Quote of the Day: "I have no control over that. It's not my job."

by: Jason Springer

Wed Jul 01, 2009 at 12:15:00 PM EDT

The other day, I wrote about the fundraising allegations against the Evesham council candidates trying to direct people around the pay to play laws to get funding. Council candidate Joe Howarth decided not to take the tact of saying everything was legitimate. He also decided not to say that if there were any issues, they would take a look at things. Instead, we got this:

Howarth acknowledged that donors were given that direction -- outlined plainly on an invitation to a "victory party" for the candidates held in early June -- but said it was in an effort to comply with the pay-to-play law, not circumvent it.
As to whether some firms might have given more than one $300 contribution to different PACs, Howarth said he had no idea who gave what to the committees. He noted that firms seeking contracts with Evesham must disclose their campaign contributions when they submit their bids, and said those contributions would come to light during that process.
"It's up to the professionals," he said. "I have no control over that. It's not my job."

Ah, it's up to the firms who want the contracts to say they gave more money than makes them eligible to get them. He's either misleading or misinformed because under the local pay to play ordinance, all vendors are required to do is disclose that they are in conformance with the law. There is no provision for disclosing what they give.

He wants you to believe that in an effort to comply with the law, he said to give under the reporting limit to multiple committees rather than a lump sum to him directly. Then in the same breath, he says he has no control over who contributes to his campaign and then applies for contracts. Both parties are generally keenly aware of financial reporting and limits. If he doesn't have control over who he takes money from and isn't aware, then who does? He is the one who signed his campaign filing and the one who will vote on the contracts. This seems more like willful blindness than true lack of knowledge.

Jason Springer :: Quote of the Day: "I have no control over that. It's not my job."