PORT TOWNSEND — Leif Erickson, a candidate for the Port of Port Townsend commssion, said he has corrected a failure to identify a sponsor on campaign materials that prompted a former port commissioner to file a complaint with the state Public Disclosure Commission.
Erickson, operations manager for yacht builder Townsend Bay Marine, is challenging longtime Quilcene resident and Port Commissioner Herb Beck for the District 3 seat.
Bob Sokol, who served three four-year terms as a port commissioner until 2007, filed the complaint on Sept. 25 about campaign brochures that Erickson distributed in September at a Port Townsend Chamber of Commerce gathering.
The commission sent a warning letter to Erickson on Oct. 21.
The letter said that, in accordance with state law, “proper sponsor identification requires all written political advertising, whether relating to ballot propositions or candidates, to include the sponsor’s name and address” in at least 10-point type on all campaign material distributed.
The sponsor is the party that pays for the campaign materials.
Erickson said he had not understood the regulation.
“I had the same problem with my signs, and once I found out I corrected that and stopped printing the campaign brochures,” he said.
Lori Anderson, PDC spokeswoman, said the first time a candidate does not include sponsor identification on campaign materials “is not a big deal.”
The PDC normally contacts the candidate and asks that he or she add the sponsor name before the campaign material is distributed again.
“Everyone gets one warning, and then if he continues to get it wrong, then there’s likely to be some kind of enforcement,” Anderson said.
That could lead to the candidate going before a PDC hearing officer and facing a maximum penalty of $500.
If the matter goes before the PDC as a whole, it can lead to a maximum penalty of $4,700, Anderson said.
Sokol said it appeared that Erickson either ignored campaign law or had not done the research.
“I’ve seen complaints filed over worse stuff than that,” Sokol said. “It’s a clear violation. It’s clearly spelled out.”
Sokol said he filed the complaint with PDC staff member Randy Unruh after contacting him by phone.
The PDC clearly pointed out his error, Erickson said.
“It certainly was kind of Bob [Sokol] to file the complaint with PDC rather than come to me first,” he said.
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Port Townsend-Jefferson County Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.
