Macdonald Again Asked To Clear Up Campaign Report Further Digging Uncovers More Spending That Hasn’t Been Explained

Kootenai County Commissioner Bob Macdonald is being asked again to fix his campaign disclosure report.

The Republican did not spend $6,175 on his primary loss to tax activist Ron Rankin, as he first reported. Nor did he spend $12,257, as he claimed on an amended report.

Further digging by County Clerk Dan English - at the urging of Rankin - shows Macdonald actually spent about $15,000.

“There seem to be several inconsistencies and I’ve asked Bob to explain them,” English, a Democrat, said.

While Rankin defeated Macdonald on May 28, he said he was hounding the lame duck to send a message to anyone considering contributing to a campaign on the sly that it would not be tolerated.

Last week Rankin took issue with Macdonald’s amended report. It claimed that C&P Associates, a financial agency run by Commissioner Dick Compton’s daughter, Debra Compton, gave Macdonald $2,379 in in-kind contributions. Rankin believed that amount was too high and suggested Compton was being reimbursed by anonymous donors.

But English discovered this week that the amount of money spent on newspaper advertising was closer to $5,000 and none of it was accounted for.

Campaign disclosure law requires newspapers to keep their advertising records available. English reviewed records at the Coeur d’Alene Press and learned the ads also had not been paid for as previously claimed.

Compton did not return telephone calls to her business and home last week or again Friday.

But English met with Compton and Macdonald Friday morning. They told him the $2,379 really was an in-kind contribution from Compton to Macdonald. The rest merely is outstanding debt.

“I asked them to explain in writing who owes what,” English said. “He (Macdonald) has been quite responsive. He wants it cleared up.”

English gave him until Aug. 9 to re-file the disclosure form.

English also fined Concerned Businesses of North Idaho - a conglomeration of about 70 area businesses - $200 for improper reporting. The group gave Macdonald $2,000 in May but did not report the contribution within 30 days, as the law requires. The company also had not registered as a political action committee.

Steve Judy, executive director for the group, said the errors were simple oversights. He did not run the group during the 1994 election, when similar issues were raised.

“The whole thing has given me a crash course on (campaign finance) law,” English said.

Rankin, meanwhile, maintains he believes something “fishy” is going on.

“This just has a very peculiar odor all the way around,” he said.

In 1994, an unidentified group produced a glossy flier bashing opponents of Republican Dick Panabaker the week before the election. The illegal flier was circulated by mail and called the opponents criminals and liars.

While a political unknown - Margaret Eddy - eventually took credit for the flier, many believe others were involved.

The same company that produced the flier was working for the county’s Republican central committee.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color photo