Almost $4,000 collected to print & put out yard signs supporting bonds
A recent flurry of campaign filings has answered the mystery of who, exactly, is behind the various yard signs that have popped up in Burlington in support of two bond packages that appear on the ballot in this year’s general election.
Over the past few weeks, state and local election officials have received three sets of reports from individuals or groups that have had some connection with these pro-bond advertisements.
The first of these reports comes from retired state senator Richard W. Gunn, Jr., who submitted paperwork on October 11 to document his expenditures on one set of yard signs. The report credits Gunn, who gives his address as 2714 West Front Street, with a total outlay of $1,661.30.
On October 24, election officials received another report from Ryan D. Moffitt, an attorney with Burlington’s Vernon Law Firm who hails from 441 Fieldstone Drive, that documents an expenditure of $250 on pro-bond yard signs.
Under state law, financial disclosure reports are required of people who spend more than $100 on city- or county-level campaigns, such as those that have emerged in support of Burlington’s bond packages. The law obligates these individuals to submit the required paperwork to their local election office within 30 days of passing the $100 threshold or 10 days before the date of the election when the referendum in question will appear on the ballot.
State law has a different set of rules for referendum campaigns that consist of two or more individuals who are working collectively to support or oppose the same ballot issue. In this case, the campaign’s members are expected to form a referendum committee – and file a formal organizational report within 10 days of the committee’s formation.
Election officials have received one such report in regard to Burlington’s bond referendums from a group of citizens who’ve dubbed themselves “Grassroots Burlington Bond.” The committee’s paperwork was filed on October 22 by Lisa Wolff, a retired employee of Burlington’s recreation department – who, according to the report, had “collected checks payable to Accelerated Graphics” to cover the cost of signs that promote a bond package for various recreation-related initiatives.
Wolff goes on to enumerate six separate payments that she collected on behalf of the pro-bond campaign – which, according to the report, totaled $2,250. These payments include $225 from Ronnie K. Wall of 613 Meadowood Drive, who currently serves as a member of Burlington’s city council; $225 from Burlington’s mayor pro tem Harold Owen, who hails from 223 Engleman Avenue; and $300 from Kimberly Michelle Butler of 520 Meadowood Drive, who is the wife of Burlington’s mayor Jim Butler.
Also included among the committee’s contributors is Shawn Cummings of 716 South Fifth Street in Mebane, who is credited with a $1,000 donation; NC Softball, which chipped in $250 toward the campaign; and Ryan D. Moffitt, whose $250 expenditure is also reported in his own, independently-filed report.
Wolff filed these documents less than a week after The Alamance News contacted her about her role in the pro-bond yard signs that had been proliferated in Burlington. At the time, Wolff told the newspaper that she had it on the authority of Burlington’s bond attorney that a financial disclosure report wouldn’t be necessary for her pro-bond activities. The newspaper pointed out that state law appears to suggest otherwise. A more complete account of this exchange appeared in the October 17 edition of The Alamance News. Click here: https://alamancenews.com/board-of-elections-doesnt-know-whos-behind-signs-for-burlington-bonds/
