The Moving Saugus Forward Committee, which was created before last year’s election to draw support for the establishment of a town charter commission, was recently fined by the Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance for violating a campaign-finance law.
The office moved to fine the committee due to conduct surrounding November’s election, at which the ballot question to create the commission failed, according to a letter sent to the committee by Office of Campaign and Political Finance Director William Campbell.
According to the letter, the committee made expenditures that supported and opposed candidates running for the Saugus Charter Commission. As a “ballot-question committee,” the Moving Saugus Forward Committee was restricted to making expenditures that supported or opposed the passage of the ballot question itself.
Not only were funds from the committee misappropriated, so too were corporate funds “for the same purpose,” Campbell wrote.
These actions, Campbell wrote, did not comply with Massachusetts General Law Chapter 55, Section 6B.
“To resolve this matter, a payment was made to the Commonwealth in the amount of $1,116 on behalf of the 13 candidates who benefitted from the expenditures as an in-kind contribution to their campaigns,” Campbell wrote.
He added that this figure was determined based “on the total cost of advertisements and the percentage of each advertising or mailing that supported or opposed candidates.”
The committee has been dissolved since Jan. 8. Campbell noted that the committee cooperated in this matter, and wrote that the office believes that these actions and the letter will “ensure future compliance” with campaign finance laws.
Anthony Speziale, the former chair of the committee, could not be reached for comment as of press time.
