Pasco: Candidate admits finance gaffes

Candidate admits finance gaffes

The commission contender says he will right the $16,000 in campaign finance violations the elections supervisor found. He blames his inexperience.

By CHASE SQUIRES

DADE CITY -- Rod Neal, a candidate for County Commission District 1, was notified Saturday of more than $16,000 in apparent campaign finance violations.

Supervisor of Elections Kurt Browning said Sunday that his staff notified Neal of "serious" violations after reviewing records that Neal's campaign submitted Friday afternoon.

Neal, one of three Republicans seeking the east Pasco seat vacated by retiring Democrat Sylvia Young, said Sunday the problems were innocent errors made because he is new to politics. He vowed to repay loans his companies made to his campaign and said he would clarify more than $7,000 listed as "petty cash" expenditures to a political consulting firm.

"I screwed up," Neal said. "I'm new to this. It's something we weren't aware of."

One of Neal's two opponents, Ted Schrader, said he called Browning to complain Saturday.

"It's absolutely unfair," Schrader said Sunday. "He was able to send out an extra mailing because of that. I was not. I didn't have the money. The voters have a right to know that."

Schrader said he was not sure what he would do about the discrepancies, but would likely wait until Wednesday, the day after the primary, to decide.

Browning said Neal's finance reports show that two of Neal's computer companies -- Computers Unlimited and MNC -- loaned Neal's campaign $9,100 on Aug. 30. Companies, even if they are owned by the candidate, may not loan or donate more than $500 per election to any candidate, Browning said.

Browning said he double-checked the reports on Saturday before Neal was notified.

Financing reports for all candidates are listed on the Internet at http://www.pascovotes.com.

Browning said Neal's campaign must repay all but $1,000 to the companies. The companies could then loan the rest to Neal personally, and Neal could loan it to his campaign.

Browning said he was also looking into $7,089 Neal listed as "petty cash" payments to Roger Austin Consulting and Strategic Research. Candidates are not allowed to pay out more than $30 at a time from petty cash, he said. Reports show other expenses, including hundreds paid to the post office, are also listed as petty cash.

Neal said he has had problems with his financing software that created the glitch. He said he would fix the errors Tuesday.

Tuesday's election pits Neal, Schrader and Alan Brenia against each other for the Republican nomination. If no candidate garners 50 percent of the votes, plus one, on Tuesday, the top two will face a runoff election Oct. 3.

On the Democratic primary ballot, Pat Burke is running against Charlotte Kiefer.

Browning said that, as of Sunday, his office had found no other reporting discrepancies in the race.