Gonzalez was accused by the city of getting rent at its downtown offices heavily discounted. Gonzalez claimed that the rent was reasonable given Portland’s current market.
PORTLAND, Ore. — The City of Portland has denied a request from city council candidate Rene Gonzalez for reconsideration of a $77,140 fine leveled against his campaign This week. Gonzalez will be running against Jo Ann Hardesty, the incumbent commissioner, in November’s election.
The fine was issued by the city’s Small Donor elections program on Sept. 21. It stated that Gonzalez illegally obtained a highly discounted lease from Schnitzer Properties Management for his downtown office. Jordan Schnitzer (the building’s landlord) has donated previously directly to the Gonzalez campaign.
Participating in the Small Donor Elections program requires candidates to comply with contribution limits. In return, they will receive a 9-1 match on the first $20 of donations from Portland residents. The goal is to enable candidates to run only on small donations.
The program office stated that the Gonzalez campaign had paid $250 per month since May for the office space, and that it was now worth $250,000 had been advertised At $26/square foot, it is equivalent to $6,000.
RELATED: Council hopeful Rene Gonzalez fined $77K for violating rules of Portland’s small donor program
Susan Mottet, the director of Small Donor Elections, wrote that the $6650 difference was an illegal campaign contribution.
Gonzalez was required to pay $33,250 to accept the space, $10,640 to fail to report it and an additional $33,250 to Schnitzer Properties Management.
Gonzalez campaign responded by issuing a statement in which it argued that the rent amount was reasonable market value given downtown’s “dismal state”. Then, the Gonzalez campaign countered. formally asking On Tuesday, officials will waive the penalty.
Jordan Schnitzer also weighed in KGW received word last week that Gonzalez had visited him in April, and offered Gonzalez the space. Gonzalez has been without a place for almost two years.
Gonzalez, he said, “do us a favor” in taking over the space during a downturn in downtown Portland’s leasing activity. He also said that he would have done that deal with any political candidate or nonprofit that held views that were constructive and important for our city.
In a response letter Mottet, who was released Thursday, stated that her office had determined that the fine was justifiable.
Responding to the campaign’s argument about the low downtown office market, she stated that her office had conducted research and found that similar office spaces were available for comparable rates to the $26/square-foot rate. had been advertised For the campaign office.
Although her office did locate some discounted spaces on the market, they were usually contingent on signing one year leases and not month-to-month like the Gonzalez campaign.
She claimed that the fact the office was empty for two years and was advertised at $6,900 was evidence that the owner was unwilling to lease the space to the public for less that the advertised rent.
Schnitzer’s public comments were addressed by Schnitzer, and she wrote that, because the space wasn’t advertised to the public at the lower rates, the discount would be considered to be a contribution to any particular political campaign or nonprofit to which Schnitzer offered.
“The willingness of the property owner or the space owner to make a gift or give away all or part of its fair market value to another person or entity is not a factor in determining the fair market value,” she wrote.
Technically, the request for reconsideration was not an appeal. However, the campaign can still appeal the fine separately. Mottet stated that the deadline for doing so is October 6.
from Salem – Salem Local News https://bit.ly/3C1fjRf
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