Politics & Government
Oops, I did it again! Why does Candidate Leah Basile keep hiding her donors? Another day, another Form 460 revision.
2 ½ weeks before the election & Basile hasn't disclosed a single donor. Reinforces a common occurrence - no transparency & no accountability
Candidate Leah Basile made another Form 460 Revision yesterday (October 20, 2016). This is now the 6th revision she has made on a Form 460. Here is the financial summary section of her Form 460:
“Money doesn't grow on trees”
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I am guessing that Leah Basile did not grow up hearing this statement from her parents. If Leah Basile is reading this, please consider this statement: if you spend money, it has to come from somewhere.
I believe I am correct when I say that ALL CAMPAIGN EXPENDITURES and ALL SOURCES OF CAMPAIGN INCOME (whether donations or loans) ARE REQUIRED TO BE REPORTED BY THE LAW.
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Please take this responsibility seriously – the voters of Lake Forest deserve it.
Previous issues with Spending on the Recall and her Campaign
Here are previous issues related to her campaign finance reporting:
1. Leah Basile, leader of the failed Recall Campaign (which wasted $80,000+ of taxpayer funds) hid $100,000 of recall donations PERPETRATING A FRAUD on the scale that Lake Forest voters have never seen:
2. Candidate Leah Basile's campaign reports have always showed $0 in spending & donations, but she has a website, campaign signs, multiple mailed campaign fliers. Where is Leah Basile's city council campaign getting it's cash? Based on my investigation (along with Adam Nick campaign filings and how their campaigns shared the same USPS permit number and same delivery date), it's only logical that Adam Nick is secretly funding her campaign:
No Reported Income (or Loans)
Although Leah Basile reported some expenses discussed later below, yesterday’s revision still hasn’t report a dime of WHERE the money came from. I just don't understand how candidate Leah Basile is NOT REPORTING the source of her campaign funding (I assume she read my previous post on the Patch). This is a condensed summary:
1. Monetary Contributions $0.00 (both for the reporting period and year to date)
2. Loans Received $0.00 (“ “)
3. SUBTOTAL CASH CONTRIBUTIONS $0.00 (“ “)
4. Nonmonetary Contributions $0.00 (“ “)
5. TOTAL CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED $0.00 (“ “)
As you can see, there are no contributions and no loans - everything is $0.00.
Current Cash Statement
12. Beginning Cash Balance $0.00
13. Cash Receipts $0.00
14. Miscellaneous Increases to Cash $0.00
15. Cash Payments $957.33
16. ENDING CASH BALANCE – $957.33
According to basic economics, you cannot have a negative cash balance. In banking, this is called “bouncing checks.” Basile may have a bank account with overdraft protection, but the money has to have come from another account. Theoretically, she might have found a bank that will allow her to overdraw her own account, but then the BANK would in essence have loaned her campaign the money.
There just isn’t any way for her to have a negative cash balance. Basile either has to have received donations (including from herself) or a loan (including from herself).
She cannot have a negative cash balance. It is just basic math.
Partial First Step of Reporting Expenses
Leah Basile actually reported some (but not all) expenses. Here is a list of her expenditures:
$800.00 – Ballot Fees paid to the City of Lake Forest
$157.33 – Campaign Flyers paid to Fedex Office
$957.33 – Total Reported Expenditures
In addition to her website, 2 mailed fliers, and campaign signs, I am also seeing her name and Adam Nick’s on what I believe are called “slate” mailers. I have heard that these need to be paid months in advance. Again, how are these being paid?
If someone else is paying for them, I believe that needs to be reported. If Basile is paying for them, it needs to be reported.
Corruption or Incompetence
Corruption [kuh-ruhp-shuh n]
1. perversion of integrity
2. guilty of dishonest practices or proceedings
Incompetent [in-kom-pi-tuh nt]
1. Lacking qualification or ability
2. being unable or unqualified to perform specific acts
Since she was so willing to throw “corruption” around during previous campaigns against other candidates, I feel she has a good understanding of the term. However, maybe I should give her the benefit of the doubt and just cough it up to incompetence.
Either way, it ain’t good.
Summary
1. Due to her lack of knowledge on basic finances or her inability to hire a competent person to create the report for her, she has seriously dropped the ball.
2. In all honesty, this is a quite a simple form. How in the world is she going to understand more complex city financial reports that number in the hundreds of pages? I don’t expect her to be a Financial Wizard, but she obviously has a lack of basic financial skills.
3. Running for Lake Forest City Council is a SERIOUS issue and requires serious attention to details. Campaign reporting is the only way for Lake Forest residents to understand how campaigns are funded.
Recommendation: Since she is apparently unable to report items correctly on her Form 460 and won’t hire someone who will, I call on some type of official watchdog to audit her records and help her make accurate and transparent campaign financial reports.
This just shows how much Leah Basile is over her head - this is a serious issue that damages the trust of Lake Forest voters. And we deserve better.
