Willow legislator fined $1,000

ANCHORAGE -- The Alaska Public Offices Commission handed down a unanimous decision Wednesday, directing outgoing Willow-area representative Beverly Masek to pay $1,000 and attend campaign disclosure training before or early in her next campaign.

The commissioners, Wednesday morning, reconvened a meeting that began Aug. 30 and ended in a two-hour executive session that day. Commissioners had also met in executive session via teleconference Sept. 2, adjourning after a half hour. They reviewed 10 complaints filed in May by Masek's former legislative aide, Eric Musser, alleging Masek had improperly used a public office expense term, or POET, account. Many of the allegations revolve around Masek's commingling of personal funds with campaign funds set aside expressly for legislative office expenses. According to the complaint, she used office funds to pay credit card bills, home heating fuel costs, auto payments on a totaled vehicle, a $3,100 loan to her son, and other costs.

Commissioners found that, although Alaska statutes state campaign funds "may not be converted to personal income of the candidate," and that POET account funds "may be used only for expenses associated with the candidate's serving as a member of the Legislature," it doesn't expressly prohibit adding personal funds to a POET account and using those funds for personal expenses. Until that distinction is made clear, commissioners wrote in their conclusion, they could not find that Masek had violated expenditure restrictions.

They did find she had violated Alaska statutes. Commissioners found that Masek listed a $3,100 loan to her son as a "draw on personal funds," but it was made at a time when insufficient personal funds were in the account to cover the loan. She later told commissioners the loan was repayment for 2002 office expenses, but did not provide a list of expenditures. Commissioners found Masek's report, in this regard, was "not only incomplete, it also ... was misleading."

Commissioners also found Masek improperly recorded a check repaying Musser for a personal loan as an office expense reimbursement and that she did not quickly resolve two out-of-state contributions of $500 made above the allowable amount for out-of-state contributors, which commissioners said was an ongoing violation of two state statutes. Lastly, they found that Masek's listing of home heating fuel as an office expense was a violation, because it was impossible to determine how much of the heating fuel purchased was used to fill her vehicle for constituent-related travel and how much was used to heat her home, a non-office expense.

Seven complaints, including that Masek paid for repairs to a snowmachine with campaign funds, that she made auto loan payments with campaign funds and that she made credit card payments with campaign funds were found not to be violations, in part, because reporting was not adequate to differentiate.

"In the absence of adequate reporting and accounting, it is not possible to determine with clarity whether the loan payments came from personal funds or unused campaign funds," Commissioners wrote in reference to the questionable auto loan payments. The statement was repeated throughout their written conclusion.

Although Masek's violations were the subject of much of the commissioners' order, nearly as much direction was given to APOC staff in the conclusion. Staff were directed to develop recommendations for changes to regulations to make the accepted uses of POET accounts more clear. Suggestions were to clearly state that the account should house only unused campaign contributions, that any personal funds placed in the account should be removed as soon as possible and carefully documented, and that receipts should be maintained for all POET expenditures.

APOC Executive Director Brooke Miles said APOC staff could start a project to readdress campaign disclosure regulations. Miles said when the POET account and reserve account were created in 2001 and changed in 2002, much of the work was done at the end of session, and it was difficult to analyze all aspects of the changes.

"I understand what the commission found with respect to the account," Miles said. "I know in creating the reserve account, it was never [legislators'] intent to create it for personal use."

Miles said it's likely staff will now work toward creating new regulations and clarifying instructions and materials distributed to candidates.

Contact Rindi White at rindi.white@frontiersman.com.