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Thursday: More on McAllister
posted at 2007-04-12 23:22 | Last modified 2007-11-14 10:38
The next target?
Earlier this week, I mentioned that Fayetteville Rep. Mary McAllister is the latest House Dem whose campaign finances are under scrutiny. As it turns out, there may be more to it than a little scrutiny.
Democratic operative Joe Sinsheimer hand-delivered this letter today to McAllister's office, alerting her that he's filing a complaint about her disclosure errors with the State Elections Board. His issue? Not only did she make mistakes in her reports to the SBOE, she compounded them in her recent interview with the Fayetteville Observer.
McAllister's accused of over-repaying herself for personal loans to her campaign funds. She told the FO the mistakes in her reports were due to miscommunications with her treasurer. From the article:
McAllister said a mistake occurred in late 2004 when she asked her campaign treasurer, Rosealene Stocks, to repay $669, which would have left a $5,000 balance. Instead, her campaign report shows a $5,000 payment was made that left a zero balance.
But as Sinsheimer's letter points out, Stocks wasn't her treasurer in '04. In fact, McAllister was her own treasurer then, as she had been for many years. Stocks doesn't show up as treasurer till McAllister's 1st Quarter 2006 campaign finance report. You can check it out yourself here.
McAllister sent the State Elections Board a letter to alert them to the problem earlier this month. She's pledged to resolve the accounting problems and pay back whatever she may have overpaid herself.
Other concerns
This isn't the first time McAllister's run into trouble with the State Elections Board. She ran into audit trouble in 1996, and again in 2002. Both were corrected and resolved.
Sinsheimer's letter also points out McAllister's position at the helm of the non-profit Operation Sickle Cell, Inc., to which her campaign has written at least five checks for reimbursement for expenses like postage.
And then there's McAllister's authorship of this bill, which would have directed 500K in state funds to her own organization, effectively doubling its budget for FY 2006. (No, the bill didn't pass.)
According to its website, OSC performs a lot of valuable community health services. But it's also worth noting that McAllister, as Executive Director, claims a higher percentage of its bottom line than many of her peers in the area's other non-profits. For example, according to their latest tax returns:
Operation Sickle Cell, Inc. had an FY 2005 year-end balance of $780,000. McAllister made a salary of $115,000 - about 15% of the bottom line.
In comparison, United Way of Cumberland County had a year-end balance of $2,750,000. Its CEO, Robert Hines, made about $75,000 in salary and benefits - about 3%.
Methodist College Inc, of Fayetteville had a 2005 year-end balance of $36,000,000. Its chief, Dr. Elton Hendricks, made $228,000 in salary and benefits - less than 1%.
So what?
Nothing here is illegal, and none of it is proof of any kind of malfeasance, either. But it's been enough to stoke rumors on Jones St. for several years... and it looks especially troublesome now, given the current environment. It'll be interesting to see whether the Elections Board thinks it's worth a closer look.
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