NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — Mayor Adams' transition team was fined $19,600 Monday for violating the city's campaign finance rules, marking the first time the Campaign Finance Board has fined a transition committee in New York City history.
Adams' 2021 "transition and inauguration entity" was cited for improperly accepting five donations from individuals doing business with the city, failing to properly wind down the committee by its April 30 deadline and failing to respond to the board's request for information and documents in a timely fashion, the New York Times reported.
Transition committees are used to fund inauguration activities and to help elected officials develop their policy agenda and team.
The board, which aims to reduce "the role and influence of private money in the political process," began enforcing transition committees in 2013.
During a March hearing on the infractions, Adams' lawyers mentioned that the person in charge of the committee's finances was going through a legal separation from her domestic partner and was dealing with an "extraordinary personal burden" that made it difficult for her to perform her duties, according to the report.
A board lawyer dismissed that defense during the hearing.
"They certainly had ample funds at their disposal if they wanted to retain additional staff to ensure that they were in compliance," said the board’s general counsel, Bethany Perskie.
Representatives from the Adams committee did not attend Monday's meeting. However, at the March hearing, his lawyers claimed that the penalties were excessive because they represented just under 0.8% of the committee's overall haul of $1.9 million.
Thies defended the fines in a statement to 1010 WINS.
"Out of more than $2 million raised from nearly a thousand New Yorkers, a handful of contributions were flagged, which the inauguration committee returned," he said. "The campaign also returned more than $800,000 it raised that it did not need to spend. These fines are essentially just late fees for responding appropriately to the campaign finance board."
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