Militello, Salvatore: Alleged Violations of RCW 42.17A.235 & .240 for failure to accurately file expenditure reports (JUNE '23; EY '22)

Case

#139323

Respondent

Sal Militello

Complainant

Kevin J Osullivan

Description

PDC staff reviewed the allegation(s); the applicable statutes, rules, and reporting requirements; the response(s) provided by the Respondent; the applicable PDC reports filed by the Respondent; the Respondent’s data in the PDC contribution and expenditure database; and other relevant information, to decide whether the record supports a finding of one or more violations.
Based on staff’s review, we found the following:

• On January 5, 2022, Salvatore Militello filed a Candidate Registration (C-1) registering as a candidate seeking election to the office of Thurston County Auditor in 2022, selecting the Full Reporting option, and listing Carlo Mata as Treasurer. Mr. Militello was a first-time candidate for public office in 2022.

• Seven amended C-3 reports, and two new C-3 reports were filed between eight and thirteen months after the 2022 General Election. Information in the new and amended reports included:
o Reporting of transactions from a merchant account that did not correctly transfer into the campaign account.
o Correction of donors listed in wrong deposits.
o Correction of contribution amounts.

• Nine amended C-4 reports and one new C-4 report were filed between seven and twenty months after the 2022 General Election. Information in the new and amended reports included:
o C-4 110167008 amended C-4 110081637 to correct the reporting of prior expenditures that were causing the campaign account to report a negative balance. There were no expenditures in the prior period and line 10 was changed to zero.
o Reported previously unreported expenditures for domain renewal, radio advertising, credit card processing, overhead costs, and loan repayments.
o Corrected previously reported amounts to reflect amended contributions and expenditures from prior reporting periods.
o Corrected the original expenditure total from $5,750.57 to $6,142.80.

• Because the Respondent filed new C-3 and C-4 reports and amended original reports, with material information that would have been of interest to the public during the 2022 campaign, PDC staff added the allegation of late filing of C-3 and C-4 reports to the complaint.

• The data analytics on the PDC Political Disclosure Data webpage, specific to the Respondent’s loans, were not accounting correctly in our system as reported on the PDC website. This caused the displayed expenditures to not sum correctly when the data was put into a spreadsheet and totaled. The campaign had reported the information correctly, but it was presented on the PDC webpage incorrectly. The PDC resolved the technical issue on August 24, 2023, and the Respondent’s data analytics are now correctly showing on the web.

• Salvatore Militello received a formal written warning on September 20, 2022, for case #111239. This case also concerned the timely and accurate filings of C-3 and C-4 reports for the 2022 campaign. The warning letter outlined staff’s expectations that Mr. Militello would “timely file the required C-3 and C-4 reports for the remainder of the 2022 election cycle” and that the “Commission will consider this formal written warning in deciding on further Commission action, should there be future violations of PDC laws or rules.”

Pursuant to WAC 390-37-060(1)(f), Salvatore Militello completed a Statement of Understanding (SOU) and paid a $300 civil penalty in accordance with WAC 390-37-143 (Brief Enforcement Penalty Schedule), acknowledging violations of RCW 42.17A.235 & .240 for not timely and accurately disclosing expenditures and contributions on the Receipts & Expenditure Summary (C-4) report and the Cash Receipts, Monetary Contributions (C-3) report. The $300 penalty assessed resolves the allegations listed in your complaint.

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

Disposition

Resolved through Statement of Understanding (SOU)

Date Opened

July 06, 2023

Areas of Law

RCW 42.17A.235, RCW 42.17A.240

Documents

Penalties

Total penalties: $300

Balance Due: $0

Militello, Salvatore

Penalty

$300 (Statement of Understanding)

Payments

$300 on 09/14/2023 (PAID - SOU)