Posted: 12/4/02

County begins probe of election complaint

Jessica Foster
Staff Writer

A decision on the election complaint filed with the Washington County Attorneyís Office will be at least a month in coming.

Jay Bruner, first assistant to Washington County Attorney Doug Johnson said the complaint did not land on his desk until the middle of last week, as he had been out of the office.

Six candidates for city council including Rick Ashbach, Judy Bull, Mike Egger, Jim DuFour, Robert Holden Sr. and Marco Swanson are challenging the campaign practices of Forest Lake Action Group on behalf of the remaining candidates, Susan Young and Robert Kennedy.

Ashbach and Young won election to four-year terms on Nov. 5.

Bruner said he will go through the complaint and determine what allegations would merit repercussions. Then, either the Forest Lake Police Department or Washington County Sheriffís Office would investigate the claims to see if they were valid.

From there, Bruner said he would determine consequences. If a misdemeanor, those consequences would be fines. A felony could include removal of office, but Bruner said that event is not likely.

Bruner added such complaints about campaign practices are not uncommon.

ìIt happens every time,î he said. ìA very, very, very small percentage have anything of substance to them.î

The complaint filed by the six candidates states that Kennedy and Youth knowingly accepted in-kind contributions from FLAG that were in excess of the $300 limit allowed under state election law.

The complaint also asks the county attorney to seek complete financial disclosure of FLAG, its income sources and expenses during the election.

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