Posted by: Kim_Hamilton on 10/01/2008 04:43 PM
Updated by: Kim_Hamilton on 10/01/2008 05:57 PM
Expires: 01/01/2013 12:00 AM
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"Zerrall McDaniel Sets Record Straight on Campaign Finance...Says Suggestions of Perjury “Reckless”~By Donna Schantz
San Andreas, CA...."At a candidates' forum in San Andreas Tuesday night (September 30), District One Supervisorial candidate Gary Tofanelli suggested Zerrall McDaniel may have committed “perjury” in her campaign finance reports and / or her campaign mailers. In fact, there is no basis for making these charges. Mr Tofanelli suggested that because the words “Paid for by” did not precede the words “Zerrall McDaniel for Supervisor and her address, a crime may have been committed. However, the Political Reform Act (08) says this....
Chapter 4 (Campaign Disclosure), Article 3 (Prohibitions)
§ 84305 Requirements for Mass Mailing
a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), no candidate or committee shall send a mall mailing unless the name, street address, and city of the candidate or committee are shown on the outside of each piece of mail in the mass mailing and on at least one of the inserts included within each piece of mail of the mailing in no less than 6-point type which shall be in a color or print which contrasts with the background so as to be easily legible. A post office box may be stated in lieu of a street address if the organization's address is a matter of public record with the Secretary of State.
b) If the sender of the mass mailing is a single candidate or committee, the name, street address, and city of the candidate or committee need only be shown on the outside of each piece of mail.
As a single candidate committee, Zerrall McDaniel has thus broken no law, and has in fact exceeded the requirements for disclosure of the source of the Committee's mailings.
Mr. Tofanelli also suggested that because a check for postage made out to the Post Office for approximately $950 was inadvertently left off McDaniel's last campaign finance report, “perjury” may have been committed.
In fact, the law allows for filing amended reports. It says
Chapter 1(General)
§ 81004.5 Reports and Statements; Amendments
Any report or statement filed pursuant to this title may be amended by the filer at any time. Amending an incorrect or incomplete report or statement may be considered as evidence of good faith.
Zerrall McDaniel for Supervisor is in the process of preparing an amended report and will submit it soon. At no time was there any deliberate attempt to conceal from the citizens the fact that the campaign did in fact have to pay the United States Post Office for postage.
McDaniel had this to say about Tofanelli's suggestions: “It appears the facts show Mr. Tofanelli's suggestions of perjury to be wholly without merit. It is regrettable that Mr. Tofanelli was reckless enough to say such things. Both of us have been Foreman of the Grand Jury, and I would have hoped that Mr. Tofanelli would have learned to think before he speaks.”
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