Members of the Maine Ethics Commission had tough words for a Waldoboro man Friday when the panel levied fines totaling $285 against him for election finance filing violations.
At issue were mailers sent by Gordon Colby in the House District 91 election last year. The mailers targeted Rep. Jeffrey Evangelos, an independent who went on to win re-election to the seat in November.
In one of the fliers, which were designed and distributed by Colby, Evangelos is accused of refusing to say the Pledge of Allegiance. The flier includes Evangelos’ home telephone number and encourages recipients to call and “ask him why he won’t say the pledge.”
Evangelos, a retired municipal administrator, said in emotional testimony to the ethics commission Friday that the allegation is untrue and he doesn’t know where it comes from. Regardless, Evangelos said he continues to receive threats and criticisms from people in his district, which includes part of Union, Friendship, Waldoboro and Washington.
“My family and I have been in a nightmare since this happened,” said Evangelos, who won the election over Republican Rep. Ellen Winchenbach of Waldoboro with about 55 percent of the vote. “Mr. Colby’s flier is a blatant lie. … I still receive threatening phone calls at home from people calling me a traitor. … I’ve got a thick skin, but this is over the line.”
Colby was not present at the meeting and could not be reached by telephone. Bill Logan, an attorney for Colby and the Republican nominee for attorney general in 2014, advocated that the commission impose a fine of no more than $50.
Members of the commission were quick to say that they have no jurisdiction over the content of any political fliers or advertisements, which are protected by free speech provisions in the U.S. Constitution.
“Although this may be a minor violation in terms of what we’re looking at as a commission, the content was disturbing,” said commission Chairman Walter McKee.
Commissioner Richard Nass agreed.
“I can understand how upset [Evangelos] is,” said Nass. “It all becomes about content, and that’s not our job. Our job is to deal with the statutes we have, however horrific the content is.”
Not under dispute was that Colby paid more than $1,200 for the mailing, which was received in the district’s mailboxes four days before the election. Because it was so close to the election, Colby was required to notify the ethics commission of the expenditure within 24 hours, but he filed about a week later. For that, he was fined $85.
The second complaint lodged by Evangelos against Colby involved the lack of a disclosure statement, namely, “Not paid for or authorized by any candidate.”
Ethics commission staff recommended a penalty of $50, but the commission voted to revise that upward to $200, in part because Colby has been involved in political action committees in the past – including against Evangelos – and therefore should have known ethics laws. The commission voted 4-1, with Nass in opposition, for the higher fine.
Evangelos said after the meeting that he was pleased with the commission’s ruling and will likely take no further action against Colby.
“The fine was four times what the commission’s staff recommended, and I think that says a lot,” he said. “I’m satisfied that Mr. Colby has been held accountable to the law.”
