WEBER COUNTY VOTERS WAKE UP!

The Weber County Republican Party sits idly by while another signature gathering candidate willing to take gobs of money from special interests govern our county.

Disclosure is critical to any political finance program and its enforcement system. With full and timely disclosure, the public can find out during the election cycle who contributes to a particular campaign and how the campaign spends its funds. Why is this important? Because money wins elections…and whoever provides that money has considerable expectations of the candidate who receives it.

According to its website, Weber County is dedicated to the principles of openness and transparency in government. If so, why doesn’t our County Clerk/Auditor hold Weber County candidates to the same requirements it holds for its political parties?

In the “County Political Party Financial Disclosures Quick Guide,” disclosures.utah.gov/File/162 County political parties must report contributions & expenditures in the following way. (why do you suppose this site is down?)

What to Report

• A contribution is money the party receives.
• An expenditure is money the party spends.

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Contributions:
A county party must report who donated money, how much they gave, and where they live.
Name - Be sure to report the actual contributor.
Address - “Address” is defined in Utah Code as “the number and street where an individual resides or where a reporting entity has its principal office.” Based on the statutory definition of "address," a party should report the street address of each contributor – not a P.O. Box.
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Expenditures:
A county party must report the name of the payee, the date the expenditure was made, and the specific purpose of the expenditure.
Name of Payee - Be sure to report the person or entity to whom the expenditure was ultimately disbursed. This means a report must disclose where money is actually spent.
Specific Purpose - Utah Code requires the “specific purpose” of an expenditure. Some generic examples are “paper used on caucus night,” or “campaign buttons given to commission candidate Jane Doe.”
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So why do you suppose political candidates running for County wide positions in Weber County can provide financial disclosure documents https://ripl.se/qN that:

• Fail to identify “in-kind” donations?
• Fail to identify expenditures associated with “in-kind” donations?
• Fail to contain any addresses of the donor?
• Allow for PO boxes as an address of a donor?
• Allow for amendments AFTER the election?

When questioned about these errors…our County Clerk, Ricky Hatch, said he was unfamiliar with the disclosure requirements and even admitted he failed to include his own “in-kind” donations in his financial disclosure. He further admitted he gave advice to candidates that it was unnecessary to reflect expenditures for in-kind donations. Ricky admitted this is his 9th campaign and yet, still was unsure of the proper way of disclosing contributions and expenditures. An admission I have a hard time understanding, especially as our long term County Clerk.

Let’s look at who is financing our County Commissioners this year.

• Bolos took in $41,727.54 ($20,948.15 “in-kind”) and $25,063.15 or 60% from three special interest groups yet show expenditures of only $17,536.24.
• Froerer took in $47,600 ($24,000 “in-kind”) $29,000.00 or 61% from one special interest group yet shows expenditures of only $22,519.87.

So, in the 2022 Republican Primary for County Commissioner, conducted on June 28th, NWAOR (Northern Wasatch Association of REALTORS) donated $45,499.04 to two Commissioner Candidates…both of whom won their elections.

• Bolos - $16,499.14 (40% of all donations reported)
• Froerer - $29,000.00 (60% of all donations reported)

Unless and until the Weber County Republican Party wakes up to defend its brand, signature candidates and special interest groups will dominate our local government.