Probe sought for campaign contributions
City, county officials question use of funds by candidate.

By Bryan Dean And John David Sutter
Staff Writers

Tuesday, February 7, 2006
Edition: CITY, Section: NEWS, Page 1A

 

Linked Objects: (Click image for details)

City and county officials called Monday for an investigation into whether Oklahoma County Commissioner Brent Rinehart or his campaign manager broke election laws.

Documents obtained by The Oklahoman show money from two donors to RinehartÕs 2004 campaign for District 2 commissioner contributed money through a political action committee, run by Tim Pope, RinehartÕs campaign manager.

Pope then used some of the money to pay for a mailing endorsing Rinehart, which may have violated state campaign laws, officials said.

Rinehart denies any wrongdoing.

ÒIt doesnÕt sound legal or ethical to me,Ó Oklahoma County Assessor Leonard Sullivan said. ÒIt just doesnÕt pass the smell test.Ó

It is legal for a political action committee to donate to a campaign, but it is illegal for a political action committee to earmark funds for a particular candidate when accepting donations, said Marilyn Hughes, executive director of the Oklahoma Ethics Commission.

Pope runs the Oklahoma Republican Assembly (OKRA) political action committee and ran RinehartÕs 2004 county commissioner campaign. He said he solicited donations from people who already had given the maximum-allowed contribution to Rinehart.

He said he told at least one of the donors the money would be used for a mailer supporting Rinehart, but he denied doing anything illegal.

ÒIf it was definitely an earmarked contribution that was meant to go to one campaign, then thatÕs a problem,Ó Hughes said.

ÒIn-kindÓ donation

RinehartÕs campaign accepted a $2,581 donation from PopeÕs political action committee, or PAC, on July 23, 2004, for Òmailing services.Ó Rinehart said he did not know the donors who paid for the mailing were also donors to his campaign.

PopeÕs PAC took three donations in the weeks leading up to the mailing. All three donors also gave to Rinehart, and two had already given the $5,000 legal limit to RinehartÕs campaign.

ÒWe did everything we could to stay as upright and honest on everything that weÕve ever filed,Ó Pope said.

Campaign finance documents for the committee show engineer Bob Larkin and developers Ray Pelfrey and Jerl Methvin donated money from July 14 to July 20, 2004. Pelfrey gave $1,000, Larkin gave $2,000 and Methvin gave $2,500. Larkin and Methvin already had given $5,000 to RinehartÕs campaign. Pelfrey already had donated $3,282.50 to RinehartÕs campaign.

PopeÕs PAC listed no other money sources and no balance before taking $5,500 from the three Rinehart donors.

Pope said he approached Methvin with the idea for the mailing, which was a comic book endorsing Rinehart and opposing his primary opponent, Jack Cornett. Pope said he remembers the conversation with Methvin, Òvery clearly.Ó

ÒI showed him (Methvin) a draft of what we were wanting to do and I said, ÔDo you wanna help?Õ And he said, ÔYou bet,Õ Ó Pope said.

Methvin and Pelfrey could not be reached for comment.

Larkin said he does not remember speaking to Pope and would only have given a donation to PopeÕs group if he thought it would help Rinehart.

ÒRinehart is a good friend of mine,Ó Larkin said. ÒI probably thought I was donating to his campaign. ThatÕs what I thought it was for. ThatÕd be the only way that it wouldÕve happened.Ó

Pope said the contribution was legal because he did not redirect cash to RinehartÕs campaign. He said the mailing — listed on RinehartÕs campaign contribution report — was a legitimate activity by his committee.

ÒI hold two different roles — I was BrentÕs campaign manager, and I was the head of the PAC,Ó Pope said. ÒSo it was made very clear that this was not a campaign contribution to Rinehart, it was a contribution to the PAC, to be used for PAC efforts ... and one of the PAC efforts was we were going to endorse and go and help Brent.Ó

Investigation requested

Several city and county officials said Monday they hope the matter is investigated.

Hughes said the first step in an investigation would be for someone to file a written complaint. The ethics commission would review such a complaint and refer it to a district attorney if further investigation is warranted.

ÒIt would concern me and I would agree that it probably needs to be looked at,Ó Ward 1 Councilman Gary Marrs said. ÒIt sounds unethical at best. I donÕt know that I would hire someone as my campaign manager who was running a PAC that I might take money from.Ó

Rinehart was a member of the city council during his 2004 campaign for county commissioner.

Others calling for an investigation included Oklahoma City council members Sam Bowman and Larry McAtee, County Treasurer Butch Freeman, and fellow county commissioners Stan Inman and Jim Roth.

Monday wasnÕt the first time RinehartÕs campaign funds have been questioned.

City council members criticized Rinehart in 2004 after he took contributions from Methvin two weeks before supporting MethvinÕs southeast Oklahoma City housing development. At RinehartÕs urging, the council approved the development despite protests from neighbors who claimed it would ruin their rural lifestyle.

Rinehart also was criticized last year for taking a $73,930 home loan from Pelfrey in March 2004, in addition to PelfreyÕs campaign donations. Five months after accepting the loan, Rinehart voted to rezone land owned by Pelfrey to clear the way for a residential development.

After taking the loan, Rinehart lent $5,333 to his campaign. Rinehart has said he used the loan to pay for living expenses during the campaign.

Rinehart said the controversy is a ploy by his political enemies.

ÒTim had access to everything as far as who my campaign contributors were, and if he contacted them independently, I guess thatÕs — from what I understand — 100 percent legal,Ó Rinehart said.