Gary GOP fines cleared

Election board gives reorganized group a pass on previous leaders’ issues

A couple looking to keep the Gary Republican committee alive will not have to pay the fines left behind by the former board.

On Tuesday, the Lake County Board of Elections allowed John and Dionne Collier to enter into the Fresh Start program, which gives committees that have reorganized under specific circumstances the ability to start over after fines incurred for past failures by former board members to file the proper campaign finance reports on time are waived.

Lori O’Dea, Republican campaign finance specialist, said in every report ever filed by the Gary Republican Party, the committee did not raise or spend any money. The current treasurer is incapacitated and the president has died. The party was facing $550 in fines and another $175 for its most recent late filing.

“We had no prior knowledge of the debt,” Collier said. “We did not want to see the Republican Party fail.”

By entering into the program, the election board agreed to waive $550 in fines accrued over past election cycles. The board also moved to accept the new Gary Republican Party into the Fresh Start program wiping out all past fines and allow the Colliers to start as a new committee. The party will have to pay a $10 fine for filing the campaign finance report for the November election late. The report has been filed, Michelle Fajman, election board director, a Democrat, said,

Officials also chose to waive any additional fines for Kate Webster, who made the request. Webster allegedly had been told by a past employee of the elections board she needed to form a committee, when that was not the case for her circumstance, according to Fajman.

The committee formed in 2019 did not raise or spend any money, and was disbanded in 2021, Fajman said. Still, the election board did send repeated notifications of the compounding fines, which went ignored over the years.

Webster had already paid the election board $400 in fines and was seeking relief from the remaining $320 owed. Board member Mike Brown questioned whether

the board had the authority to refund the money Webster paid since she should not have owed it in the first place.

“I question the amount of the fine that has already been paid. So where are we on that?” he asked.

Board president Kevin

Smith said while she opened a committee when she was not required to, it is ultimately up to the individual to determine what is necessary for them to do to be in compliance with the law.

Signs are now posted throughout the office stating employees cannot offer advice on campaign finance, O’Dea said.

“I think it’s much clearer now,” she said.