Is there ever going to be an infusion of guts into people who are supposed to look out for the public good when politicians go awry? The state Board of Elections wimped out when it came to its ruling on House Speaker, Nicholas Mattiello’s violation of campaign finance laws. Mr. Mattiello egregiously raided his own PAC (Political Action Committee) and used funds exceeding the $1000 limit and he was able to collect twice as much as the law allowed from lobbyists to spend on his campaign. His implausible”oops!” is contradicted by the ad seriatim number of checks being written out to vendors so it wasn’t a one-time mistake. Further, the mailing paid for by Mr. Mattiello’s campaign team under the name of a failed Republican opponent who was now “endorsing” him was trickery. Yet, the Board of Elections as protectors of the voting process didn’t fine him a dime. All he had to do was transfer money from his personal campaign fund back to the PAC which he chairs as his “punishment”. The Board also didn’t notice that the PAC missed two required pre-election spending reports that would have shone light on the machinations.

What is also the height of temerity is the Board’s inexplicable ruling on the mailing sent out in the opponent’s name without the board actually hearing from Mr. Mattiello’s campaign operatives who apparently orchestrated the scheme. The three of them, all, did not respond to subpoenas. The Board should have kept the case open until such time as they set –up contempt hearings for the three in order to try to ascertain what the Speaker knew or didn’t know about the illegal mailing.

Instead, they concluded a case without hearing from 3 key witnesses. Even as of April 30 the Board has not set up the show cause hearings as to why the operatives should not be adjudged in contempt for failure to appear as witnesses, although that is what the Board said it would do after ruling on the merits.

Oh, well, the only palpable conclusion that voters can reach is that the Elections Board continued to pander to the Speaker by closing out the case before the voting season sets in so the violations are a distant memory in the mind of the voters in his district.

By contrast, the staff knows how to dole out punishment to the non-connected politicians. When Ken Block was running for Governor under the aegis of the Republican Party he actually called an elections board staff member to ask if he could donate $10,000 each to the state and local Republican Party organizations and accept this sum from them. He was told he could do it legally so he did it. With transparency he then called the same person back to say he made the contributions. BA BAM! As the television ad shouts. He was promptly fined $20,000 for an action which he had asked about, was told that it was legal, and reported back. (The fine was later reduced to $2000).

In the case of the Speaker there should have been a punitive fine. The Board of Elections members look hapless. It’s a shame that they seemed to have bent over backwards to accommodate the Speaker at the expense of their reputations.

Arlene Violet is an attorney and former Rhode Island Attorney General.