Tsagaris and Angelo broke state elections law. Period

Trumbull County Commissioners James G. Tsagaris and Joseph J. Angelo Jr., who are sworn to uphold the law of the state of Ohio, broke it.
Yet, these two elected officials express no regret. And officeholders wonder why the public has such a poor opinion of them.
Tsagaris and Angelo were fined by the Ohio Ethics Commission for violating state elections law. That's the bottom line. It doesn't matter that they weren't taken away in shackles, or even that fines that were imposed were relatively small.
They should be ashamed, instead they seemed pleased.
As Atty. Paul Richter, elections commission executive director, put it: "I'm not going to get into whether it was serious or a victory. All I'm going to say is the commission saw a violation of statute and imposed a penalty."
Tsagaris and Angelo failed to keep records of people who donated less than $25 at fund-raisers in 2001 and 2002. Tsagaris was fined $150; Angelo, $50. His fine was smaller because the commission found that he had the records at one time, but they were destroyed when the basement of his home flooded at the end of August.
Public-records request
While state elections law does not require candidates for public office to submit such lists of contributors to boards of elections, they must be produced if there is a request for them. The Trumbull County Board of Elections asked the commissioners in September to produce the lists after a public-records request for the information was made.
The board of elections referred a complaint to the state elections commission after Tsagaris and Angelo failed to submit the lists.
While the Trumbull commissioners might think that this is much ado about nothing, campaign finance records are sacred. Why? Because they give the public insight into a candidate. Yes, you can judge a candidate by the company he or she keeps during an election.
And given that Tsagaris' and Angelo's campaigns generated between $1,500 and $2,500 from fund-raisers, there was a public interest in having the list of those who bought tickets available for inspection.
It is unfortunate that Richter, the elections commission executive director, declined to comment on the seriousness of the violations. The small fines could prompt other candidates, who are not inclined to show the public where their financial support is coming from, not to preserve such records.
The Ohio Elections Commission might want to seek a change in the law so that the lists of individuals who contribute less than $25 are required to be filed with the boards of elections. That would reduce the danger of such lists disappearing.