Thursday, May 24, 2007

Candidate Update

The following was sent to DFWB late Wednesday night:

"Matt [Kelty] will either tomorrow or Friday, file an addendum to his campaign finance report stating that the loan "from himself" actually came from Fred Rost. Fred, along w/ Matt, opposed the [Harrison Square] project."


Follow-up Press:

FWOB beat us to the posting of the files. Read Kelty's addendum here.

Kelty’s campaign loan is disputed
What he called personal loan of $148K actually came from three other people
http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/newssentinel/17274010.htm

"The Allen County Election Board will meet as soon as next week to decide whether Republican mayoral candidate Matt Kelty broke the law when he reported making a personal loan of $148,000 to his own campaign."

"Although initial campaign finance reports listed the $148,000 as a loan from Kelty’s personal account, the candidate said today he does not believe the filing was misleading or illegal. The loans were secured by promissory notes and reviewed by attorneys."

"Kelty would be ineligible to run for office if convicted of a felony. The party could not remove him from the ballot even if it wanted to, and Shine said it is too early to say whether Kelty would be asked to withdraw so another candidate could be selected. "

Kelty to file amended campaign finance report
Source of loans to campaign to change, party chairman says
http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/journalgazette/17274292.htm

"Republican mayoral nominee Matt Kelty will file an amended campaign finance report today showing he was not the original source of $150,000 worth of loans to his campaign, a party official said. "

According to campaign finance forms, Kelty reported giving himself loans of $140,000 and $8,000 on Dec. 27. He also reported loaning himself another $8,000 in April. The new reports, Shine said, will reveal a different source for the loans."

"When asked about the loans in January, Kelty said, “I would never ask someone to invest in an endeavor that I was not willing to invest in myself.”"

"According to Andy Downs, Democratic member of the Allen County Election Board, falsifying a campaign finance report is a Class D felony, punishable by a sentence of six months to three years and a fine of up to $10,000. "

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

I heard this too, if true this is unbelievable. Indiana law says knowingly filing a false campaign finance report is a Class D Felony.

If true, Kelty is either:

1. Too dishonest to be Mayor
2. Too Stupid to be Mayor

How many times did Kelty lie about this during the campaign? Remember his famous quote in the News Sentinel regarding the loan: "how could I expect others to believe in me if I dont believe in myself"

The question now will be whether Kelty can remain on the ballot until November. If he remains, then it is certainly going to be mayor Henry.

Anonymous said...

WOW.

See you in prison...MATTY BOY!

Anonymous said...

Tonight's News Sentinel has a story about this:
http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/newssentinel/17274010.htm

Put a fork in him, he's done!

Anonymous said...

Pack up your Kelty jacket AWB. This guy is toast. Even if he stays on the ballot, he will be lucky to raise $25,000

Anonymous said...

What a conniving individual. Imagine what he will do if he gets in office?!

This guy is a joke.

Anonymous said...

Don't get your hopes up, folks. If the Election Board treats this like the ones in the past, Matty will just have his hand slapped and told to be a good boy in the future.

Anonymous said...

Gelnna had to pay for the honor of running Matty's campaign? What was Fred buying? Deputy Mayor?

Anonymous said...

Should we expect another "No Good Deed Goes Unpunished" editorial from Fred Rost?

My god, the poor guy just keeps on trying to do good deeds and people will not cut him a break.

Is there a "good deed" exception in the campaign finance laws?

Anonymous said...

LOL, Anon 11:56

Anonymous said...

Didn't Win Moses get convicted for fudging his campaign finances to a much SMALLER degree in the mid-80s? Will be interesting to see if history repeats itself.

Anonymous said...

Win Moses was indicted for failure to disclose a contribution that was approximately 2% of the size of the Kelty contribution. He was removed from office and then replaced by himself by a democratic caucus.

Anonymous said...

Isnt Rost equally at fault? Will the election board and prosecutor be looking at the other side of this equation as well?

Jeff Pruitt said...

Why does Kelty continue to try and hide Rost's contributions. First the Harrison Square poll and now this.

I'm not sure if he violated the law but he certainly violated the spirit of the law. Campaign finance reporting is there to inform the voters about where a candidate's money is coming from. Those reports are useless if a candidate can simply get a personal loan for the SOLE PURPOSE of using it in the campaign and not have to report it.

Sadly, these types of ethical lapses have become common within the local Republican party. There was some hope that an outsider like Kelty could turn that around - I guess not...

Anonymous said...

Jeff, "Spirit" of the law? He violated the law. He knowingly failed to disclose a campaign contribution. His twisted explanation is ridiculous and would completely undermine the campaign finance laws if his actions are allowed.

The very fact that Rost provided the apparently unsecured loan is a contribution to the campaign. Rost provided a loan to Kelty BECAUSE he was running for mayor. Rost surely does not run around giving unsecured 150k loans to others. He gave Kelty this very very favorable loan because Kelty was running for mayor. Hence, this IS a contribution from Rost.

Where the heck is AWB? Why is he so silent today?

He has been gloating like a proud peacock, it will be interesting to see what sort of excuses he comes up with.

Anonymous said...

Wasnt it Fred Rost who pompously asked in his editorial "cui bono.... to whom's advantage". Well, looks like Freddy may have been looking for some sort of advantage by single handedly financing Kelty's campaign.

Chris W.

Jeff Pruitt said...

Anon,

I only said "spirit" becasue I hadn't read the relevant statutes. After reading them I am 100% convinced he violated the law.

I posted the statutes here and would really like to hear someone's argument that this was not a violation of campaign finance law...

Anonymous said...

Kelty really MUST be the twin of John Mark Karr. Not only do they look alike,they both lie for their own self interest.Scary!

TFW

Anonymous said...

I have seen a copy of what Kelty filed today. It is very strange how he has tried to remedy. He has filed a copy of his old report with "addenda" attached explaining the source of the loan proceeds. HOWEVER, conspicuously absent from the filing is a current signature of his treasurer. It begs the question, did the Treasurer refuse to sign? Also, is this even a valid filing without a current treasurer signature?

Anonymous said...

What is the blog address of AWB? Did he post anything there?

Anonymous said...

Well, AWB does have a post and he reaches a legal conclusion that it is not a "felonious act". The problem AWB is that the statute says that Knowingly filing a false campaign finance report IS a a felonious act. Sorry that you cant just wish it away. It is what it is. Kelty repeatedly lied about this during the campaign when asked about the loan by the press and by others.

If this is not a "knowing" mis reporting than I dont know what is.

Big Problems for Matt. Even if he gets off the hook, he will not be able to raise 15% of what he needs for this race. He will be lucky to raise enough to pay off the loan to himself.

Anonymous said...

Kelty will be on WOWO around 6:40am Friday (tomorrow) morning

Anonymous said...

I listened to half of the WOWO thing until I could take no more.

Kelty is either stupid or he thinks we are.

David C Roach said...

Hallo, American Friends. My name is Ramma- Lamma DingDong, from WamBamBu Nigeria. I have need to distrubute money from my business associates who have found themselves in financial straitjacket...My Friend in fort Wayne, a Mr Fred Rost has clients to loan money to at only 8% to 12% interest.
Please wire money to me today, so Nigerian money swindle can be transacted immediately..giggle!!

also, Please lets all remember, that Matt Kelty may just be Naive; or needs the job, and is certainly qualified, despite his Major foul-ups.
There is aGovernor gibbons in Nevada, who is equally in deep doo-doo; But when all this is over with, please lets be civil, and buy Matt a Beer. "He's not a crook" And there surely worse persons you could have for neighbors- religious extremists from other factions...
But when this election is over, lets forgive, forget, and get on with it. Let the "Architect" practice his trade, and let the chips fall where they may.
and hose off the mud when we're finished..