Mayoral hopeful stirs up critics
The secretary of state's office said his fund-raising tactic isn't illegal.
SOLON (AP) -- A mayoral candidate has raised the eyebrows of state elections officials, government watchdogs and his opponent with an offer of special access to his administration in exchange for $1,000 in campaign donations.
The candidate, 10-year City Council member John Scott, created a category of contributors called the Inner Circle last year in an effort to jump-start his campaign.
"The Inner Circle will have priority access to the mayor's office and be asked to serve as counsel on critical issues as they arise," Scott wrote last November on invitations to a fund raiser at a country club.
Contributors were asked to give $500 last year and $500 this year.
'Close confidants'
The proposal simply gave donors -- or "close confidants," as the invitation described them -- an honorary status, Scott said Saturday.
"If I'm guilty of anything, it's probably a poor choice of words. It never was intended to indicate any type of favoritism. What it was was a first attempt at fund raising," he said.
Scott, who owns a marketing company, said eight people, all of them longtime friends of his, took him up on the offer, which no longer stands. None of those donors does business with the city, he said.
His latest campaign report indicates that 11 donors, several listed as couples, gave the requested $1,000.
Scott's tactic appears "very questionable," Philip Richter, executive director of the Ohio Elections Commission, said through a spokesman.
It's not illegal
But the move doesn't violate campaign finance regulations, said Carlo LoParo, a spokesman for the secretary of state's office.
"There's no law against poor judgment," LoParo said.
Regardless, Scott's offer creates the perception that access to government goes to the highest bidder, said Henry Eckhart, a board member with Common Cause of Ohio, which advocates government accountability.
"Every citizen should have access to their elected officials. That may be a little idealistic, but that's the theory of a democracy," Eckhart said.
"It smacks of influence-peddling and elitism," said Mayor Kevin Patton, Scott's opponent in the Nov. 8 election.
Scott countered that Patton has taken donations from city workers and others who do business with the city.
"In my administration in the future, everybody will have access, more so than they're getting now," Scott said.
Campaign disclosures show Scott has raised about $37,000 to Patton's $35,000. Patton won the Sept. 27 primary with 36 percent of the vote. Scott finished second among five candidates with 25 percent.