Martinelli, Anthony: Alleged violations of RCW 42.17A.240 & .700 for failure to fully & accurately describe expenditures and report contributions & income (EY '17 & '19; Sept '19)

Case

#57748

Respondent

Anthony Martinelli

Complainant

Glen Morgan

Description

The Public Disclosure Commission (PDC) has completed its review of the complaint filed on September 20, 2019. The complaint alleged that Anthony Martinelli, a candidate for Des Moines City Council, Position 6 in 2019, may have violated: (1) RCW 42.17A.235, RCW 42.17A.240 & WAC 390-16-037 for failure to timely and accurately describe expenditures on Summary Full Campaign Contribution and Expenditure reports (C-4 reports) for election year 2017 & 2019; (2) RCW 42.17A.235 & .240 for failure to timely and accurately file Monetary Contribution reports (C-3 reports); and (3) RCW 42.17A.700 & .710 for failure to timely and accurately file Personal Financial Affairs Statement (F-1 report) as a candidate.

PDC staff reviewed the allegations; the applicable statutes, rules, and reporting requirements; the response provided by Mr. Martinelli; the applicable PDC reports filed by Respondent; and queried the Respondent’s data in the PDC contribution and expenditure database, to determine whether the record supports a finding of one or more violations.

The complaint included additional allegations regarding possible inaccurate disclosure of reportable income on the F-1, Section 1. No evidence was found showed that Mr. Martinelli failed to include sources of income required by statute.

Anthony Martinelli was an unsuccessful candidate in 2017 and had a separate individual acting as his treasurer and filing campaign reports. During the 2019 Des Moines City Council campaign, other than approximately one month, he served as his own treasurer and did not list any other officers or committee members. It appears that his failure to disclose adequate descriptions for campaign expenditures on C-4 reports, the mistaken entry of an expenditure as candidate’s personal funds, and his failure to disclose a reportable business ownership interest on his candidate F-1, was due to inexperience and general misunderstanding. Mr. Martinelli responded promptly to the complaint, worked with PDC staff to correct his reports and has not previously been found in violation of PDC laws or rules. 

Based on these findings staff has determined that, in this instance, failure to timely and accurately file a small number of C-3 and C-4 reports and failure to include a reportable business ownership interest on the candidate F-1 report, does not amount to a finding of a violation warranting further investigation.

PDC staff is reminding Mr. Martinelli about the importance of the timely and accurate disclosure of all expenditure activities, specifically including any required detail and vendor breakdown as prescribed in WAC, the timely and accurate disclosure of candidate’s personal funds deposited into the campaign account, and the timely and accurate disclosure of all reportable financial information on F-1 reports in any future PDC reports in accordance with the statutes and rules.

Based on this information, the PDC finds that no further action is warranted and has dismissed this matter in accordance with RCW 42.17A.755(1).

Disposition

Case Closed with Reminder

Date Opened

September 24, 2019

Areas of Law

RCW 42.17A.240, RCW 42.17A.700

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