Campaign representatives for Richmond Mayor Dwight C. Jones and officials with the State Board of Elections worked today to sort out confusion over reports for Jones’ inaugural and campaign funds.
Officials said a series of missteps resulted in data from Jones’ campaign fund being reported for his inaugural fund on the Web sites of the Board of Elections and the nonprofit Virginia Public Access Project, which tracks campaign-finance issues. David Allen, campaign-finance manager for the Board of Elections, said the issue was largely resolved this afternoon.
“I don’t think they’re trying to hide anything,” Allen said earlier of the Jones’ camp. “I think they’re reporting in good faith.”
Matthew Felan, who helped raise funds for the mayor’s 2008 campaign, said the reports for the inaugural fund had been filed but not posted correctly. He said the issue may have stemmed in part from the fact that Jones reported contributions and expenses from his inaugural fund even though state law does not require such reports for local officials.
He said the problems began last April when the campaign was unable to file electronically a final report for the inaugural fund. He said the document was e-mailed to Allen, but it was forgotten until recently. Allen said his three-person office had overlooked the report.
“Bottom line, we filed it in April,” Felan said. “We’ve tried to be as transparent as possible.”
The campaign also asked for and received extra time to file a campaign-finance report that was due Jan. 19, Felan said. The report is expected to be filed this week.
Contact Will Jones at (804) 649-6911 or wjones@timesdispatch.com.
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