Foster’s Amended Complaint Centers On Finch’s State Senate Campaigns

The campaign of Democratic candidate for mayor Mary-Jane Foster has amended its complaint with the State Elections Enforcement Commission regarding Mayor Bill Finch’s relationship with a political action committee. The new information includes allegations involving Finch’s State Senate campaign committees. Local election officials are currently reviewing petition signatures submitted by Foster for necessary ballot approval to challenge Finch in the September 13 primary. From the Foster campaign:

Beccaro and Finch’s Malfeasance Dates Back to Senate Campaigns; Sonya Finch Employed as Treasurer and Consultant

Democratic candidate for mayor of Bridgeport Mary-Jane Foster’s campaign filed an amendment to its August 3, 2011 complaint with the State Elections Enforcement Commission (SEEC) relative to Mayor Bill Finch and the Political Action Committee “People for Excellence in Government,” Atty. William Beccaro, treasurer. Additionally, the campaign included new complaints regarding Bill Finch’s state senate campaign committees dating back to 2000. Highlights and new revelations included in the complaint include:

• William Beccaro’s mother was reimbursed $18,000 before she was named Chairman of “People for Excellence in Government”;

• William Beccaro himself was paid $25,000 before 2007;

• People for Excellence floated $5,000, maybe more, to Finch reelection efforts;

• Finch State Senate campaigns purposefully remained open after elections in order to raise funds improperly and disburse improperly;

• Finch State Senate campaigns are missing key reports to hide financial transactions; and

• Finch State Senate campaigns follow a practice of using Sonya Clark–then Sonya Finch as Deputy Treasurer using same house address as candidate while getting paid as consultant, reimbursing payments without documentation, and improperly filing financial reports for all three senate campaigns. In addition, her relatives are listed as treasurer.

“This situation just gets worse every day and is much bigger than we originally understood it to be,” stated Jason Bartlett, Foster’s campaign manager. “First, you’ve got a PAC reimbursing Bill Finch, his family, and friends thousands of dollars using money Bill Finch’s campaign donated, which the law clearly prohibits. Next, you’ve got that same PAC’s chairwoman stating that she has no idea that she has any role in the PAC nor why she is being reimbursed $18K going back to 2000. And now we see a troubling pattern dating back more than a decade that shows money flowing from Finch’s state senate campaign committee to a family member, often without proper documentation, when the law clearly states that the candidate and his family are not to be compensated. It’s hard to keep all the potential violations straight. The one thing that we know for sure is that the financial malfeasance goes back years.”

Amended complaint:library.constantcontact.com/download/get/file/1105007951422-26/SEEC+Complaint+with+Appendix+-+Finch+for+Senate+-+FINAL+doc.pdf