Bronson faces $52K fines over campaign account reports
BY carlos matías
The Alaska Public Offices Commission (APOC) a state agency that investigates election campaign finances has sanctioned Republican Bronson with $33,500, for failing to properly report the contributions he received during his campaign in which he ran for mayor of Anchorage, and which he finally won by a slim margin of votes over Forrest Dunbar.
APOC has notified Bronson of at least two significant fines, one of $18,000 and another of $15,500.
Lack of transparency Candidates are required to transparently report contributions they receive of $250 or more within 24 hours. When a candidate fails to properly report these contributions, he or she can be fined $500 for each passing day. The Bronson campaign failed to report four separate contributions of $250 or more for more than a month after receiving these donations.
In addition, Mayor Bronson faces another separate fine, in the amount of $52,650, based on a recommendation from APOC staff, for numerous violations allegedly committed by him and his staff and for “totally confusing” campaign reporting. It was then that Forrest Dunbar, Bronson’s opponent in the Anchorage Mayoral runoff election, reported all of these violations to the aforementioned Commission.
Bronson has thirty days to appeal all these fines or pay them. His campaign team has not responded to any inquiries from Sol de Medianoche.
“Bronson lied” In our May edition, we dedicated our front page to this topic under: “Dave Bronson repeatedly lied about his campaign finances.” Before the May 13 Mayoral Runoff Election was over, his opponent Forrest Dunbar’s team alleged that Stacey Stone, Bronson’s campaign attorney, filed “significant amendments to three campaign finance reports” for Bronson, “but did not do so until the polls closed, so that once that fact was known, the direction of the electors’ vote could not be changed.” At the time, Dunbar called this “a clear fraud, committed against all voters, including those who in good faith voted for Bronson, and against the entire citizenry of Anchorage.” In Dunbar’s view, it was “deliberate deception” and “dishonest behavior” by Bronson.
