A LOOK AHEAD:
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Towns are nearly finished with their spring elections. Town clerks should post campaign finance reports to their municipal websites, if a $1,000 threshold is reached. Click here for a map to search for locally filed reports.
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Campaign finance data for the May 2 special House primary elections is available here. Five candidates, all Democrats, were on the ballot for the 9th and 10th Suffolk districts.
- Treasurers who file with OCPF are required to complete online training every two years. OCPF is in the process of creating and launching a new online training program this year. We'll let treasurers know when it's time to take it.
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All mayoral candidates, and city council candidates in cities with more than 65,000 residents, can take a depository class on Wednesdays via Zoom.
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"Can I spend my own money on my campaign?"
You can spend your personal funds, in unlimited amounts. But here's the catch: deposit those personal funds into the campaign account first.
All candidates who file with OCPF are in the depository reporting system and banks disclose how candidates spend money. Banks file reports each month, disclosing expenditures made by committee check or committee debit card.
What happens if candidates use their personal funds to make direct expenditures to vendors?
There's no public disclosure, because the bank has no idea what's being spent outside the depository account.
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PUBLIC RESOLUTION LETTERS
The following list is a summary of agency actions issued recently by OCPF. Click the "agency actions" button below to view the full documents.
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Kate Campanale, Spencer: Did not comply (disclosure); 4/12/2023. Expenditures made outside the depository bank account.
Kathleen Crogan-Camara, Randolph: Did not comply (disclosure); 4/12/2023. Expenditures made outside the depository bank account.
Tanisha Sullivan, Boston: Did not comply (true source of contributions); 4/18/2023. Received $3,000 in contributions attributed to individuals who were not the true sources of the funds.
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OCPF: "Did you see the notice we e-mailed you?"
Committee: "No. We don't really check that e-mail account."
OCPF: "Well, let me tell you why that's a problem."
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PLEASE MAKE SURE THAT THE E-MAIL ACCOUNT YOU PROVIDE TO OCPF IS CHECKED ON A REGULAR BASIS.
OCPF COMMUNICATES WITH CANDIDATES AND COMMITTEES PRIMARILY BY E-MAIL, FOR AUDIT ISSUES, NOTIFICATIONS AND OTHER TOPICS. IMPORTANT: IF YOUR E-MAIL OR MAIL ADDRESSES CHANGE, PLEASE UPDATE YOUR INFORMATION ON REPORTER 7.
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CITIES WITH MAYORAL ELECTIONS THIS YEAR
Agawam, Amesbury, Attleboro, Beverly, Braintree, Brockton, Chicopee, Fall River, Fitchburg, Gardner, Gloucester, Greenfield, Haverhill, Leominster, Malden, Marlborough, Medford, Melrose, Methuen, New Bedford, North Adams, Peabody, Pittsfield, Quincy, Revere, Somerville, Springfield, Taunton, Waltham, Westfield, Weymouth, Woburn and Worcester.
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OCPF adds new chief of staff, tech team member
We welcome two new members to the OCPF team, Anthony Langone and Gabriella Mingozzi.
Langone will work closely with OCPF Director William Campbell as chief of staff, to improve how we serve candidates, committees and the public. He previously worked for the Executive Office of Veterans' Services as a community and digital coordinator, and served six years in the Air Force, stationed in Japan, the Azores, Germany and North Africa.
Mingozzi joined us as an information technology support engineer, to help the agency maintain and improve our public disclosure functions. Gabriella graduated from UMass Amherst with a degree in computer science. She worked as a technology consult for a private company before making the transition to OCPF.
Our technology team maintains OCPF's desktop and mobile websites, internal apps, and Reporter 7, the agency's online software for filing campaign finance reports.
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Why?
Because we speak with people who make campaign finance mistakes, and frequently hear some version of:
"I heard from someone that it was OK."
If your campaign has any uncertainty about an issue, please check with us at [email protected] or 617-979-8300.
This month, we'll post information to our social media pages about mistakes to avoid with a quick phone call. Common issues involve travel, raffles, legal bills, leases, ATMs and cash.
Type "CheckWithUS" into the search engine at www.ocpf.us for resources.
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