Surplus campaign funds at issue for councilman
It was reported in the local media in June that Jeff Freeman had donated a total of $600 in surplus City Council campaign funds to the Waynesboro Senior Center and to Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Central Blue Ridge.
The campaign-finance report on file with the city voter registrar’s office that gave us that tidbit also offered this one that went unreported in the local media – that Freeman had tried to pay himself $410.74 for future Council-related expenses with remaining surplus campaign funds.
A letter on the matter went out from the voter registrar’s office to Freeman following his June 15 report filing. City registrar Lisa Wooten said Monday it is her understanding that state law prohibits candidates from diverting funds raised for campaign purposes to go toward expenses related to elected office.
There could be some question on that after a quick read of the state code. Section 24.2-948.4 of the state code delineates what candidates are to do with surplus campaign funds, and lists under subsection vi “defraying any ordinary, nonreimbursed expense related to his elective office.”
At question would be whether or not Freeman could claim any “ordinary, nonreimbursed” expenses.
Freeman, elected to represent Ward C on City Council in the May city elections, earns a $5,100 annual salary for his service on City Council.
State law is clear on the point related to the personal use of surplus campaign funds. “It shall be unlawful for any person to convert any contributed moneys, securities, or like intangible personal property to his personal use or to the use of a member of the candidate’s ‘immediate family,” Section 24.2-948.4 mandates.
Freeman filed an amended report with the registrar’s office on July 15 showing $134.95 in expenditures related to small gifts purchased for campaign volunteers and a balance in his campaign account of $275.79.
Story by Chris Graham. Chris can be reached at freepress2@ntelos.net.
The Road to 2012
Special Report by Chris Graham
freepress2@ntelos.net
Waynesboro didn’t go poof! into the night. There aren’t tumbleweeds running through downtown. (Not yet.) The sun did in fact come up this morning. That’s in spite of another electoral defeat for progressives at the polls in the City Council elections on May 4.
Lorie Smith fell short in her bid to win re-election in Ward D, getting outpolled by 141 votes by former State Police lieutenant Mike Harris, an ally of the libertarian-conservative blog that already had a majority on the five-member city governing body. The bloc made it a clean sweep with Jeff Freeman’s win in the Ward C race over Virginia Department of Transporation engineering assistant Robert Johnson.
So why am I feeling almost optimistic about the cause of Moving Waynesboro Forward in the face of the election carnage? Read more
Mixed bag in local election results
Story by Chris Graham
freepress2@ntelos.net
Tighter-than-expected elections in Waynesboro, and results as expected in Staunton. That was Election Day in the Valley on Tuesday. Read more
It’s endorsement time
Written by Chris Graham
freepress2@ntelos.net
Waynesboro is going to head in a new direction after Tuesday’s city elections. Staunton is going to continue on a familiar and proven course. We can say that with certainty as different as the two election cycles have been in the sister cities.
Free read from AFPTheMagazine.com.
Read more
Election Guide 2010
Compiled by Chris Graham
freepress2@ntelos.net
AFPTheMagazine.com offers up information on the candidates for public office in contested races in Staunton and Waynesboro to be decided on May 4.
Free public service of AFPTheMagazine.com. Read more
Harris, Freeman: It’s their election to lose
Column by Chris Graham
freepress2@ntelos.net
All I wanted to be able to do, I told myself throughout my 2008 campaign for Waynesboro City Council, was to think at 7 p.m. on Election Night that I’d done everything I could do to put myself in a position to be able to win.
Win or lose, I said to myself, many times, I didn’t want to leave anything on the table.
I lost, of course, and pretty miserably at that, and the postmortems aren’t yet over, almost two years later. It’s rare that I go more than a day or two without thinking about something that I could have done better or just differently.
It’s probably my personality. I haven’t coached youth basketball in eight years, and I still find myself on long drives scheming offensive systems, for that inevitable day when I get back into coaching. Read more
Freeman throws hat into ring for Waynesboro City Council
Retired basketball referee in the running for Ward C seat
Story by Chris Graham
freepress2@ntelos.net
Waynesboro native Jeff Freeman announced on Friday that he will run for the Ward C seat on Waynesboro City Council in the May 4 city elections.
“It’s a huge leap. I’m excited about it. I’m not a trained politician. You probably could tell that,” Freeman told AugustaFreePress.com after a brief speech in front of 25 people in the Council Chambers at the Charles T. Yancey Municipal Building.
The speech was light on specifics. The closest that the recently retired basketball referee came to sharing his thoughts on city government matters was a brief statement on industrial development. “We need to keep the industry we already have here. I believe we can do that without raising taxes and imposing fees, and that’s my hope and vision,” Freeman said. Read more
