MUTH’S TRUTHS

The following letter was sent to Nevada Secretary of State Ross Miller today…

January 28, 2007

Ross Miller
Nevada Secretary of State
101 N. Carson Street
Carson City, NV. 89701

Dear Secretary Miller,

On April 4, 2006, the Associated Press reported the following, which, by the way, I found on your own campaign website:

“Secretary of State hopeful Ross Miller called for tougher penalties for politicians who break campaign finance laws and a more centralized vote-by-mail system as part of package of election reforms announced Tuesday. Miller, the only announced Democrat in the race, said tougher penalties would deter politicians from breaking the public trust. ‘We have to show that we are serious about these violations, and then I think voters will have more faith in the process,’ Miller, a deputy district attorney in Clark County, said in a statement.”

Let me now refer you to the following, “A Guide to Nevada’s Financial Disclosure Law (NRS 281.559; NRS 281.561; NRS 281.571; NRS 281.574; NRS 281.581), which is taken directly from the state Ethics Commission’s website:

“Elected public officers, candidates for public office who will be entitled to receive annual compensation of $6,000 or more if elected…must file a Financial Disclosure Statement.”

And…

“Annual Filing Date: No later than January 15 of each year for all elected and appointed public officers who are required to file the financial disclosure statement.”

I bring this to your attention because according to your own department’s website today, Governor Jim Gibbons, Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki, Attorney General Catherine Cortez-Masto and Controller Kim Wallin have all filed the required Financial Disclosure report which was due on January 15, 2007. However, according to your own department’s website, you and Treasurer Kate Marshall have failed to comply with this requirement.

Of course, if you filed your Financial Disclosure report on time but your office is simply behind in its work and hasn’t posted it yet on the Internet, two weeks after the deadline, that’s merely a problem of departmental inefficiency or inattention which I urge you to immediately correct administratively.

However, if you and have neglected to file your report on time, there are penalties to be considered. According to the Ethics Commission website:

“A candidate for public office or public officer who fails to timely file a Financial Disclosure Statement is subject to a civil penalty and payment of court costs and attorneys fees. Enforcement is the responsibility of the Secretary of State Elections Division.”

The Commission’s website states that the civil penalty for being two weeks late is $50. However, it also states that “The Secretary of State may, for good cause, waive the civil penalty. A request for waiver must be in writing and is a public record.”

Considering your campaign platform in this regard, if you have, indeed, broken the state’s campaign finance laws by failing to file your Financial Disclosure report on time, I urge you to not let yourself off the hook and instead lead by example and throw the book at yourself. After all, we do “have to show that we are serious about these violations” so that “voters will have more faith in the process,” right?

If, on the other hand, you choose to grant yourself a waiver, we’d appreciate if you would provide us with a copy of said waiver in writing so that we may inform Nevada voters of your decision.

Of course, there’s always the possibility that there is some other reasonable explanation for why our Secretary of State’s Financial Disclosure report isn’t posted on the Secretary of State’s website along with those of the governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general and controller. If such an explanation exists, we’d be happy to learn about it.

Respectfully yours,

Chuck Muth
President
Citizen Outreach PAC

UPDATE: Within two hours of our letter being faxed this morning to the Secretary of State’s office about the Secretary of State’s Financial Disclosure Report not being posted on the Secretary of State’s website, the Secretary of State’s office sprung into action and posted said report. You can finally read it here

Still, how embarrassing for the Secretary of State, the “elections cop,” not to have had his own report posted on his own website.

Posted on January 29th, 2007 by Chuck Muth
Filed under: Nevada