OFFICE OF THE ELECTION SUPERVISOR
for the
INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS
IN RE: HOFFA-HALL 2011, ) Protest Decision 2011 ESD 245
) Issued: May 8, 2011
Protestor. ) OES Case Nos. P-198-030811-NA
____________________________________)
Hoffa-Hall 2011 filed a pre-election protest pursuant to Article XIII, Section 2 of the Rules for the 2010-2011 IBT International Union Delegate and Officer Election (“Rules”). The protest alleged that the campaign contribution and expense report (“CCER”) filed by Teamsters for a Democratic Union failed to disclose all contributions made to it at its annual convention.
Election Supervisor representative Deborah Schaaf investigated this protest.
Findings of Fact
Under Article XI the Rules, each candidate for International office must file two financial reports for each reporting period in which he/she is a candidate. Article XI, Section (2)(a)(3) extends the filing requirement to every “independent committee which has received or solicited contributions in excess of $1,000, whether of money or of any other thing of value, or made expenditures in excess of $1,000, whether of money or of any other thing of value, where the purpose, object or foreseeable effect of such contribution or expenditure is to influence the election of one or more International Officer candidates.” The filings include a Campaign Contribution and Expenditure Report (CCER) that documents all contributions received, all expenditures made, cash on hand, loans incurred, and related financial information, as well as a Supplemental Report No. 1 that documents the contributions received and expenditures incurred for legal and accounting work on behalf of the campaign efforts of the organization. Any candidate for International office has the right, upon request to OES, to inspect and obtain copies of the reports filed by any other candidate, in accordance with reasonable terms and conditions set by the Election Supervisor. The reports of independent committees are also subject to disclosure to candidates, after certain information is redacted from them. TDU is an independent committee required to file campaign financial reports.
The third CCER reporting period commenced October 1, 2010 and concluded January 31, 2011. Reports for this period were due February 15, 2011. TDU timely filed the required reports for Period 3. The CCER report disclosed contributions totaling $4,600 for the period of November 11-15, 2010 and additional contributions of $1,774 in December 2010. The TDU annual convention was held November 4-5, 2010, in Chicago, Illinois.
Hoffa-Hall 2011 alleged that statements posted on the TDU’s website indicated that TDU raised $50,000 at the TDU convention. The protest asserted that the filings for the period failed to report “anything close” to that amount. Investigation confirmed that the TDU website contained “A Message from the TDU Trustees,” dated December 20, 2010, that stated: “Teamsters raised more than $50,000 for the TDU movement and the Sandy Pope Campaign at our annual TDU Convention.” Based on this statement, the protest asked for an investigation of this “huge discrepancy.”
Counsel for TDU responded to the protest, stating that the website message from the TDU Trustees and the CCER report filed for Period 3 were both accurate. The $50,000 figure cited by the Trustees was said to reflect funds collected not only for TDU’s campaign-related activity, but also for TDU’s non-election accounts devoted to advance the educational aims of the organization as well as the Teamster Rank and File Education and Legal Defense Foundation (TRF).[1] In addition, the money raised at the TDU convention was said to include pledges that are paid periodically, in monthly or quarterly payments; such pledges are not reportable until actually received. The amount reported on TDU’s CCER for the third reporting period reflected only the contributions received at the TDU convention that were paid to TDU’s election account. This sum was a fraction of the funds identified in the Trustees’ web posting.
The submission by TDU’s counsel also asserted that some persons who attended the TDU convention made contributions directly to the Pope campaign, which was required to report those contributions on its own CCER.
Analysis
The Rules closely regulate campaign contributions and expenditures. Candidates for International office, any slates they form and any independent committee engaged in the campaign must file periodic reports of the contributions received and the expenditures made in support of their campaign activity. All entities required to make campaign financial filings are expected to comply with the Rules’ limitations on contribution sources and amounts. OES employs a firm of forensic accountants to review candidate CCER filings to enforce strict compliance with the Rules’ campaign finance requirements.
Investigation of this protest revealed no violation of the Rules in TDU’s campaign financial reports for period No. 3. The protestor provided no evidence of contributions received in excess of the amount reported other than a statement contained on the TDU website that more than $50,000 was raised at the November 2010 TDU Convention “for the TDU movement and the Sandy Pope Campaign.” The statement of the Trustees on the TDU website identifies contribution categories that are broader than the International officer campaign and, absent evidence of a specific omission, the explanation provided by TDU satisfies the Rules. CCER accounting does not require disclosure of pledges to be received by TDU in the future for campaign-related work or non-campaign donations to TDU or TRF.
We note also that the OES forensic auditors were interviewed and they acknowledged that they have already conducted an audit of TDU to insure that all campaign-related contributions and expenditures are properly reported on it CCERs. According to the auditors, no improprieties were discovered.
Accordingly, we DENY this protest.
Any interested party not satisfied with this determination may request a hearing before the Election Appeals Master within two (2) working days of receipt of this decision. The parties are reminded that, absent extraordinary circumstances, no party may rely upon evidence that was not presented to the Office of the Election Supervisor in any such appeal. Requests for a hearing shall be made in writing, shall specify the basis for the appeal, and shall be served upon:
Kenneth Conboy
Election Appeals Master
Latham & Watkins
885 Third Avenue, Suite 1000
New York, NY 10022
Fax: (212) 751-4864
Copies of the request for hearing must be served upon the parties, as well as upon the Election Supervisor for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, 1801 K Street, N.W., Suite 421 L, Washington, D.C. 20006, all within the time prescribed above. A copy of the protest must accompany the request for hearing.[1] The Teamster Rank and File Education and Legal Defense Foundation (TRF) is a tax-exempt, not-for-profit charitable foundation created and maintained to provide Teamster members with what are described as the tools required to fight for justice on the job and a stronger, more democratic Teamsters union.
Richard W. Mark
Election Supervisor
cc: Kenneth Conboy
2011 ESD 245DISTRIBUTION LIST (BY EMAIL UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED):
Bradley T. Raymond, General Counsel
International Brotherhood of Teamsters
25 Louisiana Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20001
braymond@teamster.org
David J. Hoffa
Hoffa Hall 2011
1100 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., Ste. 730
Washington, D.C. 20036
hoffadav@hotmail.com
Ken Paff
Teamsters for a Democratic Union
P.O. Box 10128
Detroit, MI 48210-0128
ken@tdu.org
Barbara Harvey
1394 E. Jefferson Avenue
Detroit, MI 48207
blmharvey@sbcglobal.net
Fred Gegare
P.O. Box 9663
Green Bay, WI 54308-9663
kirchmanb@yahoo.com
Scott D. Soldon
3541 N. Summit Avenue
Shorewood, WI 53211
scottsoldon@gmail.com
Fred Zuckerman
3813 Taylor Blvd.
Louisville, KY 40215
fredzuckerman@aol.com
Robert M. Colone, Esq.
P.O. Box 272
Sellersburg, IN 47172-0272
rmcolone@hotmail.com
Carl Biers
Box 424, 315 Flatbush Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11217
info@SandyPope2011.org
Julian Gonzalez
Lewis, Clifton & Nikolaidis, P.C.
350 Seventh Avenue, Suite 1800
New York, NY 10001-5013
jgonzalez@lcnlaw.com
Deborah Schaaf
1118 Coddington Road
Ithaca, NY 14850
debschaaf33@gmail.com
Maria S. Ho
Office of the Election Supervisor
1801 K Street, N.W., Suite 421 L
Washington, D.C. 20006
mho@ibtvote.org
Kathryn Naylor
Office of the Election Supervisor
1801 K Street, N.W., Suite 421 L
Washington, D.C. 20006
knaylor@ibtvote.org
Jeffrey Ellison
214 S. Main Street, Ste. 210
Ann Arbor, MI 48104
EllisonEsq@aol.com