As readers know, we frequently look at federal campaign finance records; this weekend, we started browsing through reports filed with the Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board by party units in Southern Minnesota, in order to cobble together one possible benchmark of the strength and organization of local party units in the First.
Fairly mundane stuff until we got to Olmsted County. Both the DFL and RPM county units filed amended reports. This isn't remarkable in and of itself. After all, the differences in the two reports (pdfs of original and amended reports here) filed by the DFL are fairly minor. On the other hand, the two reports filed by the Olmsted County RPM reveal that the committee faced a far greater accounting challenge (pdfs of original and amended reports here).
Not only was the Olmsted County RPM late with its report--but the current treasurer, Gerald Pestka, requested and got an 60 day extension, granted at the April board meeting (pdf of minutes here). On June 6, the board received what CFPD board executive director Gary Goldsmith said is a "letter amendment."
Campaign committees can amend reports by resubmitting the entire report via the board's CF Reporter (as did the Olmsted County DFL) or choose to submit a letter noting the amended summary figures. A pfd of the letter is posted online, while the board enters the new report data in its computers. Either means of compliance is acceptable, and Goldsmith indicated that the current treasurer is working in good faith to reconcile the problems.
Two very dissimilar sets of figures appear on the group's two committee transaction summaries. We've put together a spreadsheet that lists the figures and the differences:
| Olmsted County RPM 2007 | Original | Amended | Difference | |
| Opening Balance | $21,084.10 | $2.52 | 21,081.58 | |
| Total Contributions | $14,355.00 | $27,703.84 | 13,348.84 | |
| Miscellaneous Income | $0.92 | $1,145.92 | 1,145.00 | |
| Total Income | $14,355.92 | $28,849.76 | 14,493.84 | |
| General Expenditures | $18,364.15 | $19,173.31 | 809.16 | |
| Independent Expenditures | $575.00 | $575.00 | 0.00 | |
| Closing Balance | $16,500.87 | $9,103.97 | 7,396.90 |
Mr. Pestka included a note explaining the differences between the two versions:
And who was the treasurer who quit in 2007? Could it be the endorsed Republican congressional candidate, Brian Davis? According to his biography at his campaign website, we learn:
In the winter of 2007, Brian was elected as the Olmsted County Republican Party treasurer.
We called the Campaign Finance Board to see if it had any indication when Dr. Davis ceased being the Olmsted County Republican Party treasurer. Goldsmith pulled the records for the committee, which indicated that Davis was certified as the Olmsted County Republican Party treasurer in correspondence dated August 31, 2007.
The Star Tribune reported on April 15, 2008:
Davis was elected Olmsted County Republican Party treasurer a year ago, but reduced his commitment three months later after he filed to run for Congress. Another person took over the position in November.
Did two people quit as 2007 treasurer for the Olmsted County RPM "before the year was over"? Or is Davis the one whose "bookkeeping was incomplete"?
It's tough to be treasurer of one of these committees, since the paperwork is pretty difficult. However, losing or destroying the paperwork for $13,000 in contributions is untidy at the very least.
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