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A new St. John’s city councillor ran afoul of fundraising rules in last fall’s election and must now return nearly $5,000 in donations that helped fuel his successful Ward 5 campaign.
But the city believes Coun. Donnie Earle made an unintentional mistake and will not take any action against the rookie politician.
“I made an honest mistake. I will own it and I will rectify it,” Earle told CBC News on Wednesday.
Twenty-nine candidates ran for office in last fall’s St. John’s city council election, and disclosure documents show almost every candidate followed the rules and limited their fundraising to individual contributions.
In one case, Deputy Mayor Ron Ellsworth self-financed his entire campaign, at more than $28,000.
The city changed its election laws last year and it’s clearly spelled out in the rules: any and all corporate and union donations are prohibited.
Eight companies contributed
Earle, however, said he operated under the same rules he did four years ago, when he lost by just 14 votes to Carl Ridgeley.
“I didn’t realize or understand that I wasn’t allowed to take [donations] from a corporation. When I think corporation, I think Nalcor or Hydro,” said Earle.
Earle garnered nearly 60 per cent of the vote in the Oct. 2 election, defeating Ridgeley, the incumbent.
Earle spent nearly $7,000 on his campaign, but $4,700 of that came from eight different companies.
WATCH | ‘I made an honest mistake,’ Earle says:
New St. John’s city councillor says he made ‘honest mistake’ in accepting prohibited donation during election campaign
Of the 29 candidates that ran for office in St. John’s last fall, one didn’t abide by a new rule prohibiting donations from corporations or unions. As the CBC’s Terry Roberts reports, newly elected councillor Donnie Earle says he’s now owning up to the mistake.
Other candidates, including Ridgeley, followed the rules, but Earle doesn’t believe he had an unfair advantage over his competitor for an elected position that pays nearly $52,000 annually.
“I don’t believe for a minute, in my humble opinion, that it would have changed the outcome of the election because I didn’t need the campaign contributions,” he said.
‘There was no ill-intention on my behalf’
Ward 4 Coun. Tom Davis accepted $1,000 from a prominent law firm, but a review by the city cleared the donation because the firm is a partnership, and is not incorporated.
But the city ruled Earle broke the rules and ordered him to give back the donations.
“I’m here today to say I will be refunding the donations,” he said. “I’m here today to let my constituents know there was no ill-intention on my behalf.”
The city has the authority under the Municipalities Act to fine Earle up to $1,000 for such an infraction.
No one from the city would do an interview. But a spokesperson says there’s no evidence that Earle intentionally violated the rules.
As for defeated candidate Carl Ridgeley, he would not do an interview, but said he accepts the outcome of the vote in Ward 5.
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