Update: Many Candidates Miss Campaign Filing Deadline

Candidates for Attleboro City Council, City Clerk, Collector and School Committee have overlooked an election deadline. A total of 16 candidates filed their campaign finance report after the Sept. 12 deadline.

Candidates must file one of their campaign finance reports eight days before the preliminary election, which was held Sept. 20. While some candidates filed the report one or two days after the deadline, others filed more than a week later or not at all.

Those who had no finance activity are still required to sign a form stating that they did not have any financial activity to report by the same Sept. 12 deadline.

According to the Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance (OCPF), reports are due eight days before the preliminary and eight days before the election, and a final year-end report is due Jan. 20.

"There are no extensions," OCPF spokesman Jason Tait said of the filings. "There is a process for assessing fines to municipal candidates who file late."

According to a memo written by OCPF Director Michael Sullivan to local election officials, the campaign finance law requires the director, after referral by a local election official (in this case Maryann Draine), to assess a civil penalty for any late report, statement or affidavit.

If a filed report does not conform to law, the local election official must notify the delinquent person in writing. The candidate then has 10 days to file the required report or the candidate or treasurer will be referred to the OCPF and will have to pay a penalty of $25 per day from the date the report was originally due to the local election official, up to a maximum of $5,000 for each report.

"We strongly encourage local election officials to notify candidates and treasurers as early as reasonably possible before a report is due," Sullivan writes in a memo.

Maryann Draine of the Attleboro Elections Office said she sent out a reminder letter to all candidates but said she sent it out late. In the letter Draine gave all candidates a deadline of September 20. Draine said she didn't recall exactly when she sent the letter out and but said it was around the time of the Sept. 12 deadline.

Mayoral candidates in cities with populations of 40,000 to 100,000 who expect to raise or spend $5,000 or more in an election cycle are required to electrically file their reports directly with the OCPF. Mayoral candidate Ronald Churchill filed his report one day after the deadline. He was fined $25 and paid the $25 fee, Tait said. Incumbent Kevin Dumas filed his report on Sept. 9.

Following is a list of candidates for Attleboro City Council and School Committee and elected positions at City Hall and the date they filed their campaign finance report. 

Correction: Attleboro City Council Candidate Anthony Parziale and School Committee Candidate Brenda Furtado signed a form with the Attleboro Elections Office documenting that they did not have any financial activities to report by the state deadline.

Candidate Seat Due Date Date Received by Election Office Jay DiLisio City Councilor at large Sept. 12 Sept. 14 Cherie Felos City Councilor at large Sept. 12 Sept. 26 Richard Conti City Councilor at large Sept. 12 Sept. 16 Frank Cook City Council Ward 3 Sept. 12 none filed Kim Allard City Councilor at large Sept. 12 none filed Sara-Lynn Reynolds City Councilor at large Sept. 12 Sept. 16 Walter Thibodeau City Council Ward 1 Sept. 12 Sept. 16 Peter Blais City Council Ward 3 Sept. 12 Sept. 19 Duff White
City Councilor Ward 5 N/A
none needed
Jeremy Denlea City Councilor Ward 5 Sept. 12 Sept. 12 Shannon Heagney City Council Ward 6 Sept. 12 Sept. 20 Brian Kirby City Councilor at large Sept. 12 Sept. 18 Bill Bergevine City Council Ward 4 Sept. 12 Sept. 13 Jonathan Weydt City Council Ward 4 Sept. 12 Sept. 2 David Murphy School Committee at large Sept. 12 Sept. 20 Jim Stors School Committee Ward 2 Sept. 12 Sept. 23
Michael Levinson School Committee Ward 6 Sept. 12 Sept. 23 Kenneth Parent School Committee Ward 6 Sept. 12 Sept. 14 Bert Buckley City Council Ward 3 Sept. 12 Sept. 19 Christopher O'Neil School Committee Sept. 12 Sept. 12 Anthony Parziale City Council at Large Sept. 12 Sept. 12
Ethel Sandbach Treasurer Sept. 12 Sept. 12 Betty Shockroo City Clerk Sept. 12 Sept. 15 Brenda Furtado School Committee Ward 4 Sept. 12 Sept. 12
Debra Marcoccio City Collector Sept. 12 Sept. 19 Bill Larson School Committee Ward 2 Sept. 12 Sept. 14 Tom Dowling City Council Ward 3 Sept. 12 Sept. 19
Laura Dolan School Committee Ward  5 Sept. 12 Sept. 26
Helen Johnson School Committee Ward 4 Sept. 12 Sept. 27
Robert Hill School Committee Ward 3 Sept. 12 Sept. 26
Michael Tyler School Committee at large Sept. 12 Sept. 20
Robert Geddes School Committee at large Sept. 12 Sept. 27
Ray DiCiaccio School Committee at large Sept. 12 none filed
Gregory Stevens School Committee at large Sept. 12 Sept. 15
Babara Craw School Committee at large Sept. 12 Sept. 21
Francis Zito School Committee at large Sept. 12 Sept. 15
Teri Enegren School Committee Ward 1 Sept. 12 none filed