Published: May 15, 2008 10:31 pm      

Candidates file financial disclosures

For City Commission

The Richmond Board of Ethics recently completed its review of financial disclosures for candidates in the May 20 Richmond City Commission primary election and all met the requirements of both city and state ethics ordinances.

However, no financial disclosure report was filed by candidate Doug Parker, who could not be reached for comment Thursday.

The deadline for disclosures was April 30, but not filling out a disclosure will not prevent Parker from being on the primary election ballot, said Richmond City Attorney and Richmond Board of Ethics member Garrett Fowles.

Any candidate who does not submit a financial disclosure is subject to a civil fine imposed by the Board of Ethics in an amount not to exceed $25 per day, up to a maximum total civil fine of $500, according to the 2007 City Officials Legal Handbook, published by the Kentucky League of Cities.

Any civil fine imposed by the Board of Ethics under this section may be recovered by the city in a civil action in the nature of debt if the offender rails or refuses to pay the penalty within a prescribed period of time, according to the city’s ethics ordinance that was enacted in 1994.

The purpose of financial disclosures also can be found in the City Officials Legal Handbook.

“Public disclosure of personal financial interests reveals potential conflicts of interest among government officials and discourages individuals from the more egregious forms of abusing public office for personal gain,” according to the text. “Since the objective of disclosure is not to determine a person’s net worth, categories of value usually are sufficient to determine potential conflicts while avoiding being unnecessarily intrusive.”

The form has a space marked “salary,” but that does not necessarily mean a monetary amount, Fowles said.

“I find it often when people fill out those forms, they think that they are (required to list the amount of money) and put those numbers in there, but it’s just the origin of their salary is all that’s required,” he said.

One Board of Ethics member, who requested to remain anonymous, said the wording on the forms should be more specific and ask for a monetary figure.

However, both the city’s ethics ordinance and state statute claim that dollar amounts are not necessary.

The source of income for city commission candidates are as follows: Robert Blythe, First Baptist Church at Francis and Eastern Kentucky University; Mike Brewer, Madison County Emergency Medical Service; Michael Bryant, U.S. Army via Madison Fiscal Court; Cameron Scott Gibson, G.I. Bill; Kay Cosby Jones, CVS Pharmacy; John McDaniel III, H.M. Ross Excavating Inc.; Rita Smart, retirement funds; Bill Strong, retirement funds; Richard Thomas, retirement funds; Ian Ward, JP Morgan & Chase.

The disclosure form also asks the candidates to list any business within Kentucky in which a $10,000 or more (or 5 percent) ownership exists.

McDaniel III and Smart are the only candidates with a business listed, being H.M. Ross Excavating Inc. and The Bennett House Bed & Breakfast, respectively, for the two.

According to the city’s ethics ordinance, “Any person who intentionally files a statement of financial interests which he or she knows to contain false information or intentionally omits required information shall be guilty of a Class A Misdemeanor.”

Members of the city’s ethics board include Chairperson Cecile Schubert, Fowles, Susan Vanstone, Assistant Chairperson Brooke Bowman, Wes Browne and Bob Moody.

Candidate campaign contributions can be found online at www.kref.state.ky.us.

Blythe, Strong, Thomas, Jones, Gibson, Parker and McDaniel reported no contributions to the primary election, according to the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance.

Contributions listed are as follows: Brewer, $2,500; Bryant, $650; Smart, $3,690 and Ward, $850.