House candidate David Burnell Smith and incumbent Rep. Colette Rosati have failed to provide enough detail on their campaign finance reports, particularly in payments made to a political consultant, the Citizens Clean Elections Commission has found.

In a 3-2 vote, the commission at its Oct. 5 meeting decided there was “reason to believe that violations occurred” when Mr. Smith failed to properly detail nearly $24,000 in payments to political consultant Constantin Querard of Ahwatukee. Mr. Smith, a Republican candidate for the House in District 7, simply described the payments to Mr. Querard as “advertising” and “advertisements.”

Colleen Connor, executive director of the Clean Elections Commission, said that Mr. Querard, serving simply as a consultant, likely didn’t create the campaign fliers and other literature. A proper accounting of expenses would itemize payments to artists, printers and the like, Ms. Connor said.

Mr. Smith appeared at the commission meeting and told the members, “He sent me bills and I paid them; I don’t know what else I’m supposed to provide.”

The commission also found that Mr. Smith violated statutory and administrative requirements that prohibit publicly financed candidates from spending money before they receive their funding.

Mr. Smith reported spending $23,166.22 through Aug. 9, which was the day before he received any public campaign funds. His finance report states that he received $22,745 in funding on Aug. 1.

Mr. Smith said his dates were wrong, either because of a “glitch in the software or data-entry errors.” He said he plans to file an amended report.

In a unanimous vote, the five commissioners found that Ms. Rosati, R-8, had failed to provide enough detail on payments to Mr. Querard and that she twice exceeded the $110 limit on payments from a petty cash account.

The commission staff will be looking into Ms. Rosati’s payment of nearly $23,000 in fees to Mr. Querard for voter registration information that judge decided Mr. Querard illegally collected from early ballot request forms.

Candidates Had 14 Days To Respond

Ms. Rosati and Mr. Smith had 14 days from the Oct. 5 meeting of the commission to formally respond to the allegations. During that time, Ms. Connor said, the candidates are expected to bring their campaigns into compliance with the requirements of the Clean Elections Act and rules of the commission, and may enter into negotiations to settle the complaints against them. —