A briefing on the new ethics ordinance in Charles County sparked a debate between Commissioners on campaign finance transparency during Wednesday’s meeting.
The debate started when Charles County Commissioner President Candice Quinn-Kelly (D) said there needed to be more transparency in the campaign finance system. Her suggestions included full disclosure for Limited Liability Companies (LLC) and making it easier for voters to find information. She stated that the information is public but that people had to jump through so many hoops to find it.
Commissioner Vice President Reuben Collins said, “Full disclosure is the key” but asked what Kelly wanted to do. Collins also wondered if Kelly had suggested if candidates had violated disclosure laws. Kelly replied that she never said anyone was not reporting contributions.
Commissioner Ken Robinson (D: District 1) stated that information is available online but corporate donations are often trickier to find. Robinson also said that, while candidates do report contributions, donors often play “shell games.”
A “shell game” is a term in politics for when donors donate to candidates through Political Action Committees and other sources. This often makes it difficult to find where exactly contributions to candidates come from, often meaning candidates themselves might not know if an unfavorable company has donated to their cause.
Kelly continued the discussion saying that reports need to be more comprehensive.
“If you don’t know who’s giving you money, you better know,” Kelly said. “We’re going to go the extra step. I’d like to hear what the public has to say about it.”
Collins stated that the law works, and the reason there were issues in other counties was because people went beyond the scope of the law, to which Kelly retorted that p
