DEMS SUE KAPANKE
HIS "ECONOMIC FORUM" WAS PROMOTED BY CAMPAIGN STAFF
AND ALSO BY SENATE STAFF
BUT WAS IT A CAMPAIGN EVENT?
PUBLIC RECORDS VIOLATIONS ALSO ALLEGED
AND ALSO BY SENATE STAFF
BUT WAS IT A CAMPAIGN EVENT?
PUBLIC RECORDS VIOLATIONS ALSO ALLEGED
[Updated, as information becomes available. August 10th, 2009; August 11th, 2009; August 14th, 2009, with ruling from GAB.]
[AUGUST 19th 2009 -- The Judge has permitted me to listen in on the hearing this afternoon.]
[AUGUST 19th 2009 -- The Judge has permitted me to listen in on the hearing this afternoon.]
Special to the Readers of Milwaukeeworld.com
By Michael Horne
And The Milwaukee World Hound Dog Team
The Democratic Party of Wisconsin filed suit today, Friday, August 7th, 2009 in Dane County against republican Sen. Dan Kapanke alleging he used his Senate staff to promote his June "Economic Forum" held in La Crosse, which the party calls a political campaign event, in part because it was announced by his campaign committee in a press release. Furthermore, the party alleges Kapanke also violated the state's public records law by failing to fully respond to the party's request for staff e-mails and communications related to the event.
The party bases its suit in part on an announcement about the event issued by Kapanke's campaign committee. [See text below.] Yet the announcement indicates the event is bipartisan, and lists the name and party affiliation of a Democratic legislator as a participant. Thus, the question might arise, "does something become a campaign event merely because it is promoted by a campaign?"
The party also alleges Kapanke failed to fully comply with its request for communications about the event by his political staff members.
[The party had in its possession, an e-mail composed by a Senate staffer on state time inviting legislators to participate in the event. That would be an illegal use of state resources, if the event were indeed to be found to be political in nature. However, that same e-mail was not included in Kapanke's response to the public records request, as one might expect.]
The suit also asks for staff time records and much other data, presumably to see if Senate staff members were on the state's clock while working the event. Kapanke didn't hand that stuff over, either. In an August 3rd, 2009 final demand letter to Kapanke, Attorney Michael Maistelman wrote "Your failure to follow Wisconsin law is because to do so would reveal even more serious violations on your part."
If it seems like rather weak tea at this point, you never know what might happen when political issues like this begin to steep for awhile.
For instance, the event cost $6, but the Milwaukee World Hound Dog has yet to sniff out to whom the checks were to be made payable. If it was to his campaign committee, then Kapanke sure would have some 'splainin' to do.
[Update: According to the La Crosse Tribune, in an article posted Saturday, August 8th, 2009, that's exactly what happened -- but possibly with permission of the Senate Clerk. --Ed.]
Kapanke’s staff had asked Senate chief clerk Rob Marchant if the forums could be run through the campaign account, because Senate rules prohibit charging for Senate events, and Kapanke wanted to recoup the cost of a light breakfast at the forums.
Attendees were charged to cover the cost of the breakfast, Kapanke has said, and the money went into the campaign fund, which then paid the hotel for the food.
Interestingly, the Kapanke campaign's July continuing campaign finance report should have shown the receipts and expenditures of this event, but makes no mention of it, even though the campaign shows other disbursements as late as July 29th, 2009. Look it up here.
[Update, Tuesday, August 11th, 2009 -- As for Clerk Marchant, he spoke to Milwaukeeworld on Tuesday, August 11th, 2009 and said there was no such thing as a ruling from him as to whether Kapanke could use his campaign as a conduit for his Economic Forum. Marchant was part of the planning process, he said, adding that Kapanke "tried to have the Senate pay for the event. Due to the room cost, I said it would not." Kapanke then wondered if he could find outside sponsors [corporate] to fund the event, but Marchant said, "the issue of using the campaign account is something they did not discuss."--Ed.]
Kapanke, it should be noted, recently announced that he plans to challenge Democratic Rep. Ron Kind for his seat in the House of Representatives. However, the Dems have been after him about his economic summit since the day it took place.
Here is a link to the complaint. [A hearing is scheduled for August 19th, 2009 at 1:30 p.m. in Dane County.]
The Wisconsin Government Accountability Board may discuss this matter at its meeting of Monday, August 10th, 2009. [Update, Tuesday, August 11th, 2009 -- The GAB said it does not comment on matters that may or may not have been brought up at its closed sessions, and directed inquiries to Sen. Kapanke's office.--Ed.]
TEXT OF MILWAUKEEWORLD E-MAIL TO SEN. DAN KAPANKE REQUESTING INFORMATION TUESDAY, AUGUST 11th, 2009:
Dear Sir:
On July 30th, you said you expected to be cleared by the GAB of charges of impropriety regarding your June Economic Summit.
http://www.legis.wi.gov/senate/sen32/news/Press/2009/pr2009-017.asp
This information is not released to the public by the GAB.
Could you please tell me if the GAB made a decision yesterday at its regular meeting, and the result of the decision?
Also, you previously mentioned that your staff had requested an opinion of the Senate Chief Clerk regarding the propriety of your arrangements for the economic summit.
Could you please release your request and the opinion you received from the clerk?
Finally, and perhaps most significantly, you said the proceeds of the $6 fee to cover expenses of the summit were to be deposited with your campaign account and were then to be used to pay those expenses.
Yet your July continuing finance report does not show these revenues and expenses, although it includes several other items subsequent to the date of the event. Please explain the omission.
Could you please release this information, including an accounting of the revenue, the expenses, the disposition of the funds and any overage or underage?
I invite you to read my coverage at http://www.milwaukeeworld.com/blog/2009/08/dems-sue-kapanke.html
and hope your response will help to bring more clarity to this story.
Very truly yours,
Michael Horne
Editor / Publisher
www.milwaukeeworld.com
1 414 978-8039
[[UPDATE MONDAY, AUGUST 17th, 2009:
Here is the response from Kapanke's office to the above e-mail. I guess they discard a lot of messages over there. It says nothing about where the money went, and I have not received any voice message from the Senator, although this may be due to telephone problems on my end, for all I know.--Ed.]
Below is the text of the release from the Kapanke campaign announcing the bipartisan forum:
IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact:
June 1, 2009 Dan Kapanke: 608.738.8446
**Media Advisory**
Kapanke To Bring Legislators and Businesses Together at Economic Forum
And seeks bi-partisan collaboration in an effort to rebuild Wisconsin’s economy
(La Crosse)… Senator Dan Kapanke, on Friday, June 5th, will be hosting an economic forum with
Representatives, Mike Huebsch (R-West Salem), Lee Nerison (R-Westby), and Jennifer Schilling (D-LaCrosse), along with La Crosse area economist, Professor Taggert J. Brooks. Area business and community leaders are invited to discuss the affects of the national economic downturn on the local economy and offer solutions on what can be done at a state level to revive Wisconsin’s lagging economy.
Senator Kapanke’s economic forum will allow Main Street businesses the chance to voice their concerns as well as to provide ideas and suggestions to the legislators in attendance. In addition, a renowned area economist, TJ Brooks will provide a non-partisan analytical presentation on how the federal government’s handling of the TARP money is affecting local economies.
Kapanke knows that rebuilding Wisconsin’s economy is not a republican or democrat issue. It will take a bi-partisan collaboration of legislators and Main Street businesses working together to strengthen our state’s economy and position Wisconsin once again as a forerunner state in economic growth and ingenuity.
What: Economic forum with Senator Dan Kapanke, Rep. Mike Huebsch, Rep. Jennifer Shilling, Rep. Lee Nerison and UW-L Associate Professor of Economics, Taggert J. Brooks.
When: Friday, June 5, 2009, from 8 – 10 A.M.
Where: Days Hotel & Convention Center
101 Sky Harbour Drive
La Crosse, 54603
Cost: $6.00, a light breakfast will be served.
###
Authorized and paid or by Dan Kapanke, Elizabeth Olsen, Treasurer
Dan Kapanke
A Common Sense Leader
=====
Kapanke Statement, July 30th, 2009.
[Kapanke says he has tentative assurance from the GAB that he acted properly.]
[UPDATE-- Friday, August 14th, 2009: The GAB issued a ruling letter to Sen. Kapanke outlining the ever-changing circumstances of the Economic Forum. It said he acted appropriately "under the circumstances," and sanctioned a staff employee who worked the event for not recording her time as "vacation" until after the event, in violation of Senate rules. Here is the letter of ruling from Jon Becker of the GAB.
090813.GAB%20Kapanke.pdf
By Michael Horne
And The Milwaukee World Hound Dog Team
The Democratic Party of Wisconsin filed suit today, Friday, August 7th, 2009 in Dane County against republican Sen. Dan Kapanke alleging he used his Senate staff to promote his June "Economic Forum" held in La Crosse, which the party calls a political campaign event, in part because it was announced by his campaign committee in a press release. Furthermore, the party alleges Kapanke also violated the state's public records law by failing to fully respond to the party's request for staff e-mails and communications related to the event.
The party bases its suit in part on an announcement about the event issued by Kapanke's campaign committee. [See text below.] Yet the announcement indicates the event is bipartisan, and lists the name and party affiliation of a Democratic legislator as a participant. Thus, the question might arise, "does something become a campaign event merely because it is promoted by a campaign?"
The party also alleges Kapanke failed to fully comply with its request for communications about the event by his political staff members.
[The party had in its possession, an e-mail composed by a Senate staffer on state time inviting legislators to participate in the event. That would be an illegal use of state resources, if the event were indeed to be found to be political in nature. However, that same e-mail was not included in Kapanke's response to the public records request, as one might expect.]
The suit also asks for staff time records and much other data, presumably to see if Senate staff members were on the state's clock while working the event. Kapanke didn't hand that stuff over, either. In an August 3rd, 2009 final demand letter to Kapanke, Attorney Michael Maistelman wrote "Your failure to follow Wisconsin law is because to do so would reveal even more serious violations on your part."
If it seems like rather weak tea at this point, you never know what might happen when political issues like this begin to steep for awhile.
For instance, the event cost $6, but the Milwaukee World Hound Dog has yet to sniff out to whom the checks were to be made payable. If it was to his campaign committee, then Kapanke sure would have some 'splainin' to do.
[Update: According to the La Crosse Tribune, in an article posted Saturday, August 8th, 2009, that's exactly what happened -- but possibly with permission of the Senate Clerk. --Ed.]
Kapanke’s staff had asked Senate chief clerk Rob Marchant if the forums could be run through the campaign account, because Senate rules prohibit charging for Senate events, and Kapanke wanted to recoup the cost of a light breakfast at the forums.
Attendees were charged to cover the cost of the breakfast, Kapanke has said, and the money went into the campaign fund, which then paid the hotel for the food.
Interestingly, the Kapanke campaign's July continuing campaign finance report should have shown the receipts and expenditures of this event, but makes no mention of it, even though the campaign shows other disbursements as late as July 29th, 2009. Look it up here.
[Update, Tuesday, August 11th, 2009 -- As for Clerk Marchant, he spoke to Milwaukeeworld on Tuesday, August 11th, 2009 and said there was no such thing as a ruling from him as to whether Kapanke could use his campaign as a conduit for his Economic Forum. Marchant was part of the planning process, he said, adding that Kapanke "tried to have the Senate pay for the event. Due to the room cost, I said it would not." Kapanke then wondered if he could find outside sponsors [corporate] to fund the event, but Marchant said, "the issue of using the campaign account is something they did not discuss."--Ed.]
Kapanke, it should be noted, recently announced that he plans to challenge Democratic Rep. Ron Kind for his seat in the House of Representatives. However, the Dems have been after him about his economic summit since the day it took place.
Here is a link to the complaint. [A hearing is scheduled for August 19th, 2009 at 1:30 p.m. in Dane County.]
The Wisconsin Government Accountability Board may discuss this matter at its meeting of Monday, August 10th, 2009. [Update, Tuesday, August 11th, 2009 -- The GAB said it does not comment on matters that may or may not have been brought up at its closed sessions, and directed inquiries to Sen. Kapanke's office.--Ed.]
TEXT OF MILWAUKEEWORLD E-MAIL TO SEN. DAN KAPANKE REQUESTING INFORMATION TUESDAY, AUGUST 11th, 2009:
Dear Sir:
On July 30th, you said you expected to be cleared by the GAB of charges of impropriety regarding your June Economic Summit.
http://www.legis.wi.gov/
This information is not released to the public by the GAB.
Could you please tell me if the GAB made a decision yesterday at its regular meeting, and the result of the decision?
Also, you previously mentioned that your staff had requested an opinion of the Senate Chief Clerk regarding the propriety of your arrangements for the economic summit.
Could you please release your request and the opinion you received from the clerk?
Finally, and perhaps most significantly, you said the proceeds of the $6 fee to cover expenses of the summit were to be deposited with your campaign account and were then to be used to pay those expenses.
Yet your July continuing finance report does not show these revenues and expenses, although it includes several other items subsequent to the date of the event. Please explain the omission.
Could you please release this information, including an accounting of the revenue, the expenses, the disposition of the funds and any overage or underage?
I invite you to read my coverage at http://www.milwaukeeworld.com/
and hope your response will help to bring more clarity to this story.
Very truly yours,
Michael Horne
Editor / Publisher
www.milwaukeeworld.com
1 414 978-8039
[[UPDATE MONDAY, AUGUST 17th, 2009:
Here is the response from Kapanke's office to the above e-mail. I guess they discard a lot of messages over there. It says nothing about where the money went, and I have not received any voice message from the Senator, although this may be due to telephone problems on my end, for all I know.--Ed.]
August 17, 2009
Dear Mr. Horne,
I am responding to your public records request sent by email dated August 11, 2009. Most of your email was a request for information as opposed to documents, and I believe that Senator Kapanke mentioned that in his voice message to you on August 13, 2009.
You also seek Senator Kapanke’s request that the Senate Chief Clerk Rob Marchant provide an opinion regarding the propriety of arrangements for the economic summit held in June, as well as Mr. Marchant’s response.
I have identified no documents responsive to your request. Owing to the large volume of emails received in Senator Kapanke’s office, much of it is not retained and this particular communication was not retained. However, I was able to secure a copy of the email exchange from Mr. Rob Marchant and it is attached.
Sincerely,
Rose Smyrski
Chief of Staff
Senator Dan Kapanke
Toll Free 800-385-3385
Below is the text of the release from the Kapanke campaign announcing the bipartisan forum:
IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact:
June 1, 2009 Dan Kapanke: 608.738.8446
**Media Advisory**
Kapanke To Bring Legislators and Businesses Together at Economic Forum
And seeks bi-partisan collaboration in an effort to rebuild Wisconsin’s economy
(La Crosse)… Senator Dan Kapanke, on Friday, June 5th, will be hosting an economic forum with
Representatives, Mike Huebsch (R-West Salem), Lee Nerison (R-Westby), and Jennifer Schilling (D-LaCrosse), along with La Crosse area economist, Professor Taggert J. Brooks. Area business and community leaders are invited to discuss the affects of the national economic downturn on the local economy and offer solutions on what can be done at a state level to revive Wisconsin’s lagging economy.
Senator Kapanke’s economic forum will allow Main Street businesses the chance to voice their concerns as well as to provide ideas and suggestions to the legislators in attendance. In addition, a renowned area economist, TJ Brooks will provide a non-partisan analytical presentation on how the federal government’s handling of the TARP money is affecting local economies.
Kapanke knows that rebuilding Wisconsin’s economy is not a republican or democrat issue. It will take a bi-partisan collaboration of legislators and Main Street businesses working together to strengthen our state’s economy and position Wisconsin once again as a forerunner state in economic growth and ingenuity.
What: Economic forum with Senator Dan Kapanke, Rep. Mike Huebsch, Rep. Jennifer Shilling, Rep. Lee Nerison and UW-L Associate Professor of Economics, Taggert J. Brooks.
When: Friday, June 5, 2009, from 8 – 10 A.M.
Where: Days Hotel & Convention Center
101 Sky Harbour Drive
La Crosse, 54603
Cost: $6.00, a light breakfast will be served.
###
Authorized and paid or by Dan Kapanke, Elizabeth Olsen, Treasurer
Dan Kapanke
A Common Sense Leader
=====
Kapanke Statement, July 30th, 2009.
[Kapanke says he has tentative assurance from the GAB that he acted properly.]
[UPDATE-- Friday, August 14th, 2009: The GAB issued a ruling letter to Sen. Kapanke outlining the ever-changing circumstances of the Economic Forum. It said he acted appropriately "under the circumstances," and sanctioned a staff employee who worked the event for not recording her time as "vacation" until after the event, in violation of Senate rules. Here is the letter of ruling from Jon Becker of the GAB.
090813.GAB%20Kapanke.pdf
posted by Michael Horne @ 4:31 PM
5 comments
links to this post
5 Comments:
Well, looks like the world will have to wait til the Senator clears this up with the Government Accountability Board like he said had, if it's as he described in his press release then this is much to do about nothing. See his release http://www.thewheelerreport.com/releases/July09/jul30/0730kapankeredpw.pdf
I've updated since you posted your comment, anonymous, and it looks like it might be something to do about something.
I think it is significant that the $ did not make it into the campaign committee's finance report.
Horne
Kapanke's using the forum to position himself in a race against a sitting Democratic Congressman. In his press release Kapanke used the intentionally offensive "democrat" as an adjective instead of "democratic"? What the hell is a Democratic legislator doing at this event?
I saw that, too. I think the Republican Party is using Kapanke as a proxy to test the GAB and its authority. I really question the process of having the campaign committee being the disbursing agent for the costs of an allegedly non-partisan event. Sure sounds like they are trying to muddy the waters.
And where are the receipts from the event? Where is the proof of payment to the hotel for the event? And any shortage or overage? Good God, don't tell me Kapanke's wife had anything to do with the funds.
He could have run this whole event through his baseball team. Would have made more sense, in fact.
Challenging Ron Kind? Some should be elated because Kind is a member of a WELS Lutheran Church like Mark Neumann and we all read in earlier posts, on this site, how bad that is.
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