Two longtime Jefferson Parish State Senators, one on each
bank of the river, Westwego’s John Alario and Kenner’s Danny Martiny, are
reported to have accepted tens of thousands of dollars in excess campaign
contributions from Political Action Committees or PACs.
The Fox 8/Nola.com report alleges that Alario, the Senate
President, exceeded the amount of contributions that PACs can contribute to a
district candidate for his past two elections and has already exceeded the
limit for his next election. Alario received almost $79,856 in PAC
contributions in 2007, almost $102,846 in 2011 (despite running unopposed) and
has already accepted $95,512 in PAC contributions for 2015.
For the 2007 election, Martiny accepted $96,007 in PAC
contributions and another $92,103 in the 2011 election cycle. The report did
not disclose Martiny’s PAC contributions for the 2015 election cycle.
The maximum amount of contributions that a Senate candidate
can accept from PACs is $60,000 per election.
Alario and Martiny are longtime State Legislators and are
well aware of the rules. Prior to their elections to the State Senate in 2007, Alario
spent 36 years and Martiny served 14 years in the State House.
In addition, Martiny has acted as the Campaign Treasurer for
other candidates including Jefferson Parish District 5 Councilwoman Cynthia
Sheng and has been involved in the campaigns of Jefferson Parish Sheriff Newell
Normand.
In one report, Martiny reported receiving $0 from PACs but
within the report it showed PAC contributions of over $92,000.
The State Ethics Board can impose a fine of twice the amount
of the violation or $10,000, whichever is greater.
One of the problems is that the State Ethics Board simply
processes the campaign finance reports and doesn’t audit them. They’re not
checking the reports, just ensuring that the reports arrive on time.
On Nola.com, UNO Political Analyst Ed Chervenak hit the nail
on the head when he said:
"There may some sense that, 'Well, we can get away with this and
then, if we do (get caught) we'll just pay the fine,'" Chervenak said.
"If they have violated the law, they should be investigated."
Sadly, that is the moral code of many elected officials –
let’s push the envelope as far as we can and, if they catch us, we’ll just
plead ignorance or blame a “clerical error”, pay the fine and move on. We can
always raise even more money.
And, voters will have forgotten by the time the next
election rolls around.
