Jeff Smart was the only Mill Creek City Council candidate who had not filed any financial information with the state Public Disclosure Commission (PDC) by the Aug. 15 deadline.
State law requires candidates for elected office to file campaign finance information and a statement of personal affairs with the PDC. This year, the deadline for candidates to do so was by Aug. 15, two weeks after the end of filing to run for public office. Smart had not filed any documents with the agency as of Aug. 24, according to the PDC’s website. Smart, a political newcomer, is running against incumbent John “Jack” Start for position 6.
Smart said Aug. 20 that he was under the impression that because he intended to spend less than $3,500 on his campaign, he would not have to file with the PDC. The agency, however, has a form candidates must fill out stating they intend to run a low-cost campaign, which is called “mini-reporting.”
“I went to a candidates’ seminar in Everett where the (PDC) explained that if you’re going to spend less than a certain amount, you didn’t have to file anything,” Smart said. “I may have just misinterpreted that.”
Smart pledged that he would file the proper forms with the PDC later on Aug. 20.
“I’ll get this corrected,” he said.
Candidates who fail to file with the PDC by the deadline receive a warning letter detailing possible civil penalties, which can range from $500 to $2,500 for multiple violations as determined by a full commission enforcement hearing, according to PDC representative Doug Ellis.
The other four City Council candidates all filed their campaign finance documents and financial affairs statements by the PDC’s deadline. And based on campaign finance documents, one thing is clear about the City Council races – they will all be low-budget affairs.
The four candidates who did file with the PDC – Start, incumbent Dale Hensley, and newcomers John Ware and Mark Bond, pledged to “mini reporting.”
Candidates who file to do mini-reporting pledge to raise and spend less than $3,500 on their campaigns, and not to accept any contributions larger than $300 from any donor, including themselves.
“I talked to people who claimed to be in the know and they said you can run a campaign in Mill Creek with those kinds of funds or less,” said Bond, who is unopposed for position 7.
Bond said he’s spending most of his campaign funds on street signs and leaflets he will hand out when he goes door-to-door later this year. Bond and Start both said printing leaflets and mailing them can consume close to two-thirds of a campaign budget with a $3,500 cap.
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