Gonzales Supporters Alle Fraud in Keller’s Bid for Public Funding ”Albuquerque Journal

[ad_1]

………. ………. ………. ………. ………. ………. ………. ………. ………. ………. ………. ………. ………. ………. ………. ………. ………. ………. ………. ………. ……….

ALBUQUERQUE, NM – Supporters of Sheriff Manuel Gonzales ‘bid for mayor fought back on Thursday, filing an ethics complaint alleging that the president of the city’s firefighters’ union had fraudulently helped Mayor Tim Keller qualify for public funding in the countryside.

The complaint contains an affidavit signed by Albuquerque firefighter Shawn McDonald alleging that the union leader asked the firefighters to sign $ 5 donation cards on Keller’s behalf and told them he would cover the donation of $ 5 required, a violation of city law. Justin Cheney, president of the firefighters union, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the allegation.

The complaint comes as Gonzales fights to have his public funding restored after City Clerk Ethan Watson denied Gonzales taxpayer funding for his campaign based in part on evidence that Gonzales’s campaign had engaged in fraud. Wednesday’s Gonzales campaign acknowledged that many of the qualifying contribution receipts identified in an ethics complaint filed by the Keller campaign against the sheriff appear to have been signed by someone other than the voter.

The complaint against the Keller campaign was filed by Jason Katz. Katz is chair of the Retired Law Enforcement Measures Finance Committee, which supports Gonzales in his run for mayor.

“If the city clerk is to remain fair and impartial, he must apply the same reasoning to revoke the Keller campaign from public funding as he did for Sheriff Gonzales,” Katz said in a press release.

Neri Holguin, Keller’s campaign manager, called the allegations “stunts” lacking in evidence from previous ethical complaints against Gonzales by Keller’s campaign.

………………………………………….. ……………. …………..

“It’s theater,” Holguin said Thursday. “There is no equivalence between widespread fraud and counterfeiting admitted by Manny Gonzales’ campaign and our campaign. There is no proof and there is no merit in it.

In the affidavit filed with Katz’s complaint, McDonald the Albuquerque firefighter alleges that his fire station was visited on June 1 by the president of Local 244 of the Albuquerque area firefighters. The affidavit does not name the president of the union, but accompanies the receipts for the contributions submitted by Cheney, who is president of the local firefighters union.

Cheney allegedly asked the firefighters to sign Keller’s $ 5 donation cards, but did not make them pay for the $ 5 donation.

McDonald claims he told everyone present to pay their own $ 5 donation.

“The room was silent for a while, but then members continued to review the donation cards,” the affidavit reads.

[ad_2]