July 1, 1998
VIA UPS OVERNIGHT
Susan Davis
July 1, 1998
Page 1
Ron Carey Slate
c/o Susan Davis, Esq.
Cohen, Weiss and Simon
330 West 42nd Street
New York, NY 10036
James P. Hoffa
2593 Hounds Chase
Troy, MI 48098
James P. Hoffa Slate
c/o Patrick J. Szymanski, Esq.
Baptiste & Wilder
1150 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 500
Washington, DC 20036
Gary Kushner, CPA
Kushner, Chupack, Kippelman & Taub, P.C.
30400 Telegraph, Suite 314
Bingham Farms, MI 48025
Robert S. Harrison, Esq.
Robert Harrison & Associates
Bloomfield Office Pavilion
2550 Telegraph Road, Suite 275
Bloomfield Hills, MI 48302
George Geller, Esq.
30833 Northwestern Highway
Farmington Hills, MI 48334
Bradley T. Raymond, Esq.
Finkel, Whitefield, Selik, Raymond,
Ferrara & Feldman
32300 Northwestern Highway, Suite 200
Farmington Hills, MI 48334
Richard Leebove
RL Communications
18600 West 10 Mile Road, Suite 101
Southfield, MI 48075
William A. Sankbeil, Esq.
Kerr, Russell and Weber, PLC
500 Woodward Avenue, Suite 2500
Detroit, MI XXX-XX-XXXX
Kevin Currie
541 South Wellwood Ave.
Lindenhurst, NY 11757
Dane Passo
6811 West Roosevelt Road
Berwyn, IL 60402
William T. Hogan
2443 North Evergreen
Arlington Heights, IL XXX-XX-XXXX
Walter A. Lytle
2644 Cass Street
Fort Wayne, IN 46808
Patrick W. Flynn
Teamsters Local Union 710
4217 South Halsted Street
Chicago, IL 60609
Frank J. Wsol, Secretary-Treasurer
Teamsters Local Union 710
4217 South Halsted Street
Chicago, IL 60609
Susan Davis
July 1, 1998
Page 1
Lester A. Singer
435 South Hawley Street
Toledo, OH 43609
Jim Santangelo
9960 Baldwin Place
El Monte, CA XXX-XX-XXXX
Mary Lou Salmeron
1616 West Ninth Street, Suite 300
Los Angeles, CA 90015
Lawrence Brennan, President
Teamsters Local Union 337
2801 Trumbull Avenue
Detroit, MI 48216
Philip E. Young
4501 Van Brunt Blvd.
Kansas City, MO 43609
T.C. Stone
Post Office Box 571
Kaufman, TX 75142
James L. Hicks, Jr., P.C.
Stemmons Place, Suite 1100
2777 North Stemmons Freeway
Dallas, TX XXX-XX-XXXX
Bernard Rapoport
c/o Pat Beard, Esq.
Beard & Kultgen
Attorneys at Law
5400 Bosque Boulevard, Suite 301
Post Office Box 21117
Waco, TX XXX-XX-XXXX
Stand Up Slate
c/o Jeraldine Cheatem
Post Office Box 288492
Chicago, IL 60628
Thomas Baldwin
Teamsters Local Union 880
6566 Hawthorn Drive
Windsor, ON N8T 1J9
CANADA
Donato J. DeSanti
Post Office Box 6027
Somerset, NJ 08875
Betty Rose Fischer
Teamsters Local Union 538
2119 Ehrman Road, Drop 2
Cranberry Township, PA 16066
Fred J. Gegare
Teamsters Local Union 75
1546 Main Street
Green Bay, WI 54302
Chester Glanton
Teamsters Local Union 743
300 South Ashland Avenue
Chicago, IL 60607
C. Thomas Keegel
Teamsters Local Union 544
2433 Wight Bay
Brooklyn Park, MN 55443
Chuck Mack
Teamsters Local Union 70
Post Office Box 2270
Oakland, CA 95621
Dotty Malinsky
Teamsters Local Union 2000
9409 Yukon Avenue, South
Minneapolis, MN 55438
Susan Davis
July 1, 1998
Page 1
Ronald L. McClain
544 28th Street
West Des Moines, IA 50312
John F. Murphy
Teamsters Local Union 122
765 East Third Street
Boston, MA 02127
Thomas R. O’Donnell
Teamsters Local Union 817
1 Hollow Lane
Lake Success, NY 11042
Jon L. Rabine
Post Office Box 78213
Seattle, WA 98178
Jim Santangelo
Santangelo ‘96
c/o Richard Wilson
8556 Moorcroft Avenue
West Hills, CA 91304
John C. Steger
8229 Bubbling Spring
Laurel, MD 20723
Ralph J. Taurone
Teamsters Local Union 222
Post Office Box 30749
Salt Lake City, UT 84130
C. Sam Theodus
202 James Circle
Avon Lake, OH 44012
Richard Volpe
Teamsters Local Union 550
6 Tuxedo Avenue
New Hyde Park, NY 11040
Garnet Zimmerman
Teamsters Local Union 31
1 Grosvenor Square
Delta, BC V3M 5S1
CANADA
Seymour Glanzer, Esq.
Dickstein, Shapiro, Morin & Oshinsky
2101 L Street, NW
Washington, DC 20037
Susan Davis
July 1, 1998
Page 1
Re: Election Office Case No. PR-035-EOH (Post-47-EOH)
Decision on Reconsideration
Gentlepersons:
In In re Carey Slate, PR-035-EOH (April 7, 1998), aff’d, 98 - Elec. App. - 348 (KC) (May 15, 1998), the Election Officer found, inter alia, that Jim Santangelo, a candidate for International vice-president and member of the Hoffa Slate in the initial election, failed to properly report 13 checks during the initial election totaling $2,637 on his Campaign Contribution and Expenditure Reports (“CCERs”). Id. at 51. As a remedy, the Election Officer fined Mr. Santangelo $263, ten percent of the total unreported sum.
Susan Davis
July 1, 1998
Page 1
Mr. Santagelo appealed that portion of the decision pertaining to him. On May 8, 1996, Mr. Santangelo asked the Election Officer to reconsider the findings against his campaign. On the same date, the Election Officer granted the request. Thereafter, Mr. Santangelo withdrew his appeal. Subsequently, Mr. Santangelo’s campaign presented evidence which has been considered by the Election Officer.
The Election Officer initially held that the Santangelo Campaign failed to report checks from six individuals: James E. Garrison; Martin Guzman; R.A. Johnson; Barbara and Randall Franquera; Michael Riley; and Lino Haro. The Election Officer also found that the Santangelo Campaign failed to return three checks written by Teamsters Local Union 848 totaling $2,000. The Election Officer now reconsiders these findings and, based on the additional evidence provided, makes the following further findings.
I. UNREPORTED CONTRIBUTIONS
The Santangelo Campaign presented documentary evidence to the Election Officer indicating that the checks from the six individuals had been properly reported, or that reporting was not required because the contribution had been received and returned within the reporting period. As to these contributions, the Election Officer is convinced that they were properly reported and therefore there was no reporting violation of the Rules for the 1995-1996 IBT International Union Delegate and Officer Election (“Rules”).
II. CHECKS FROM LOCAL UNION 848
The Election Officer found that Mr. Santangelo failed to report three contributions from Local Union 848 and thereafter, improperly retained these checks totaling $2,000 when Election Officer Barbara Zack Quindel ordered the Santangelo Campaign to refund monies contributed to the campaign from the Local Union 848 Officers and Employees Fund.
Mr. Santangelo explained that the checks written by Local Union 848 were not from the Officers and Employees Fund, and, therefore, the Campaign was not obligated to return these monies when the Election Officer ordered the return of the contributions from that Fund. The investigation revealed, however, that these union checks reflected aggregated individual contributions from employees of Local Union 848. The separate contributions were reported under the individual contributor’s names. They were not contributions through the Fund.
Susan Davis
July 1, 1998
Page 1
Originally, the individual contributors had been making contributions through payroll deduction to the IBT DRIVE. In the summer of 1995, the contributors decided to contribute their money through the payroll deduction to Santangelo’s Campaign. These contributions took place in November 1996. The money was contributed through the payroll deduction, the books were maintained by the local union bookkeeper and contributions were made on local union checks.
Although these contributions came from individuals as opposed to the Officers and Employees Fund, they were made through the improper use of union resources in furtherance of an election campaign. Such use of union resources violates Article XII, Section 1(b)(3).
Accordingly, on reconsideration, the Election Officer finds that Mr. Santangelo violated the Rules by accepting $2,000 in contributions through checks drawn on Local Union 848, but otherwise did not violate the Rules.
In order to remedy the violation, the Election Officer fines Mr. Santangelo ten percent of the improper contributions of $2,000 made through this payroll deduction system. Within two (2) days of the date of this decision, Mr. Santagelo is ordered to pay $200 to the Election Office.
An order of the Election Officer, unless otherwise stayed, takes immediate effect against a party found to be in violation of the Rules. In re Lopez, 96 - Elec. App. - 73 (KC) (February 13, 1996).
Any interested party not satisfied with this determination may request a hearing before the Election Appeals Master within one (1) day of receipt of this letter. The parties are reminded that, absent extraordinary circumstances, no party may rely upon evidence that was not presented to the Office of the Election Officer in any such appeal. Requests for a hearing shall be made in writing and shall be served on:
Kenneth Conboy, Esquire
Latham & Watkins
885 Third Avenue
Suite 1000
New York, New York 10022
Fax: (212) 751-4864
Copies of the request for hearing must be served on the parties listed above as well as upon the Election Officer, 444 North Capitol Street, NW, Suite 445, Washington, DC 20001, Facsimile (202) 624-3525. A copy of the protest must accompany the request for a hearing.
Sincerely,
Michael G. Cherkasky
Election Officer
MGC:chh
cc: Kenneth Conboy, Election Appeals Master