RYBAK'S MONEY PROBLEMS

The Star Tribune story about R.T. Rybak's campaign finance reports reminded me of his other campaign finance blunders: 1. R.T. Rybak returned a campaign contribution to a "facilitator" hired to help the new City Council work together better. Rybak had promised during the campaign not to accept contributions from those who had business with the city. The facilitator, Linda Houden, was paid $175 an hour for up to 34 hours of meetings. Source: Star Tribune, January 5, 2002 2. Despite Rybak’s calls for clean campaign financing, he again makes it a habit of postmarking his finance reports by the due date, so that they aren’t in the office before close of business, like the other candidates. They are following the letter of the law, but again, most other candidates make it a habit of filing reports by the end of business that day, not by postmarking them that day. Belton’s campaign takes notice of this, and for this reporting cycle holds off, under the belief the Rybak campaign is making it a point of filing last so they can spin the numbers of the other opponents before they even see his reports. Source: Pioneer Press, October 30, 2001 ## Rybak releases finance data; move draws scorn from DFL challenger Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak's attempt to claim the high ethical ground on campaign finance Wednesday was met with laughter from his DFL rival. Rybak released the names of all his 2005 contributors and said he had $144,547 in his campaign fund. He then called on challenger and Hennepin County Commissioner Peter McLaughlin to make the same disclosure before the city endorsing convention May 14. "The law doesn't require this to be disclosed but I think a person walking into a convention should know who's paying for the campaign," Rybak said at his campaign office. The two are in the final days of trying to woo DFL delegates to the convention. McLaughlin has said he will drop from the race if Rybak is endorsed. Rybak will run in the primary regardless, but a strong convention showing would be a boost. By law, candidates need not release the names of their donors until Sept. 6. Also, city candidates are only required to list the names of those who donate more than $100. Rybak released names of all his donors and his fund-raising total. Asked why he didn't do so in 2001, Rybak said he had raised barely $30,000 before the convention when he was an upstart candidate. McLaughlin accused Rybak of a "deathbed conversion" on campaign finance. The mayor's premiere political campaign came in 2001 when he challenged and trounced two-term incumbent Sharon Sayles Belton. As a challenger, Rybak made campaign finance reform a centerpiece of his campaign. He often chided Sayles Belton for taking money from people who do business with the city and said that as mayor, he would do no such thing. Rybak also said incumbents should refrain from raising money in nonelection years. "I've had to make huge decisions as mayor with public money and I've been able to do it without my hands tied," he said. McLaughlin said Rybak hasn't lived up to his own campaign rhetoric. He doesn't intend to release his donor lists and said he was unable to say immediately how much he had in the bank. "I'll follow the law," McLaughlin said. In each of the past two years, Rybak has held New Year's Eve fundraisers at the home of prominent DFL activists Sam and Sylvia Kaplan. More recently, McLaughlin noted, Rybak paid $10,000 to reimburse taxpayers for part of the $42,000 cost of a glossy newsletter he sent to every city resident early this year. State Auditor Pat Anderson said portions of the newsletter illegally constituted campaigning with taxpayer money. A two-person city ethics panel said the law was confusing and determined that Rybak didn't need to reimburse the city, but the mayor settled on the $10,000 number. Of his decision to release his fundraising data, Rybak said, "It's time to just set a higher standard." McLaughlin countered that Rybak "has ripped off the taxpayers for $32,000 for a piece of campaign literature." He said. "Paying back $10,000 does not pass his -- quote -- holding himself to a higher standard." He urged Rybak to "send it all back." The mayor also on Wednesday more narrowly defined what he means by "doing business with the city." Rybak now said he will not accept contributions from: • Registered lobbyists in the city within the past two years. • Anyone in nongovernmental organizations who directly benefits from a city subsidy or contract over which the mayor and City Council have exercised discretion in the past two years or will exercise discretion in the future. Source: Star Tribune, April 28, 2005