District 10 Rep.-elect Doug Quelland has hired an attorney and is rejecting a claim that he violated state election law, according to a written response to state election officials.
A complaint filed Nov. 12 raised questions whether Quelland, a Republican, had prematurely taken steps to launch his campaign without first registering with the Secretary of State’s Office.
Included in the complaint was a copy of what appeared to be a $15,000 contract with a campaign consulting firm that was dated March 2007 and called for the first payment for services to be made by May. Yet Quelland did not register his campaign committee until April 25, 2007, and no expenditures to the consulting business were listed on any of the candidate’s campaign finance reports.
The complaint was filed Nov. 12 by District 10 Democrat Carol Vandercook. If verified, it could jeopardize Quelland’s right to represent the district. Quelland appears to have won re-election Nov. 4, after narrowly defeating Democrat incumbent Rep. Jackie Thrasher for the second House seat. Rep. Jim Weiers received the most votes in the District 10 House race.
Vandercook claims the $15,000 contract between Quelland and Intermedia Public Relations amounted to an in-kind contribution that pushes Quelland, a publicly funded candidate, well above established campaign spending limits.
Through Lee Miller, a veteran attorney for the Arizona Republican Party, Quelland stated that he is not subject to the jurisdiction of the Citizens Clean Election Commission because the contract was drawn up before he opted to use public funding for the campaign.
Quelland also rejected claims he took steps to launch his campaign without first registering with the Secretary of State’s Office because his political campaign committee from his failed 2006 bid was still active with the office.
“Quelland was always operating under the aegis of a registered political committee,” Miller wrote to Daniel Ruiz of the Citizens Clean Elections Commission and State Elections Director Joe Kanefield
Quelland, who served in the House from 2002 until 2006, told the Arizona Capitol Times in a Nov. 14 interview that no services were provided for his campaign by Intermedia Public Relations and that consultant Larry Davis never received compensation. He said he terminated the contract within 24 hours because he was not satisfied with the service.
But Davis, whose firm represented Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, rejected that claim in a statement filed with the Citizens Clean Elections Commission.
“We were never fired,” Davis told the Capitol Times. He refused to answer questions about whether he received payment from Quelland or what services he might have provided.
Documents filed with the Secretary of State’s Office to qualify Quelland for the ballot indicate that Davis, and Intermedia Public Relations client service manager Holly Alton, collected nomination signatures for the candidate in February and March of 2008.
Davis also said he was unhappy with Quelland’s stated position that he fired Intermedia Public Relations.
“I don’t appreciate Doug Quelland trying to ruin my reputation, and I believe the truth will prevail,” Davis said.
Miller denied claims that Davis ever served as a consultant to Quelland’s 2008 campaign, stating that Quelland’s March 10, 2007, termination letter to Intermedia Public Relations included in his response to the Citizens Clean Elections “speaks for itself.”
“The Quelland campaign certainly never wrote Davis a check for anything related to the campaign,” Miller said, adding that Quelland holds no animosity to Davis and continues to use the consultant to print and distribute coupons and promotional material for the candidate’s coffee bar and rental business.
Intermedia Public Relations’ listed address is in a small shopping center owned by Quelland. The mall also is the location of Quelland’s coffee house, which is managed by Lex Koestner.
Koestner’s name also turned up in materials filed with the Secretary of State’s office to help Quelland qualify for candidacy and public funding for his campaign.
Miller’s response to Vandercook’s allegations also contained a signed affidavit by Koestner and consultant Constantin Querard. Koestner states consultant Larry Davis told him on several occasions during the spring of 2007 that he was angry Quelland was “not going to allow him to participate in a future campaign.”
And Querard stated that he, not Davis, managed Quelland’s campaign.
Vandercook had urged election officials to look at Quelland’s campaign Web site for proof of a business relationship with Intermedia Public Relations, noting that the site was registered to the firm. But Quelland said the company only helped him re-register the pre-existing site after its original domain name expired and was claimed by somebody else.
The service was provided free of charge and resulted in applying a “.net” address rather than a “.com” designation, according to Quelland’s response.
Vandercook claims the contract was significant enough to surpass a state law threshold that requires publicly funded officeholders to be removed from office if they are found to have exceeded their spending limits by 10 percent or more.
Todd Lang, executive director of the CCEC, said no decision has been made whether to recommend to the commission’s appointed members that Quelland be investigated or to have the complaint dropped for lack of merit.
Lang said a recommendation will be delivered to the commission and considered during a Dec. 18 scheduled meeting at which he expects Miller and possibly a representative of Vandercook to address commission members.
The process used by the commission to investigate alleged campaign finance-related offenses leaves no chance a final determination on the matter could be reached before legislators are sworn into office in January, Lang said.
Jim Barton, an attorney hired by Vandercook to draft the complaint, said he and his client will continue to follow the investigation, which he deemed “significant” and backed by compelling evidence.
Miller said he trusts that the Citizens Clean Elections Commission will agree the complaint is “not subject to their review” and expresses confidence the Secretary of State’s Office will find there is “no basis to proceed” with the matter.