Bill Bradbury Fined For Inaccurate, Incomplete Campaign Finance Reports

Secretary of State Bill Bradbury is in charge of enforcing Oregon's campaign finance laws. He should be red-faced with embarrassment today. Yesterday the Oregon Court of Appeals upheld fines against him and his 2004 political committee for failure to completely and accurately report his expenditures for commissions to an advertising firm and the cost of buying TV airtime during his 2004 campaign. Bradbury was the treasurer of the group and responsible for filing campaign contribution and expenditure reports.

"Charlton Engel Marketing, Inc." (CEM) was paid to procure broadcast time and given money to pay for the time. Bradbury, as treasurer of "Friends of Bill Bradbury," failed to report the amounts paid in fees to CEM or the amounts paid to TV stations. His lawyers argued that he reported the entire lump sum paid to CEM, and that was good enough, even though the statutes require detailed reporting, not just lump sums to some agent. The Court found that the Campaign Finance Manual clearly explained the statutes.

Oops! These manuals are produced by Bradbury’s office.

"Charles Engel Marketing, Inc." is not incorporated in Oregon (either as active or inactive) and his no registered agent in this state. It appears to violate Oregon laws. If it is incorporated in some other state, it still must file with the Corporation Division as a foreign corporation and show a registered agent. Bradbury, as Secretary of State, is also in charge of the Corporations Division–maybe he can look into this.