Local candidates owe ethics fines

Three candidates who have filed to run in upcoming local elections were listed on the State Ethics Commission's latest debtors list.

A Richland School District 2 board member's name also is on the list.

The ethics commission releases its debtors list several times a year. The most recent list is from January. It names public officials, political candidates, public employees, lobbyists and political committees who have failed to pay late filing penalties and enforcement fines. Those penalties are assessed when people fail to file the proper fundraising, expenditure and economic interest paperwork required by state law.

Columbia city elections are Tuesday, and filings for other county and statewide races closed Tuesday. School board races will be on the ballot in November.

Tony Mizzell, a candidate in City Council District 4, paid a $1,000 fine on Feb. 25, said Kristin Smith, administrative coordinator at the ethics commission.

The fine was levied in January after Mizzell requested a hearing before the ethics commission. He was penalized for failing to file five campaign disclosure forms between April 2006 and January 2008 in a race for Richland County Council, Smith said. The original fine was much higher, but the commission reduced it after the hearing.

Candidates' campaign disclosure reports list those who donate money and how the money was spent.

Mizzell, a former County Council member, said the forms were not submitted in time because he thought a paid campaign worker was filing them on his behalf. When he realized the forms had not been submitted, Mizzell said, he filed them. He then requested the appeals hearing.

Mizzell said Thursday that he was the one ultimately responsible for the failure to file.

Mizzell still owes $100 for failing to file a form in April 2008, Smith said. However, Mizzell said he did not know about that debt until a reporter asked him about it.

Richland County Councilman Paul Livingston paid a $300 fine on Feb. 5 for filing an incomplete campaign disclosure form in April 2008, Smith said.

When a candidate files an incomplete form, the ethics commission returns it. The candidate has 10 days to complete it and mail it back. Livingston did not return the form within the 10-day window, Smith said.

Livingston said Thursday his error was in his addition of some numbers. He also asked for an appeals hearing, which led to the reduced $300 fine.

Livingston is unopposed in his re-election bid in County Council District 4.

Nammu Muhammad, a candidate for mayor, owes $100 for failing to file an economic interest statement when he ran for Richland School District 1 in 2008, Smith said.

Muhammad missed the 10-day deadline for correcting an incomplete form, Smith said. He has since filed a completed form.

An economic interest statement lists a candidate's or public official's sources of income and potential conflicts of interest he might have in office.

Muhammad acknowledged the debt but said he does not believe he owes the commission for the mistake on his forms. He said he asked someone at the commission to review his form before he filed. That person overlooked the mistake and accepted the form. Later, it was sent back to him, he said.

"If they want to go through some other means to get it, that's fine with me," he said. "I'm broke, and they ain't going to squeeze any money out of a turnip."

William R. Flemming Jr., Richland School District 2 board chairman, owes $100 for his 2006 pre-election report, which lists contributions and expenses up to 20 days before an election, Smith said.

He filed a report that had an error. It was returned, but he did not get it back within the 10-day window, Smith said. The corrected copy was submitted in September 2008, she said.

Flemming said Thursday he did not know about the fine. He said the commission told him there was a mistake in the original report, but after a review he thought one had not been made.

"If they say there's a fine, I'm going to have to talk to them," he said. "If it's $100, I'm not going to mess around with something like that. If it is owed, it is owed."

Flemming's seat on the school board will be up for election in November, but candidates for that race won't file for office until this summer.

The latest debtors list released in January names 198 people and organizations who owed the ethics commission. Most owe a few hundred dollars, but some have thousands in debts.

Unpaid fines increase $10 a day for the first 10 days they are past due, Smith said. After that, violators are assessed $100 a day until the required forms are filed.

The ethics commission submits debts to the S.C. Department of Revenue, which can garnish wages to collect money from people who owe more than $300.