STATE OF MINNESOTA

CAMPAIGN FINANCE AND PUBLIC DISCLOSURE BOARD

 

CONCILIATION

AGREEMENT

In the matter of the Patricia Anderson Awada for State Auditor Committee (#15488)

 

Pursuant to Minn. Stat. §10A.28, subd. 3, the Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board and State Auditor Patricia Anderson Awada hereby agree as follows:

 

1.  During 2002, the Patricia Anderson Awada for State Auditor Committee accepted  excess contributions from special sources (registered lobbyists, political committees or political funds, and large givers, as defined in Minn. Stat. §10A.27, subd. 11.)   The applicable limit on aggregate contributions from special sources for this candidate was $36,470.  The amount of the excess contributions was not returned to the contributors within 60 days as required by Minn. Stat. §10A.15, subd. 3.

 

2.  By letter dated March 28, 2003, State Auditor Awada stated, "We agree that the campaign accepted . . .  in special source contributions,  . . .  above the 20% on an expenditure limit of $182,350.  But we disagree that our expenditure limit was $182,350.  As a first-time candidate, our spending limit was $200,585, which leads to a special source limit of $40,117.  We believed that we were in full compliance with the law.  If we understood the law to read that the 20% applies to the base amount only, we would have made sure we were under that limit.”

3.  Board records show that this is the first calendar year in which the Patricia Anderson Awada for State Auditor Committee reported acceptance of contributions which exceeded the applicable aggregate contribution limit.  The Patricia Anderson Awada for State Auditor Committee registered with the Board on October 17, 2001.

 

4.  The parties agree that the Patricia Anderson Awada for State Auditor Committee accepted excessive contributions from special sources resulting in an inadvertent violation of Minn. Stat. §10A. 27, subd. 11, in calendar year 2002.

 

5.   State Auditor Awada hereby agrees to return to donors of the contributions, described in paragraph one, an amount sufficient to bring the committee into compliance with the aggregate special source limit ($532.75).  Copies of the checks and the accompanying letters returning the contributions must be forwarded to the Board within 30 days after the date this Conciliation Agreement is signed by the Board chair.

 

6.  It is agreed by the parties that providing the Board with copies of the checks returning the contributions and this Conciliation Agreement will be a bar to any civil proceeding under Minn. Stat. §10A.28, subds. 3 & 4.

 

7.  It is further understood and agreed that this Agreement is confidential until signed by State Auditor Awada and the Board Chair; the signed Agreement then shall become a matter of public record, and the statutory requirement of confidentiality shall no longer apply.  Minn. Stat. §§10A.02, subd. 11 and 10A.28, subd. 3.

 

 

 

                                                                                   Dated:  4/27/03                                    

State Auditor Patricia Anderson Awada

 

 

 

Approved by the Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board

 

 

By                                                                               Dated:  5/3/03                                        

    Clyde Miller, chair

    Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board