I had previously written about how Phoenix mayoral candidate Greg Stanton had been a victim of embezzlement to the tune of more than $70,000 by his former treasurer, Mindy Shields. Shields is the daughter of influential Phoenix lobbyist Billy Shields. Mindy was charged with embezzlement and will be in court in August. So that should be the end of the story, right? Well, not exactly. Check out this story from azcentral.com:
More than $70,000 in mayoral candidate Greg Stanton’s election war chest is being called into question, with concerns over whether the money should be considered an illegal campaign contribution.
Shields is the daughter of Billy Shields, an influential Phoenix lobbyist and former president of the United Phoenix Fire Fighters Association, who loaned Mindy some of the money to repay the debt to Stanton’s political committee. Mindy’s mother, Maria, who is divorced from Billy, also loaned her daughter money.
But the legality of how the money was repaid has raised legal concerns. State law limits campaign contributions from an individual to $430, and some could argue that the repayment could be considered a single contribution exceeding donation caps, said Mike Liburdi, an attorney at Snell and Wilmer who worked for the Federal Election Commission in 2008.
Very interesting stuff! There’s no doubt in my mind that Stanton was a victim of a crime here, but at the same time, campaign law must be followed. If we bend the rules once, we have set a precedent that means we can bend the rules again. And after that, Phoenicians will see campaign law being bent every which way and that doesn’t give many of us confidence in our system. It would be a responsible move on Stanton’s part to forego spending the money to remove any doubts about it. While he was the victim of a crime, it was under his watch that the money was taken. In this case, unfortunately, it looks like he might have to live with the consequences of that.
What do you think? Should Greg Stanton give back the money?
