Wednesday, February 11, 2015
Campaign Spending Commission dismisses complaint against Say, protects its own attorney’s actions in matter
by Larry Geller
Hawaii’s Campaign Spending Commission, in a short statement after hearing a few minutes from both sides, dismissed Nancy McGee’s complaint against former House speaker Calvin Say relating to alleged misuse of campaign funds for personal purposes. Almost certainly, today’s decision will result in an appeal to state court.
The Chair said that the Commission
focused on the four corners of the original complaint, and being satisfied that appropriate Commission practices and procedures have been followed throughout, I will move that the complaint be dismissed on the basis that the cases cited in the complainant’s letter dated January 20th are not persuasive.
By approving the Chair’s motion, the Commission effectively declined to address, at least in public, the actions of its own attorney that do not appear to have followed the Commission’s own practices and procedures. For details of the attorney’s private letter to Speaker Calvin Say and dismissal of the complaint, see More to say about Say… (2/10/2015).
In the past, the Campaign Spending Commission has fined state legislators for far smaller violations or for filing false reports or for failure to file reports or deposit checks on time, for example. In a high-profile case last year, State Rep. Romy Cachola was fined for personal use of an automobile paid for out of campaign funds.
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