You'd think forking over $15,000 in delinquent campaign finance filings would be enough to deter someone from making the same mistake again.
State Rep. Jack Pommer's bad luck with campaign finance paperwork, which prompted a big payout to the Secretary of State earlier this year, didn’t deter him from missing the latest campaign finance reporting deadline on July 15.
In April, Face The State was first to report the Boulder Democrat owed the state $19,750 for a series of five delinquent campaign finance reports. His fines grew by $50 for each day he neglected to file his paperwork. Days later, he cut the state a check for $15,000, and the balance of the fees were waived. At the time, Pommer told The Denver Post the incident was “embarrassing” and that he “screwed up a lot of paperwork.”
A week after settling his campaign finance fees, Pommer missed the April 15 reporting deadline, albeit by only an hour. Still, the SoS charged him another $50 late fee.
As of Monday afternoon, the Secretary of State has not yet received a July 15 quarterly report for Pommer's campaign committee. This latest oversight could be the byproduct of a simple breakdown in communication. Calls to David Kirk, listed as Pommer's registered agent on the state's campaign finance system, turned up a wrong number.
Pommer did not return phone calls by press time.
Marc Walegur, an administrative assistant with the Secretary of State's office, e-mailed Pommer last Thursday, giving him advance notice of a notice of delinquency to be mailed that day (PDF). No response is logged in the state's campaign finance correspondence archive.
Pommer might not mind the fines, but his donors may bristle at having their campaign contributions constantly going toward late fees rather than campaign leaflets.