Group Takes 11th-Hour Shot At Talbott Independent Campaign Ad Fails To Disclose Main Contributors As Required

A new political group has launched a $12,000 mail attack against mayoral challenger John Talbott as a last-minute counterpunch to a similar attack against Mayor Jack Geraghty.

The campaign was described by the group’s director, Chris Schnug, as a response to a campaign funded mainly by David Sabey, owner of NorthTown Mall.

But the anti-Talbott mailer from the group calling itself People for Positive Leadership apparently violated state law by failing to disclose its main contributors. The ad should have noted its primary funding came from Washington Water Power Co. and Allison Cowles, widow of the late publisher of The Spokesman-Review.

People for Positive Leadership, which formed late last week, mailed a red-covered folded page to most city voters over the weekend, asking them to consider whether Talbott is a leader or “just an angry man.”

The ad uses quotes from stories and letters published in The Spokesman-Review to criticize the citizen activist who is challenging the incumbent mayor in today’s election.

Producing and mailing the ad cost about $12,000, Schnug said.

Geraghty said he knew nothing about the ad before it arrived in the mail.

He denounced the Sabey effort and this latest mailer as “shadow campaigns” that detract from the issues the candidates are trying to discuss.

“I am getting tired of all this stuff,” Geraghty said. “It’s too bad people won’t let John and me just talk about the issues.”

Talbott said Monday he is “kind of ambivalent” about the independent campaigns in the mayoral race.

“People ought to be looking at the candidates instead,” Talbott said. If a candidate is a strong enough leader, the independent attack ads may not have much effect, he said.

Schnug said local business leaders were upset with an independent campaign mounted by the Citizen Action Coalition, which has criticized Geraghty in a pair of mailings and in radio commercials. That campaign was funded primarily by Sabey, a Seattle-based developer.

“This is a real conservative community. It isn’t until people are upset that they respond,” Schnug said.

Sabey has criticized the city’s participation in a downtown redevelopment plan for River Park Square, which is owned by Citizens Realty and Lincoln Investment Co., affiliates of Cowles Publishing Co.

Cowles Publishing also owns The Spokesman-Review.

In preparing its counter-ad - a folded 8-1/2-by-11-inch sheet - the new group failed to list its primary donors, as required by state law.

Documents filed late Friday and Monday at the Spokane County Courthouse show that the group raised $5,000 from WWP and $5,000 from Allison Cowles. It also received $1,000 from Build East, the political action committee for Associated General Contractors; $200 from Julie Wells, a local developer; and $100 each from Spokane attorney David Broom and McFarland and Alton, the accounting firm for which Schnug works.

Any PAC must list its top donors plainly on a printed ad, said Melissa Warheit, executive director of the state Public Disclosure Commission.

Warheit said she will have to study the ad to determine whether commission action should be taken.

Schnug said the omission was an honest mistake resulting from the short time between forming the committee and raising money and producing the ad. There was no attempt to hide the source of the funding, she said. “It wasn’t out of any wish to remain secret,” Schnug said.

Dan Kirschner, public affairs director for the Spokane Area Chamber of Commerce who prepared the ad on his own time, said he was responsible for the omission.

“It’s a bonehead mistake,” said Kirschner, former chief of staff for the Republican caucus in the state House of Representatives. “I was not aware that was a requirement. I should know better.”

The Citizen Action Coalition, which received $32,050 from Sabey companies, has criticized Geraghty for failing to support a public vote on the city’s involvement with River Park Square.

The Citizen Action Coalition ads all have carried the disclaimer that the ads were not part of any candidate’s campaign and were paid for primarily by Caryatid Inc.

Caryatid is a Seattle biotechnology company owned by Sabey.

, DataTimes