In Re: CLU-PAC

TO: D Harper Russell 966 Liberty Street Jacksonville, FL 32206

STATE OF FLORIDA FLORIDA ELECTIONS COMMISSION

Case No .. : FEC 14-249

Division of Elections 500 S Brnnough Street, Room 316 Tallahassee, FL 32399

NOTICE OF HEARING (AUTOMATIC FINE)

A hearing will be held in this case before the Florida Elections Commission on October 29, 2014, at 8:30 am, or as soon thereafter as the parties can be heard, at the following location: Senate Office Building, Room S-110, 404 South Monroe Street, Tallahassee, FL 32399

Failure to appear in accordance with this notice will constitute a waiver of your right to participate in the hearing, Continuances will be granted only upon a showing of good cause

This hearing will be conducted pursuant to Section I 06 25, Florida Statutes, which governs your participation as follows:

If' you are the Respondent, you may attend the hearing, and you or your attorney will have 5 minutes to present your case to the Commission, However, some cases (including those in which consent orders or recommendations for no probable cause are being considered) may be decided by an en masse vote and, unless you request to be heard or the Commission requests that your case be considered separately on the day of the hearing, your case will not be individually heard

If' you are the Complainant, you may attend the hearing, but you will not be permitted to address the Commission In addition, some cases (including those in which consent orders or recommendations for no probable cause are being considered) may be decided by an en masse vote and, unless the Respondent requests to be heard or the Commission requests that the case be considered separately on the day of the hearing, the case will not be individually heard

If' you are an Appellant, and you have requested a hearing, you may attend the hearing, and you or your attorney will have 5 minutes to present your case to the Commission,

Please be advised that both confidential and public cases ar'e scheduled to be heard by the Florida Elections Commission on this date As an Appellant, Respondent or Complainant in one case, you will not be permitted to attend the hearings on other confidential cases

The Commission will electronically record the meeting Although the Commission's recording is considered the official record of the hearing, the Respondent may provide, at his own expense, a certified court reporter to also record the hearing,

If you require an accommodation due to a disability, contact Donna Malphurs at (850) 922-4539 or by mail at 107 West Gaines Street, The Collins Building, Suite 224, Tallahassee, Florida 32399, at least 5 days before the hearing,

See further instructions on the reverse side,,

.!!"!Y 9rf.c'l(eeper 'Toman Executive Director Florida Elections Commission October 13, 2014

Please refor to the information below for further instructions related to your particular hearing:

If this is a hearing to consider an appeal from an automatic fine, the Filing Officer has imposed a fine on you for your failure to file a campaign treasurer's report on the designated due date and, by filing an appeal, you have asked the Commission to consider either (1) that the report was in fact timely filed; or (2) that there were unusual circumstances that excused the failure to file the rep01t timely. You ar·e required to prove your case.. If the Commission finds that the report was filed timely or that there were unusual circumstances that excused the failure, it may waive the fine, in whole or in part The Commission may reduce a fine after considering the factors in Section 106 265, Florida Statutes.. If the Commission finds that the report was not timely filed and there were no unusual circumstances, the fine will be upheld.

If this is a hearing to consider a consent order before a determination of probable cause has been made, the Commission will decide whether to accept or reject the consent order.. If the Commission accepts the consent order, the case will be closed and become public If the Commission rejects the consent order or does not make a decision to accept or deny the consent order, the case will remain confidential, unless confidentiality has been waived.

If this is a hearing to consider a consent order after a determination of probable cause has been made, the Commission will decide whether to accept or reject the consent order .. If the Commission accepts the consent order, the case will be closed If the Commission rejects the consent order or does not make a decision to accept or deny the consent order, the Respondent will be entitled to another hearing to determine if the Respondent committed the violation( s) alleged.

If this is a probable cause hearing, the Commission will decide if there is probable cause to believe that the Respondent committed a violation of Florida's election Jaws Respondent should be prepared to explain how the staff in its recommendation inconectly applied the law to the facts of the case .. Respondent may not testifY, call others to testifY, or introduce any documentary or other evidence at the probable cause hearing The Commission will only decide whether Respondent should be charged with a violation and, before the Commission determines whether a violation has occuned or a fine should be imposed, Respondent will have an opp01tunity for another hearing at which evidence may be introduced.

If this is an informal hearing, it will be conducted pursuant Sections 120 . .569 and 120 . .57(2), Florida Statutes; Chapter 28 and Commission Rule 2B-L004, Florida Administrative Code. At the hearing, the Commission will decide whether the Respondent committed the violation(s) charged in the Order of Probable Cause The Respondent will be permitted to testify However the Respondent may not call witnesses to testify ..

Respondent may argue why the established facts in the Staff Recommendation do not support the violations charged in the Order of Probable Cause .. At Respondent's request, the Commission may determine whether· Respondent's actions in the case were willful The Respondent may also address the appropriateness of the recommended fine If Respondent claims that his limited resources make him unable to pay the statutory fine, he must provide the Commission with written proof of his financial resources at the hearing. A financial affidavit form is available from the Commission Clerk

Page 1 of3

RE: Auto Fine Cases Bronson, Kristi R to:

P"4:C... i 4--)-~

£-L.U-fAL 'Stephanie Cunningham' 10/0912014 02:47 PM Show Details

Security:

To ensure privacy, images from remote sites were prevented from downloading .. Show Images

Did the Division sent out courtesy reminder emails for the Pl Report? YES

Did the Division send out reminder emails to these candidates/committees prior to the P 1 Report:

- -- 'c-~---'-'~~~~~~~~~~~~~-:-:~~~~--... ( CLU-PAC (60825)- No. No emails have been added to this account

I•...,.,.., _ ',,,,,-_, .. ,_,_., 'T ._..,,.. • ' ' .. -!1 "--. t..!,., ,..,,,.,.,.......,llnt

Does the Division have a mechanism in place for an alternative filing procedure in case the EFS is not operable? (See Section 106 0705(6)(a), Florida Statutes) See Rule 1S-2 .. 017(1)(d), FAG.

http:// election.dos. state. fl.us/rules/ ado pted-ru les/pdf /1s2017. pdf

Rega1ds,

/(ri<ti Reid Bronson, Chi<d Divi.sio11 of Electhms, Bureau of Election Recotds (850) 245-62411

From: Stephanie Cunningham [mailto:Stephanie.Cunningham@myfloridalegal.com] Sent: Thursday, October 09, 2014 11:20 AM To: Bronson, Kristi R Subject: Auto Fine Cases

Ms Bronson:

Thank you for taking the time to demo the EFS for the Commission staff It was very beneficial to me in my preparation of the auto fme cases for hearing. I have a few questions that will help with the cases slated for October hearings

file:///C:/Users/Cunnin!!hamS/ AooData/Local/I emo/notesFCBCEE/-web4420 .. htm 10/13/2014

Page 2 of 3

1. Did the Division sent out courtesy reminde1 emails for the Pl Repmt?

2

3. Did the Division send out reminder emails to these candidates/committees prior to thePlReport: ----- - .... - - ____ , CLU-PAC

(60825),

4.

5 Did the Division send out a reminder email to these candidates/committees fm the PlReport: ' . -o-',CLU-PAC(60825),

'~ · ''"' ,,.., '""""'?If so, please provide a copy of the reminder

l~~j~~t~Jii1~~~;~~~~f ~~~

FLORIDA ELECTIONS COMMISSION CASE REPORT

Case Number: FEC-14-249

NAME: CLU-PAC

DATE APPEAL RECEIVED: 8/25/14

DATE HEARD BY FEC: n/a

DATE HEARING REQUEST RECEIVED: n/a

DATE REPORT DUE: 6/27/14 (2014 Pl)

DATE OF ELECTRONIC RECEIPT: 7/9/14

DATE FILING OFFICER RECEIVED REPORT: 7 /9/14

NUMBER OF DAYS LATE: 12

AMOUNT OF FINE: $2,800.00

FINE BASED ON: ( ) NUMBER OF DAYS ( ) 25% OF RECEIPTS (X) 25% OF EXPENDITURES

TOTAL RECEIPTS FOR REPORIING PERIOD: $0

TOTAL EXPENDIIURESFORREPORIINGPERIOD: $11,200 00

DATE FIRST NOIIFICAIIONWAS SENT: 6/30/14

SUMMARY: CLU-PAC is a political committee (PC) registered with the State ofFlorida The PC's chaiI is D Russell Harper and its treasurer is Miriam Baker

The PC is appealing the fine claiming that unusual circumstances existed that caused the 2014 Pl Report to be untimely filed. According to Mr Harper, "We do not have any full time employees for this organization and only meet once monthly Our Treasurer, Miriam Baker, handles the required procedures for this filing. She was not aware that it had changed to a weekly reporting period She was also out of the State during the change to weekly reporting. She has since reported timely and we are making changes to know what needs to be done at what time I will also monitor any mail regarding the required procedures to help ensure timely reporting"

• The 2014 Pl Report covers the time period fiom 6/1/14 tlnough 6/20/14 • The PC reported receiving 0 contributions, while making 5 expenditures during this reporting

period. • The 2014 Pl Queued-Transactions Report reflects that this report was created on 7/9/14 at

approximately 3:00 pm, reviewed 3 times, before being filed on 7/9/14 at approximately 3:41 pm.

• On 8/28/14, FEC staff made contact with the PC's chair to ensure that the chair was aware of this appeal for an automatic fine

PRIOR CASES: This PC has been involved in 3 prior cases before the Commission FEC 01-159; found unusual circumstances/fined $1,250 .. 00/fine not paid 07-301; found probable cause of 106.04(4)(a)/fined $500 00/fine paid 09-133; found no unusual circumstances of I 06. 04(8)(b )/fined $30 .00/fine not paid

NORTH FLORIDA CENTRAL LABOR COUNCIL

AFL-CIO

OUT OF MANY UNIONS, ONE COUNCIL

< ~6

Or

August 25, 2014

Florida Elections Commission 107 West Gaines Street Suite 224 Tallahassee, Fl .. 32399-1050

RE: Case No. FEC 14-249

RUSSELL HARPER - President - russell_harper@ibew177 org WILLIAM MERRIMAN - Secretary·· wgms2832225@yahoo com

BUNNY BAKER - Treasurer - iambunny@bellsouth net

I am appealing the possible penalties for late filing of a report due that was due on July 27, 2014 and was ultimately filed on July 9, 2014

We do not have any full time employees for this organization and only meet once monthly Our Treasurer, Miriam Baker, handles the required procedures for this filing. She was not aware that it had changed to a weekly reporting period .. She was also out of the State during the change to weekly reporting. She has since reported timely and we are making changes to know what needs to be done at what time I will also monitor any mail regarding the required procedures to help ensure timely reporting

Your consideration in forgiving this penalty would be greatly appreciated

I can be reached at 904··355-4569 if I can be of further assistance in this matter.

Sincerely,

j) %~d/ ¥zyx-·1-.~/ D .. Russell Harper Chairperson CLU-PAC 966 North Liberty Street Jacksonville, FL 32206

966 LIBERTY STREET • JACKSONVILLE FLORIDA 32206 • 904-355-4569

NORTH FLORIDA CENTRAL LABOR COUNCIL

AFL-CJO

OUT OF MANY UNIONS, ONE COUNCIL

·:::­<:-()

RUSSELL HARPER - President - russell_harper@ibew177.org WILLIAM MERRIMAN - Secretary - wgms2832225@yahoo com

BUNNY BAKER -Treasurer- iambunny@bellsouth.net

Or C0v July 31, 2014

Florida Division of Elections Commission 107 West Gaines Street Suite 224 Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0100

Re: CLU-PAC Account# 60825

To Florida Division of Elections Commission:

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I received your letter dated July 12, 2014 today. My reports are not generally late. I came in to do my report and discovered that the reports were now on a weekly basis .. I have filed the report for June 20, 2014 and a waiver for the June 27, 2014 report. For some reason, I am no longer receiving email alerts for these reports.. I do know that not receiving alerts is no excuse. I am deeply sorry for my oversight. I ask that you please forgive the penalties that my oversight has caused.

Please put me on your email alert list in the future My email address is iambunny@bellsouth.net. Please also add Russell Harper .. His email address is Russell Harper@IBEW177.org .. Thank you for any assistance you can give us.

Should you have any questions, please give me a call at 904-766-4612 ..

Miriam Baker, Secretary/Treasurer North Florida Central Labor Council

Cc: Ms. Kristi Bronson, Chief Bureau of Election Records Harper, President, NFCLC Ref: CLUPAC 073114

,1f'I'-''*' CYNTHIA L. KEEN ;.:~'" Comrmss1on #EE 136425 ~. . '!,/ Exp~es November 14, 2015 ''ll,t/r,.,,~ BoodedThruTrnyFainlnM81'1CG~7019

966 LIBERTY STREET • JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA 32206 • 904-355-4569

~

I •

July 11, 2014

D, Russell Harper, Chairperson

CLU-PAC

966 Liberty Street Jacksonville, FL 32206-5660

Re: PAC 60825

Dear Mr, Harper:

....~

FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF STATE Ken Detznel'

Secretary of State

DIVISION OF ELECTIONS

The campaign treasurer's report that was due June 27, 2014, was not filed until July 9, 2014 Accordingly, you are fined in the amount of $2,800 00 The fine must be paid to the Division of Elections within 20 days of receipt of this notice unless appealed to the Florida Elections Commission

If you wish to appeal the fine, you must submit a notice of appeal to the Commission within 20 days of the date of the receipt of this notice, (See Rules 2B-1 005 and 2B-l ,,0055, Florida Administrative Code,) Ihe Florida Elections Commission's address is 107 West Gaines Street, Suite 224, Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0100

Please send a copy of your notice of appeal to the Bureau of Election Records at the address listed below lf you have any questions, please contact us at (850) 245-6240

Sincer~ly,

~~_;;;f)._ . .c~.:;_:; __ Kristi Reid Bronson, Chief Bureau of Election Records

cc: Miriam Baker, Treasurer

The RA Gray Building-Room 316 • 500 South Bronough Street • Tallahassee FL 32399·0250 • (850) 245-6240 FAX: (850) 245-6260 • WWW Address: http://www,dos,.statdl us • £..Mail. DivE/ectiom(@,dos,statefl us

FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF ST ATE Ken Detzner

June .30, 2014

Miriam Baker, Treasurer

CLU-PAC

966 Liberty Street Jacksonville, FL 32206-5660

Re: PAC 60825

Dear Ms. Baker:

Secretary of State

DIVISION OF ELECTIONS

Your campaign treasurer's report, which was due June 27, 2014, has not been received.

Section 106 .. 07(8)(b), Florida Statutes, requires that the filing officer immediately notify you of the failure to file this report and that a fine will be assessed of $50 per day for the first .J days late and, therealier $500 per day, although a fine cannot exceed 25% of the total receipts or expenditures, whichever is greater, for the period covered by the late report However, for the reports immediately preceding each primary and general election, the fine shall be $500 per day for each late day, not to exceed 25% of the total receipts or expenditures, whichever is greater, for the period covered by the late report

Once your report is filed, this office will notify you of the specific amount of your fine. Fines must be paid to the filing officer within 20 days of receipt of the payment due notice.

Please be advised, however, that failure to file a campaign treasurer's report may constitute a violation of Chapter 106, Florida Statutes, independent of the automatic fine violation referenced above. Therefore, ii you fail to file a report the division will tum the matter over to the Florida Elections Commission

Section 106 265(1), Florida Statutes, authorizes the Florida Elections Commission to impose a civil penalty up to $ J,000 per count for each willful violation of Chapter I 06

If you have any questions, please contact the help desk at (850) 245-6280

Sincerely,

~~--{_,~~~~ Kristi Reid Bronson, Chief Bureau of Election Records

cc: D . Russell Harper, Chairperson

The RA Gray Building-Room 316 • 500 South Bronough Street • Tallahassee FL 32399-0250 • (850) 245-6240 FAX 18<;0) 245-6260 • WWW Address: http://www . .dos.,state .. fl.us • E-Mail DivElections(@,dos state fl.us

812812014

CLU-PAC

60825-PAC

Seq Date

611212014

2

611212014

3

611212014

4

611212014

5

611212014

EXPENDITURES

Name

POINDEXTER

JAMES

CRIST

CHARLIE

SHELDON

GEORGE

THURSTON

PERRY

FLORIDA DEMOCRATIC PARTY

Filed Camaign Treasurer's Report Elect!D: 20141104-GEN

Report: 2014 P1 (10)

From: 6/1/2014

To: 6/20/2014

Amd: N

Cmplt: COM

Original Report

Office Address Type Purpose

4446-IA HENDRICKS AVE STE 108 CAN LOC

JACKSONVILLE FL 32207 SOIL & CONSERVATION GROUP 1

I BEACH DRIVE CAN GOV

ST PETERSBURG FL 33701 GOVERNOR

2972 MEDINAH COURT CAN ATG

TALLAHASSEE FL 32312 ATTORNEY GENERAL

PO BOX 1380 CAN ATG

FORT LAUDERD FL 33302 ATTORNEY GENERAL

214 S BRONOUGH ST MON

TALLAHASSEE FL 32301 INFORMATION/EDUCATION

Page 1

Wvr:N Filed: FIL 71912014 3:41:22 PM

Reviewed: AUD 71912014 3:37:51 PM

Submitted: 71912014 3:41:22PM

Errors Antd Antount

0 $200.00

0 $3,000.00

0 $1,500.00

0 $1,500.00

0 $5,000.00

8/28/2014

Account: 60825

RptSeq: 10

PtocessDescription

Create Pending Report

Review Pending Report

Review Pending Report

Review Pending Report

File Pending Report

Queued Items for 2014-P1 Page 1

CLU-PAC

Status Submitter Cleated Last Update

Processing Complete 60825 7/9/2014 3:00:56 PM 7/9/2014 3:00:56 PM

Processing Complete 60825 7/9/2014 3:24:08 PM 7/9/2014 3:24:08 PM

Processing Complete 60825 7/9/2014 3:36:30 PM 71912014 3:36:30 PM

Processing Complete 60825 7/9/2014 3:37:51 PM 71912014 3:37:51 PM

Processing Complete 60825 7/9/2014 3:41:22 PM 7/9/2014 3:41:22 PM

c

~•"m

tf7 \j Florida Department of State - Division of Elections Florida Election System Reports

Committee Name: CLU-PAC Account: 60825

l!f.l@l!l!l§P..jllll,, •••• ,,,,, ......... lliillllil 8/29/2014 P7A 8/27/2014 '§1~212014 !1\~812::212014~ 8/15/2014 P6 8/9/2014 8)812014 fTs~ 8!1112014 8/1/2014 P4 7/30/2014

~2~Q:t4" p3 Jif~oi~(J,14 7/18/2014 P2A 7/11/2014 7)1fil[~1411 •. · p2···· 1::Z912w1.~. •· 7/4/2014 P1A 7/9/2014 CLO 5 $0 00 $0 00 $0.00 @/27i201~~Ji.?1912q11\ j[~I;' .1'.2~.f$2I8o6 0blf;B11~ '$~0~!Q.g'~ )~ 6/10/2014 M5 6/10/2014 51,1.2120,~ ·~ 5/8/~p];~!0'w 4/10/2014 M3 417/2014 3110111'.~i'. 'rVf2 3l§![o~if}; 2/10/2014 M1 2/5/2014 1110/2614'!!J[M121i1oi2o~~~:, ·· 12/10/2013 M11 12/9/2013 ~;1112120~~1:0 11/10/:lQ'.13.~·· 10/10/2013 03 10/8/2013

https://doesecure .. dos .state fl .us/fec/FilingHistory.Asp? AcctNum=60825&cboElection=&c .. 8/28/2014

Unique ID

39074

RE: Letter from Treasurer

HISTORY NOTES CLU-PAC - 60825

(

Date Recorded Last Edited Date

7/15/201411:22:00AM

Orginally Recorded By

OS Brown

I attempted to reaach the treasurer at the telephone number she provided, 904-766-4612, but never got answer or voicemail called the PAC telephone number and was told she was out and would not be in today Therefore, I sent Ms Baker the following email:

Miriam Baker, Treasurer for CLU-PAC (60825)

Dear Ms Baker,

The Division is in receipt of your letter dated July 9, 2014_ which addressed late filed campaign finance reports and the request for email alerts

If you wish to appeal the fine, you must submit a notice of appeal to the Commission within 20 days of the date of receipt of the fine notice. (See Rule 28-1.005 and 28-1.0055, Florida Administrative Code) The Florida Elections Commission's address is 107 West Gaines Street, Suite 224, Tallahassee, FL 32399-0100

In order to receive email alerts, you will need to add your email addresses in the Electronic Filing System (EFS) Once you have logged into the PAC account (60825), go to Campaign Account_ Email addresses may be entered for the chairperson within the Contact tab An email address may also be listed for .the treasurer within the Treasurer tab. Alerts, error notices, late notices and special election information may be sent to you through these systems (You may also update the committee's address and/or telephone information within these tabs.)

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at the number below

Best regards,

Donna S Brown

38774 6/5/2014 4:15:00 PM mcchellman

T called regarding whether she needed to file the MUC report for 2013 activity, no as they reported no contributions, and how contributions need to be reported by her PC when they finally receive them from the individual members of a union who contribute to the AFL-CIO who in turn contributes to various Central Labor Counsels throughout the state whon in turn eventually contribute to the PC After speaking with KRB, I called T back and asked her to submit a letter signed by either her or the C laying out the membership dues structure, the chain of contributions prior to the PC's receipt, and the nature of each entity. I asked if the AFL-CIO was a federal PAC (or any other entity in the chain) and she said no She said she would complete a letter best she could and submit it for review to determine how the dues need to be reported, from the individuals at the beginning of the chain or as contributions from the Central Labor Counsels, etc Per KRB, there is the possibility that this multi-headed entity may not need to be registered as a PC in Florida any longer but that can't be determined until the contribution activity/chain is mapped out

34406 10/2/2013 4:26:00 PM ljrandolph

RE: Incomplete Paperwork (Email) 8/7/2013

Dear Ms Baker

We the Division of Elections are in receipt of the political committee paperwork, However we aren table to process the application because the Registered Agent form that we received is missing the Registered Agent Signature Please complete the attached DSDE 41 form and submit it via fax or email so that we can process the application quickly as possible

Thank you, Lenard Randolph Regulatory Specialist I

34403

RE: Incomplete paperNork

10/2/2013 4:24:00 PM ljrandolph

I called and asked for Ms. Baker and Mr Harper and the secretary told me that both officers were out of the office and shall return next week I followed up with an email detailing the errors explaining why we werent able to process the application 817/2013 LJR

Page 1 of 1 8/28/2014

Respondent: CLU-PAC

PHONE LOG Case No.: FEC 14-249

1 Date and time: August 28, 2014 @9:00 am Name: D Russell Harper-· Chairperson Phone #:(904) 355-4569 Summary: I attempted telephone contact to make contact with Chairperson I left a message with Lisa to return my call. Entered by: CKO

2 Date and time: August 28, 2014 @ 11 :40 am Name: D. Russell Harper-Chairperson Phone #: (904) 355-4569 Summary: I had telephone contact to make contact with Chairperson Mr Harper states that the PC should have been aware of the change to monthly reporting; however, they still filed the report late He stated that the PC no longer received the email alerts from DOE I explained that he would need to make contact with DOE to give them his email address for the PC to receive email notifications again I gave him a contact number for DOE.. Mr .. Harper thanked me for my assistance with this matter He informed me that there shouldn't be anymore untimely filings of reports Enter·ed by: CKO

Aut050 (1/04)