At day’s end Monday the campaign finance report of mayoral candidate John Gomes was nearly a week late vulnerable to fines by the Town Clerk or State Elections Enforcement Commission for a campaign whose mantra has focused on honesty, integrity and full disclosure.
Mayor Joe Ganim and petitioning candidate Lamond Daniels met the deadline last Tuesday.
Maria Figueroa is treasurer of the Gomes campaign. She has not returned inquiries for comment. Fines can run, depending on the duration of lateness, from $100 up to $2,000. The treasurer is personally responsible.
When asked by OIB what’s going on? Gomes Campaign Manager Christine Bartlett-Josie, the face of the campaign, responded: “I am not the treasurer.”
“Fair enough,” I responded.
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Her response spooled possible frustration, for sure, a disconnect between campaign manager and treasurer for normal campaigns in synch.
It’s never good when a campaign manager and treasurer don’t get along. It may mean vendors, workers, etc. wait in line for checks. Or, perhaps, the campaign has run out of money which happens. Or, for whatever reason, the treasurer has checked out.
Either way, by state law, reports are required in timely fashion to examine where money is raised and spent.
So, something’s going on here. It’s not often a campaign manager throws a treasurer under the bus publicly unless deserving, or a serious disconnect in communication.
Bartlett-Josie, not a fan of OIB, usually issues a response for a specific reason.
