PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A Common Pleas judge has rejected a Board of Ethics complaint against a political action committee that supported former mayoral candidate Jeff Brown. The decision has little immediate impact, because the primary election has long since passed, but it could have far-reaching future consequences for Philadelphia’s campaign finance rules.
The Board of Ethics had complained that the PAC, called For a Better Philadelphia, coordinated with Brown in the months before he announced he was running for mayor. It showed that Brown had helped the PAC raise money and that the PAC supported Brown’s candidacy, thus skirting Philadelphia’s strict campaign finance limits.
Philadelphia not only puts strict limits on how much candidates for local office can collect from PACS, the Board of Ethics has a rule that candidates can’t co-ordinate with PACS for a year before the election, even if they haven’t announced their candidacy.
Judge Joshua Roberts sided with the PAC, saying the Board was misapplying the rule and, because Brown was not a candidate until November, it didn’t apply to him.
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The PAC’s chairperson, David Maser, says he is pleased with the decision. “We always knew we acted appropriately,” he said in a statement released Tuesday.
Pat Christmas of the election watchdog group Committee of 70 says he hopes this is not the last word.
“The doors could be blown open to coordination of all various types up until a candidate has publicly declared,” he said,
Christmas says that would allow future candidates to raise unlimited money for outside groups to spend on their behalf simply by delaying the announcement of their candidacy.
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“It’s a surprising decision, a disappointing one, but this may not be the end of the road.”
It’s not clear if the Board of Ethics will appeal. Executive Director Shane Creamer says he is disappointed, and he is reviewing the board’s options.
But the PAC sees full exoneration in the decision. In a statement, its senior adviser Dan Siegel asserted the Board brought the case during the primary campaign to use its power as a cudgel and litigate in the court of public opinion.