BURLINGTON — A political action committee formed by a group opposing two questions on the Nov. 8 ballot relating to a massive downtown development project apparently hasn’t complied with campaign finance laws.
Voters are being asked to approve a new downtown zoning district and $22 million in TIF bonds for new and renovated city streets. Both questions are described as necessary for a planned $220 million mixed-use redevelopment of the Town Center Mall to go forward.
The Coalition for a Livable City published a full-page advertisement in Seven Days on Oct. 5, an expenditure that’s not listed in its campaign finance disclosures.
The coalition formed a political action committee earlier this year, but its most recent campaign finance disclosure filed for the reporting period ending Oct. 29 doesn’t include the Seven Days ad — nor does a previous filing from Oct. 9.
The treasurer for the coalition acknowledged it hadn’t disclosed the ad and said its filings aren’t up to date because members have been spending on their own. But an official with the secretary of state’s office said the PAC isn’t handling its finances properly.
A full-page ad in Seven Days in black and white costs $1,785 for one issue, according to the rates posted on the paper’s website. The latest filing from the Coalition for a Livable City PAC lists $2,941 in contributions and $594 in expenditures. The most recent expenditure listed is from Sept. 26.
Steve Goodkind, the group’s treasurer and a former mayoral candidate, said there may be additional spending that is not reflected in the group’s latest filing beyond just the Seven Days advertisement.
Goodkind said Tuesday that the group has raised and spent an estimated $7,700. Additional spending will be reflected in the group’s next filing, Goodkind said, but that isn’t due until Nov. 22 — after the election.
The problem is that members of the diffuse coalition are spending their own money on PAC activities, then seeking reimbursement from the PAC, Goodkind said.
“There’s a lot of (expenditures) out there where people have done stuff and they’ve got to send me a receipt or an invoice,” Goodkind said. “I hope they’ll send me a bill sooner than later, but I can’t list the expenditure if I don’t have it.”
Will Senning, director of elections and campaign finance for the secretary of state, says that’s not how PACs are supposed to operate. State statute says all PAC expenditures “shall be paid by either a credit card or a debit card, check, or other electronic transfer from the single campaign checking account.” Cash expenditures are supposed to be drawn from that same account.
Senning said all expenditures must be reported at the time they are made.
As it stands, it appears thousands of dollars in CLC PAC spending won’t be reported until after the election.
Laws protecting free speech allow individuals to make expenditures advocating for or against a ballot question, but once two or more people coordinate such expenses, they must register and file as either a political question committee or political action committee, according to the secretary of state’s office.
Emails provided to VTDigger by a Coalition for a Livable City member show that the Seven Days advertisement was discussed by multiple coalition members.
Mayor’s PAC is spending to pass questions 3 and 4
Meanwhile, a political action committee created by Mayor Miro Weinberger to support the two ballot items pertaining to the Town Center redevelopment, as well as two additional bonding items, has raised close to $20,000 in the last two months.
The Partnership for Burlington’s Future, as the mayor’s PAC is known, has spent $15,430 as the an Oct. 29 filing deadline.
Weinberger has sent several emails from his personal Gmail account soliciting donations for the PAC. Although it would violate the city charter to spend city resources on a campaign for the passage of ballot questions, mayors do raise and spend money through a PAC for such campaigns.
“This is not exceptional,” Weinberger said. “It is very much in line with what Peter Clavelle did as mayor and what Bernie Sanders did as mayor.”
George Thabault, who worked for both the Sanders and Clavelle administrations, said Weinberger is correct and that both mayors would coordinate campaigns for ballot items with outside committees.
“It was very common,” Thabault said. “I don’t think it’s anything unusual.”
Separately, BTC Mall Associates LLC, a company owned by developer Don Sinex, has spent $5,600 on advertising to promote his redevelopment project. The ads don’t address the ballot initiatives, but the company chose to file with the secretary of state because of the timing of their publication, said Sinex spokeswoman Liz Miller.
Weinberger’s PAC has spent close to $10,000 on a mass mailing brochure, $750 on Facebook ads and close to $3,000 to hire a staff person. It has also cut several web videos for the campaign.
The Coalition for a Livable City has responded with a series of its own web videos.
The Partnership for Burlington’s Future PAC videos include testimonials from local business and nonprofit leaders as well as elected officials, including state representatives and city councilors.
The Coalition for a Livable City scored its first big-name supporter this week in Ben and Jerry’s co-founder Ben Cohen. He provided a statement against the Town Center redevelopment that is included in a flier the group plans to disseminate in the coming days.
Cohen’s statement reads, in part, “This huge monstrosity will forever alter the character of our downtown. There’s lots of other ways to provide housing than to give in to developers’ demands and destroy the beauty of Burlington in the process.”
Cohen could not be reached for comment on his statement, but his assistant, Ashley Lynch, confirmed that the statement was his.
Burlington business community supports mayor’s PAC
The mayor’s PAC is receiving much of its larger donations from the business community.
Local real estate magnates Antonio Pomerleau and Ernest Pomerleau gave $5,000 through two eponymous limited liability corporations. Burlington attorney Matt Daly gave $4,000 through a company called Two Cedars LLC.
The PAC has also received $1,000 from Citizens Cider LLC; $1,000 from David Farrington, of Farrington Construction; and $500 from David Blittersdorf, CEO of AllEarth Renewables.
City Council President Jane Knodell, P-Central District, a strong supporter of questions 3 and 4, gave the PAC $250. Ethel Weinberger, the mayor’s mother, gave $200.
