent of the code is to allow private citizens to explore the possibility of running for public office and still qualify for our limited public campaign funding,’ Blackmer said.
But now, Janice Thompson, director of the watchdog group Democracy Reform Oregon; and one of the people principally involved in putting Portland public-financing system together, has written an analysis of the Dozono poll that’s at odds with Blackmer’s conclusion.
Thompson, who wrote the analysis for tonight’s Citizens’ Campaign Commission meeting, is not backing Dozono or his chief opponent, City Commissioner Sam Adams. And she is normally circumspect when weighing in on controversial issues. But her read of events suggests Dozono has a problem:
She writes, “It appears that state law is clear that a campaign begins upon receipt of an in-kind contribution or other form of contribution and that those donations must be reported. In addition, it appears that city administration of the public financing program can and should require compliance with those state regulations. It also seems that the intent of the Citizens Campaign Commission is that participating candidates comply with applicable state laws.”
Here’s Thompson’s complete analysis.
- Dozono Explains the Poll; Auditor’s Decision Tomorrow Tomorrow,
- Secretary of State Gives Dozono Until March 10 to Respond to Poll Questions (Updated with New Adams Campaign Queries to Auditor) The Orego
- Dozono Gets the Money! Auditor G
- Dozono Pollgate Update The possi
- Update on Dozono Poll: Analyzing A “Fix” At this e
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It certainly looks like the fix is in…the entrenched political hacks are going to find a way to keep Sho out if it kills us all. There is so much fear in this town about letting in a candidate that may not tow the same old lines, lick the boots of the libs, and rein in some spending. This is NOT a city that operates under any fairness guidelines…unless the Dems say it’s fair.
Give it up, guys. You’re reaching, and it’s a little embarrassing.
BTW, where was your outrage when Streetcar Smith was breaking the "rules" (if indeed there are any in this circus)?
Jack � you’re lawyer � aren�t you? The law’s clear: Dozono broke the in kind cap whether he was a candidate or not, ’cause the law says during the exploratory and qualifying period�-you can�t break the cap of 12,000, which he did with the poll that his pal Len Bergstein likely bought for him. They are trying awfully hard in the Auditor�s office to cover this thing up and make it go away. Either way � it certainly makes for good news, on one hand you�ve got a guy running for office trying to tax us and on the other hand his opponent who cannot seem to follow the law. You can�t make this stuff up.
I went and read those rules. They clearly state that the rule regarding the value of a poll only applies to a candidate. Since Dozono wasn’t a candidate when the poll was done, the poll doesn’t count. It is very clear. Janice Thompson either can’t read or is VERY disingenuous. To Anon.: the words
So if KGW does a poll and you see the results is that mean you’ve broken the cap? A lot of groups do polls, I think people are missing that a lot of times candidates have no knowledge of the decision to commission a poll. So a candidate should be punished for an action that they had no control over – preventing them from getting a measly $12K in in-kind contributions like phone banks or materials to communicate with real voters….is this system set up to be rigged for incumbents or what? Also, how much money do you get with VOE and do you get an amt for the primary and general? If so, what?
Do the candidates disagree on any, you know, issues?
>how much money do you get with VOE and do you get an amt for the primary and general? If so, what?
It’s all laid out here: http://wweek.com/editorial/3412/10303/
Actually there are rules about polls like if they are published for everyone, they have no value (read the laws)—if, however someone’s strategist/advisor/pollster does the poll, you gotta report it, as is true in this case apparently.
Folks, if the Auditor’s current ruling were correct, that would mean you could run a shadow campaign before you “declared” and do all sorts of things. The Auditor has made a mistake. Polls are strategic high value pieces of campaign planning – they don’t just HAPPEN. He’s cheating, figure it out, read the laws, know the laws and stop trying to make Sho the victim. Sho’s people could have gone to the Auditor and the Secretary of State and ASKED if they weren’t sure what to do…but they didn’t because they didn’t think they had gotten caught spending 10-20 grand on a campaign item under restricted financing laws.