Candidates Scrutinized for Inserting Names in Town Concert Ad

An ad for Wednesday’s town-sponsored Tim Charron concert that included the names of Rep. Doreen Costa and House Dist. 32 candidate Sharon Gamba on top has drawn scrutiny from local officials concerned about the possible violation of campaign expenditure laws.

The ad, which appeared in local newspapers, was apparently edited by the candidates from an original promotional flyer put together by the North Kingstown Arts Council, which is putting on the event.

The ad caught the attention of the town’s assistant solicitor, who on Aug. 25 warned the arts council that they may be in violation of state laws by running the ad, which includes the names of Costa and Gamba above the line “invites you to attend.”

In response, NKAC Chairwoman Pamela Galli said the organization never authorized the ad or the candidates to use their original promotional materials that didn’t include their names to craft the ad in question. And she said the council is asking Costa and Gamba to “cease distribution” and remove any posted copies of “our edited material.”

In an e-mail, Gamba said no public money was used to produce and pay for the ad to appear. She and Costa put together the ad themselves and spend about $900 in total.

“We did so because Doreen and I brought the artist to the council and the budget did not call for advertising, in fact the council only paid for the expenses associated to put on the concert,” Gamba said. “The goal of the council is to bring Art & Music to the town for free, and our goal was to promote our artist so the turnout is large enough to do other shows. What we did had nothing to do with the Art Council and we did have permission to spend our own money to get the info out for a great show.”

Galli said the original promotional material lacking the candidate names was approved by the arts council and Tim Charron and a copy was sent to sponsor Centreville Bank.

“The NKAC did not approve nor authorize the use of the edited version in any format for any means,” Galli wrote.

Gamba, in an e-mail message, said “ What we did had nothing to do with the Art Council and we did have permission to spend our own money to get the info out for a great show. If we did not put the ad in the paper we would not get the turnout the artist deserves. If the council paid for the ad it would be a different story. It was a donation, not from an official budget, therefore no laws were broken. Hope this clears this up, so we can look forward to a fantastic concert.”

The free concert is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Town Beach Bandshell across from 36 Beach St.