Veteran Detroit political commentator Bill Johnson writes that unresolved campaign finance violations should keep City Council candidate Bernard Parker off the Aug. 6 primary ballot.
The former county commissioner is running in District 4 on Detroit's east side.
[Photo from WDIV]
"Twice this year, Parker was notified by certified mail that he was in violation of the Campaign Finance Act," Johnson writes at his blog under the headline "Give Bernard parker the boot."
On February 6, 2013, . . . Parker received an eight page letter detailing the numerous errors and omissions in his campaign reports. The letter explicitly advised him that failure to resolve these issues would generate a fee of $25 per day up to the maximum fee of $500. Twice he ignored the notices and warning.
Parker, a Wayne County commissioner until the end of 2012, filed for the council race April 30 and signed an affidavit affirming that he had filed or paid "all statements, reports, late filing fees and fines due from me or any candidate committee organized to support my election to office.”
Parker knew at the time he signed this official declaration that he was in violation of the law; that he was ineligible to run for a spot on the city council. . . .
Detroiters should not take lightly Parker’s attempt to ignore or subvert the law. His defiance is indefensible. . . . It shows a new level of contempt for the people he wants to serve. . . .
If Parker stays on the ballot, it will be up to voters to exercise their civic obligation to deal with this abnormality.
