Could It Be That He Just Forgot? _________________________________________________________________________ Fayette County Commissioner Vince Zapotosky is now 49 days late and has not yet disclosed a list of campaign expenses that were to be declared and filed with the county by 8Dec11. He paid a $20 one-day late fee on 9Dec11 and filed an incomplete campaign financial report, promising in an attached hand-written statement that he would file the expense report at a later date, after he received a bank statement and cancelled checks. One state source who reads here recommends that any elected official in Zapotosky's position file the completed expense report and pay the $20 daily late fee, starting from 10Dec11 on, to avoid controversy -- that is, unless he has a very good reason. What if, my contact asked, the state selects this area as one of its 7 districts to receive elections inspections or audits of campaign expense report filings? The candidates financial reporting process seems to be based almost exclusively on self-monitoring and the honor system. And it would be quite embarrassing if this Fayette election campaign report were audited and there was no good reason why it went so long overdue. That we've had a past county commissioner candidate in 2004 spend in excess of $300K for a single race should make any candidate feel completely comfortable and unafraid to disclose any expenses. In other words, nothing will shock us these days. Really, nothing will shock us. Even if Democrat Zapotosky wined and dined every Republican in the county, we wouldn't be surprised when we saw the tab on an expense report.  It's not so much that we're dying to see what the commissioner's campaign expenses were or were not in his incomplete report filed in two county offices on 9Dec 11. The bigger issue is who is sure that what he has done has followed the law? My contact was asked for examples of "good reasons" for not disclosing and filing a campaign expense report. Good, you know, as in what good reason that a judge might accept?    The only good reason, this contact stated, would be if someone stole funds from a candidate's campaign account and the matter is tied up in criminal court and cannot be released now. Any other reason -- such as a candidate losing all the campaign expense receipts with no log of expenses -- is unacceptable, as per the ear we bent. It is stressed that Zapotosky has given no reason for being late with his report and that any possible scenario raised here is no more than mere ideas or possibilities kicked around a recent dinner table here. Nobody wants to assume that any commissioner is just lazy or so unorganized that he forgot. We do not believe that is the case with the unfiled campaign expense report, either.  What the state, on the other hand, has to say and puts into writing about campaign expense reports is that they must be filed before a candidate can take office. Unless an elected official hasn't filed an expense report because of a very good reason, an elected official risks the chance that some judge might side with a losing opponent or some other cause looking for technicalities to overturn an election -- or at the least, to sideline a winner, possibly, until another judge makes another decision. And, we were reminded, that a judge could also side with someone wanting for any reason to recall an elected official, simply because a state-mandated full-reporting form with a  P.S. note of "I'll file later" could legally be considered to be incomplete and, therefore, unfiled. It's just not worth the risk, unless the politician has a very good reason for not filing. That not even one single expense from 25Oct11 to 28Nov11 was listed on Zapotosky's report filed 9Dec11 seems odd. And that he still has not filed his expense report, some 49 days beyond late, is odd. Too odd. But there could be a good reason, no? In the meantime, we'll give him the benefit of the doubt and keep checking to see if and when he releases the overdue campaign expense report information -- and see if all of the overdue campaign expense information is included and filed, by the next reporting deadline of 31Jan12. We're not exactly sure that we would be willing to hold our breath and wait, however, but we sincerely do hope that the commissioner soon discloses all campaign expenses and puts the subject to rest -- or at least assures us that he has a very good reason for not filing the report. jt 26Jan12 copyright protected Homepage