Why hasn’t any reporter picked up on the fact that only one person running for State Senate in the 2nd Essex District didn’t file her year-end report on time? The reports were due on January 20, 2012 for the 2011 campaign year, yet Salem City Councilor Joan Lovely (an attorney no less) still hasn’t filed as of January 24, 2012 (see link: Lovely Cover Page). So, I figure, what does she have to hide? I had a looksee at her earlier filings, and guess what I found? She still owes a printing company $6,500 (see link: 2011 Mid-Year Report – Joan Lovely Liabilities)from her run for state rep back in 2004. But wait, there’s more. She paid herself back tens of thousands of dollars that she loaned her campaign by raising tens of thousands of dollars in campaign donations. So she paid herself back but she never paid the union printer who provided her the printing. Is the printer still in business, you ask? Well, even embattled Mayor Willy Lantigua from Lawrence managed to pay his printing bill, but the Lovely Joan…not so much.
What do you think? Should she have paid herself back first?
hlpeary says
Witchcity1…welcome to BMG. One piece of advice that may serve you well moving forward: verify before you vilify. Using BMG as a platform to denegrade your opponent with innuendo and less than accurate assertions will not be well received here. It’s pretty transparent. It doesn’t really help your candidate.
Helpful fact: Mayors and City Councilors who file campaign finance reports usually do so right at their local city hall clerks office. You might want to check to see that the councilor you are talking about did, in fact, file on time at her clerk’s office.
As for the old printing bill: Isn’t Councilor Lovely the one who ran for State Rep. once and contracted with a now defunct printer/mail house and the company sent out ALL 4 of her mailers at the SAME time and so late that most arrived AFTER election day? I think she is the one…that is a legendary story in political circles…the printer was lucky he did not get sued for scuttling her campaign…(I never would have paid for those cards either, would you?)…check the records though, I think you will find that the OCPF office ruled in HER favor and the debt to that incompetent mail house was dropped.
Kevin L says
I thought Governors Councillor Mary-Ellen Manning is also a candidate for this seat? If so, there’s another factual problem with this post.
hlpeary says
According to the Salem News daily paper, there are 3 candidates currently running for the State Senate seat now being held by Frederick Berry. They are John Slattery a former Rep from Peabody, Mary-Ellen Manning, a Gov. Councilor from Peabody, and Joan Lovely, City Council President in Salem. All three are attorneys. Berry’s district covers Salem, Beverly, Peabody, Danvers and Topsfield.
witchcitydem1 says
It would have been easier if you had provided documentation to substantiate what you’ve said in regards to the OCPF and the dropping of Lovely’s debt to the printer. I will do some more research on my end and see what I come up with. I’ll also double check the 2011 year end reports for all the candidates in the race and am glad to take this post down if I find that it’s inaccurate.
hlpeary says
: )
witchcitydem1 says
I doubled checked the year end reports for 2011. Here are the links for the 3 candidates I know of running who have announced that they’re running for this seat.
Joan Lovely: http://www.efs.cpf.state.ma.us/SearchReportResults.aspx?name=lovely
Mary-Ellen Manning: http://www.efs.cpf.state.ma.us/SearchReportResults.aspx?cpfId=13351
John Slattery: http://www.efs.cpf.state.ma.us/SearchReportResults.aspx?name=slattery
But, you could have looked that up yourself, couldn’t you?
Still looking into the other matter…
hlpeary says
witch wrote: “you could have looked that up yourself, couldn’t you?”
Why would I need to? YOU are the one who started this thread with insufficient info…that was your job to do.
By the way a candidate for Rep. files with OCPF, a candidate for City Council files with local Clerk…If a person runs for Rep. and the campaign ends, they do not file for Rep. forever. They would revert to their Council committee and Council filing. If and when they choose to run for another state office, they open a new state committee and then file with the OCPF again. I imagine Councilor Lovely must already have been in contact with the OCPF to be opening a new state account for the Senate run this year. That committee would have to be set up before she starts fundraising for the state seat.
merrimackguy says
The OCPF reports are for her House race, so she does looks late in filing. She just pays a fine, it not that big of a deal.
That printing liability is still hanging out there from 2004. Simards is now Connelly. No company lets a debt go that long without writing it off, so unlikely she stil owes the money.
My guess is that there is no way to get that off the report. In OCPF land everything has to add up, and maybe without an expenditure, there can be no reduction in the liability.
Maybe if she wrote a letter to OCPF, etc. she could clear it, or she could ignore it. Same diff.
I find the posting though a little heavy handed. You need to make your attacks on the opposition much more subtle.
hlpeary says
If a person runs for Rep. and the campaign ends, they do not file for Rep. forever and ever. House race committee would be defunct. They would revert to their Council committee and Council filing. If and when they choose to run for another state office, they open a new state committee and then file with the OCPF again. I imagine Councilor Lovely must already have been in contact with the OCPF to be opening a new state account for the Senate run this year.
I do not think the printing liability would be still hanging out there. I am sure Connelly whom I think is more reputable and competent than Simard’s would not have chased Simard’s old bill for an account in which the product and mailing was totaling bungled and arrived AFTER election day. Simard’s went downhill fast in its last years before Connolly bought them out. Can you imagine Connolly’s charging candidates if they botched the printing and mailed after election day? I can’t. I’m sure that debt was dropped after 7 years…you only have to report outstanding debts up to 6 years at OCPF…no fines involved, just simple paperwork.
merrimackguy says
and she was still reporting the liability at that time.
Why is Lois Pines still reporting? When was the last time she ran for everything? There are a ton of people who are filing you haven’t run for ages.
Why is everyone on this site so quick to criticize?
hlpeary says
Merriguy: The councilor probably got the okay from OCPF to close the State acct. in July, 2011 then (if the election were held in 2004, add 7 years and you get 2011, which would be the right time to do so to settle the books/debts/loans, whatever)…it’s easy enough to find out, one of her opponents will surely ask her and she will show them the OCPF correspondence.
As for Lois Pines and the hordes of other pols who keep committees open long after their careers are over, there are several reasons. 1) they never give up hope that lightening might strike and they will run again; 2) they can still have access and use of the remaining funds: they can give to charities who hit them up, they can take their political friends to dinner to discuss their political future, they can donate up to $150 to other pols’ committees and stay in the loop…think of it as a slush fund with limitations…the alternative is to give all of the balance to the Commonwealth and no one wants to do that.
witchcitydem1 says
In this situation, there were actually TWO union printers to whom Loved owed money. Is there a second legendary story in political circles about why the other printer should likewise not be paid? I never heard of any.
In addition, it seems that there are lot of opinions about whether the debt has been forgiven and a lot of guessing about the rules on that subject. OCPF has specific rules about when a debt no longer needs to be reported, but OCPF doesn’t forgive debts. Only the printers can do that…did they? Only they would know.
Next, I think it’s important to get back to my original point, which is: Is it right for a candidate to pay herself back before paying a vendor back? Is it right not to pay vendors? Is it right to zero out a debt without explaining that that is what you have done? Apparently, it is okay because of a misread of OCPF rules …but can’t you disagree on principle?
Lastly, the OCPF also has specific rules about when you must file at the state level and when you can merely file at the city level. A candidate cannot file at the municipal level if they are carrying a liability generated during a state campaign, unless the liability was a loan to themselves. According to the filings that I provided, this was a liability that
barred her merely filing at the city level.
If you need more clarification, have a look for yourself at the law: http://www.lawlib.state.ma.us/source/mass/cmr/cmrtext/970CMR1.pdf
hlpeary says
ctually i think candidates should pay themselves back if they lend their committees money. Steve Grossman is a multi-millionaire as is John kerry and you can bet they paid themselves back for loans to their campaigns. And as far as paying vendors who don’t deliver the product they were contracted for…well, I would not pay anyone who did not deliver me the product I ordered so I don’t think candidates are any different.
I hope MaryEllen and John will have better issues that actually affect the people in their district to be concerned about during their campaign. Fred Berry was and is a great State Senator and I can imagine the people he represents are not looking for a nitpicking mudfest in the race to replace him. it’s so Howie Carr, if you know what I mean and I think you do.