City Council candidates vow to fix campaign errors

LANSING – Five of the eight City Council candidates running in the Nov. 3 general election either have committed campaign finance violations or have errors or omissions in their campaign finance reports, according to the Ingham County Clerk Barb Byrum’s office.

At-large council member Carol Wood confirmed Friday she repaid $125 to the city last week because she included included her campaign’s website address in advertisements paid for with taxpayer funds. Wood said she used her council office account for the advertisements — a permissible expenditure — and won’t commit the mistake again.

“I admit that it shouldn’t have been on there,” Wood said of the campaign website address. “It was an oversight on my part.”

Wood said her reimbursement covers advertisements that ran in newsletters since January. A Lansing Association for Human Rights newsletter advertisement that ran in May for Wood includes her campaign website address, office and home phone numbers and e-mail address. It doesn’t disclose the advertisement’s funding source.

Byrum confirmed in letters filed last week that the campaign committees of 3rd Ward Council Member A’Lynne Boles, her challenger Adam Hussain and at-large candidates Emily Dievendorf and Patricia Spitzley had errors or omissions in their reports.

Boles said she will correct errors and omissions Byrum found in statements filed by her campaign committee, Friends to Elect A’Lynne Boles, on July 22. Boles has to file amended reports by Aug. 17, according to Byrum’s letter. The letter states the committee’s report includes at least 18 errors or omissions.

“Corrections will be made,” Boles said.

Wood topped the at-large field for Tuesday night’s primary election with 4,771 votes. Hussain, the son of 1st Ward council member Jody Washington, led the 3rd Ward with 811.

Harold Leeman Jr. is also competing for one of two at-large council spots. The candidates join incumbent Jody Washington and Shelley Davis Mielock, 1st Ward candidates, on the November ballot. Since Washington and Davis Mielock weren’t on the Aug. 4 primary election ballot, they have until Oct. 23 to file a pre-election campaign finance report with Byrum’s office.

Boles confirmed July 31 that her campaign failed to disclose who paid for a two-sided campaign flyer that was passed out at homes in her district. If the violation leads to a fine from the Michigan Secretary of State’s Office, Boles said she’ll pay it.

Boles said she’s confident her campaign will bounce back in the weeks ahead and gain community support with a “back to basics” approach. She declined to reveal details of her strategy. “We’re going to stay positive,” Boles said.

Hussain also has until Aug. 17 to submit an amended campaign finance report to Byrum’s office. Byrum wrote in a letter that Hussain’s committee filed a report with six errors or omissions.

A letter sent by Byrum to Dievendorf’s committee said it has until Aug. 18 to submit an amended report that corrects at least 12 errors or omissions.

Spitzley’s committee received a letter from Byrum that said it also must amend its with report with at least nine errors or omissions by Aug. 17.

It’s not rare to see errors and omissions in campaign finance reports, but it’s “not common” to uncover potential violations that require reports to the Secretary of State’s Bureau of Elections, Byrum said.

The Bureau of Elections’ campaign finance complaint process normally takes several months to complete. If staff members decide a complaint should be investigated, they first give the accused violator an opportunity to respond before determining if a violation was committed.

Eric Lacy is a reporter for the Lansing State Journal. Contact him at 517-377-1206 or elacy@lsj.com.