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Francis meets
campaign spending
deadline

By Richard Borreca
Star-Bulletin

Russ Francis, Republican candidate for Congress and former pro football player, has met a deadline imposed by the Campaign Spending Commission to file an amended campaign spending report or be fined another $1,000.

Francis was fined $1,000 last month for failing to turn in the required spending reports from his unsuccessful campaign for City Council two years ago.

The problem was caused when Francis turned in incomplete campaign spending reports. Bob Watada, Campaign Spending Commission executive director, said he repeatedly called and wrote to Francis, asking for more information, but was unsuccessful until the commission launched a formal investigation and subpoenaed his records.

Francis has contended that the commission rules and election software were misleading.

After officials from Francis' campaign met with Campaign Spending Commission staff members, they were able to reconstruct the last expenditures of his campaign and file a proper report.

Because of the problems, the commission last month voted to fine Francis $1,000 and add another $1,000 if he didn't comply within a month.

Watada said Francis could not produce any checking records for the City Council campaign, so the campaign had to be reconstructed from the subpoenaed records.

Yesterday, Watada said he was satisfied with the report. A final decision on the fine would have to wait until the commission's next meeting in August.