Stark brochure doesn’t disclose funding source

A campaign flier for Councilman Brad Stark mailed to thousands of households in south Spokane this weekend violated state advertising rules.

Stark’s brochure is missing a required statement explaining who paid for it.

It isn’t the first time Stark has ignored campaign rules. Earlier this year, he was fined $500 by the state Public Disclosure Commission for missing deadlines by more than a year for filing campaign contribution reports.

Stark said Monday that the lack of statement about who paid for the ad was a “slight oversight,” but he added that it has his phone number and e-mail address on it.

“I don’t think there should be any question in regards to who paid for this,” Stark said.

Earlier this month, the Realtors Quality of Life political action committee spent more than $11,000 on a Stark mailer. Stark said the most recent advertisement was sent to 5,300 households and was paid for by his campaign, not the Realtors.

The advertising violation likely would be considered separately from Stark’s financial reporting problems and therefore would be considered a first offense, said commission spokeswoman Lori Anderson. Punishment for a first offense for not including a statement about who paid for an advertisement likely would be limited to a warning, she said.

Meanwhile, Stark’s opponent, Richard Rush, accused Stark of distorting his record on the mailing.

The four-page ad includes a chart that compares Stark’s stance on issues with Rush’s. Among other claims, under a section labeled “gangs and crime,” Stark’s mailing says Rush advocates for “turning our city over to criminals!” To back up the claim, the ad says that at a debate Rush called for “more open spaces, parks and trails for violators to feel more ownership in city.”

Rush said Stark manipulated his words. He said he’s argued that the city needs to bring back summer youth programs and invest in parks and open spaces as a way to help discourage kids from becoming criminals.

The ad also points to Rush’s business administration degree from Maharishi University of Management, an Iowa college that promotes transcendental meditation. Rush notes that Stark’s mailing left out that he also holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Auburn University in Alabama.

Stark, who has left two jobs in the past 18 months, also takes issue at Rush for being “unemployed for 13 years.” Rush identifies himself as a stay-at-home dad.

Stark said he stands by the mailing “100 percent.”