Finizio Campaign Filing Raises Many Questions

Earlier this week, Mr. Finizio accused me of lying to the people of New London. Never have I been in favor of the LVT. He has distorted my past record on the tax, and I encourage him to worry about his most recent mishandling. Above all, I think Mr. Finizio owes an apology to the people of New London.

Today, I call upon Mr. Finizio to come clean to the New London voters about his campaign finances. The discrepancies surrounding the non-reporting of thousands of dollars of expenditures as well as failure to consistently report his $5,000.00 personal loan to the campaign is deceptive, misleading and may violate Connecticut Election Law. Mr. Finizio owes the citizens of this great city an explanation regarding his October 10th filing and must provide full disclosure and accounting of all of his contributors, expenditures and the status of his personal $5,000.00 loan. It’s the public’s right to know who pays for newspaper ads.

Mr. Finizio appeared in eight advertisements in The Day newspaper during the month of September. These expenditures were not reported in Finizio’s October 10th filing. All the advertisement disclaimers stated they were paid by “Finizio for Mayor”. Mr. Finizio accounted for a personal loan of $5,000.00 to his campaign in his July 1, 2011 – August 31st, 2011 campaign filing. This loan was not reported, however, on the most recent filing.  If He can't account for his most recent campaign finance report, how can New London taxpayers trust him in overseeing a $80 million annual city budget?

I’m shocked by what appears to be a disregard for the state election laws displayed by Mr. Finizio. The State Election Enforcement Commission provides an outline of the necessary legal requirements for each municipal candidate. I’m concerned, that as a licensed attorney in Connecticut, Mr. Finizio would overlook what appears to be a very clear violation of campaign finance law. Throughout this campaign, and throughout my career, I have made transparency and open government a top priority. I’m maintaining that priority during my campaign to be Mayor and I urge Mr. Finizio to do the same.