As the candidates filed their campaign finance reports on Tuesday, two reports stood out from the rest. Read our complete story
Both Dave Clark and Teri Volk have apparently relied on money from Loveland’s two biggest contributors to previous campaigns at least indirectly – Loveland Commercial and McWhinney.
Dave Clark took money from Loveland Midtown Development Inc. which is a corporation (according to Colorado Secretary of State records) which is prohibited by Loveland’s city charter. If what he reported to the City Clerk Tuesday is true – he broke the law.
Both took money from three hotels in town (Residence Inn, Fairfield Inn & Suites and Hampton Inn). Whether this is technically a violation or not depends on who wrote the checks. If the check comes from a corporation – it is illegal. If the check was written on the account of a local partnership bearing the corporate names, than according to Loveland’s City Attorney by his reading of the city charter it is allowed.
What is likely is that Clark, currently serving as Loveland’s Mayor Pro Tem, is unlikely to be fined by the city for violating the campaign laws. He took $100 from four different entities all bearing the same street address that happens to also be LovelandCommercial. Whether it was directed by Marostica or his partner is unknown. Either way, funneling campaign contributions through multiple entities by an individual who owns those entities would be a violation of the $100 per person contribution limit in Loveland’s charter.
Regardless, Measure 2C was approved by Loveland voters to reform campaign finance in 2008 and is having an impact. More people entered the local races this year than previous years and the anointed McWhinney/Chamber candidates – Dave Clark, Bob Snyder and Teri Volk – are running in very competitive races.
Clark and Volk appear unable to fund their campaigns with contributions only from residents and are trying to push the limits of the law. In the case of Clark he has crossed the line in our opinion and whether Volk has or not should be easily determined in the next couple days.
Good catch! Wow is his campaign in a downward spiral! The only question is why is Don Marostica still trying to manipulate elections in Loveland?
This is outrageous. And I thought I couldn’t be any more outraged! And though I’ve learned not to expect much, I’m still disappointed the local paper didn’t pick up on this when it reported contributions today.
It’s also good to know who McWhinney and Marostica are backing. I won’t be doing same.
I hope and pray that this campaign will be the last gasp of Loveland’s crooked elite politicians fueled only by special interests.
Anyone reading this blog who supports democracy should read carefully the campaign finance report by Dave Clark. They will find it is the Who’s Who of people getting money from the city. I suppose those are the only folks who really want to see him in public office.
Thanks for providing the electronic copy of Clark’s finance report in your story. I read through it after discovering the Loveland Reporter-Herald stopped the long tradition of reporting contributors as well.
It wasn’t until I read lovelandPolitics that I realized why.
You guys otta get some kind of award.
Did it ever cross anyone’s mind that maybe it was an honest mistake? Do you REALLY believe someone would intentionally report that they accepted a donation illegally?
It must be a miserable existence to constantly try and make others out to be “evil-doers.”
Oh – John please read the entire article before you post and even the Daily Reporter-Herald article today which confirms what I read here yesterday.
Honest mistake? When the majority of Lovelanders vote to say we want campaigns financed by residents with a $100 limit what does Dave Clark do?
1. He takes money from the same person (company) four different ways one of which happens to be a corporation and the parent company an LLC. He clearly was trying thwart the will of Loveland voters sneeking around the fact Republicrat Don Marostica is funding his campaign.
2. Three hotels donate that all have a common owner (McWhinney). Do you wonder why McWhinney is so desperate to keep their bought politicians in office?
3. John Shaw (Denver) is also listed as contributor to both Clark and to Volk. He is listed as “self-employed” on Volk’s (10/01); and as President, McWhinney, on Clark’s (10/04)
Getting all your support from two of Loveland’s most influential special interests and trying to hide the real source of the contributions is more than an honest mistake.
Oh and those individuals you might argue who gave him money? Real people like Lucia (McWhinney’s coin operated attorney) are just as bad as Dave because they don’t give a crap about Loveland.
Dave should be ashamed of himself.
I did read the article. I still think it was a mistake, but who am I and what do I know.
I guess you are right, and maybe I should be ashamed of myself for questioning the legitimacy of the article. I am so sorry…I will never question anything posted on this site again, because it is OBVIOUSLY infallible.
I have a few comments on these illegal contributions:
1. Dave Clark should have known the city code before accepting contributions — he is on the council for goodness sake! Do we want this “high intellect” now running our city?!
2. It is obvious that Clark is running the campaign of Terri Volk as the local hotel chains in town wrote duplicate checks to both campaigns. Seems they hung their hope of getting the room tax passed on the wrong shooting stars…
3. Saw old Dave out at the corner late last night at Madison and 34. The poor guy looked like he had acid reflux after having crow for dinner. He must really be worried that the election is slipping out of his claws.
4. Ever wonder why all the candidate signs are vanishing all over town EXCEPT for CLARK and VOLK? If you can’t stand the heat in the kitchen, you should not be in the race. Even the Gambino family had more ethics in business!
John,
no need for sarcasm. I can understand…it’s probably difficult trying to give cover to people who are corrupt.
For the record, it wasn’t Dave Clark who reported that he had received an illegal contribution… it was someone else. So your first question is bizarre at best.
And as for reporting contributions at all… that’s a legal requirement. Do I think Clark would report ANY of his donors if not faced with penalties for not doing it? No way.
Do I think it was “a mistake”? Yes, but not an honest one.
Did Clark know what was going on with these multiple donations from the same folk? You bet. He may not be the brightest bulb in the room, but he’s figured out long ago who butters his bread.
Outrage is a mild description of what this means to Loveland voters. The only acceptable explanations would be incompetence or sloppy work by the campaign. But, since I’ve know Clark’s campaign treasurer for over 3-years and seen his hard work and meticulous attention to city fiscal matters on the Citizen’s Finance Advisory Commission, I have to drop that idea.
All that remains is arrogance and deception. That someone running for mayor would try to defy the law and hold to the bad old ways of big business and big developers buying city elections. This is contempt for the 70% of Loveland voters who approved 2C just two years ago.
This appears to only be happening in two campaigns; Clark and Volk. All other candidates have clean records (or no donations). Perhaps this evidence additional arrogance, a little “…try to get away with it.”
The City Clerk did her part giving every candidate meticulous instructions for financial reporting. The evidence is there in black & white. Now we have to see if the City Attorney has the fortitude to actually enforce the law. Voters need to support what they approved and make the right choice for Mayor and get someone on Council from Ward 4 who understands rule of law.
John, why are you questioning the veracity of the article?
The LP article never mentions motives or causes only that Dave Clark reported an illegal contribution. You are not disputing that part are you?
Incompetence may in fact be the true cause of that single illegal contribution as you suggest. But since it is embedded with other related nefarious activities it makes that blunder even more culpable.
John, your posting sounds like a “Other than that Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?” question. Do you really believe Al Capone was only guilty of tax evasion as well? Do you think Watergate was a simple case of burglary?
Dave Clark’s campaign was clearly involved in attempt to circumvent the law relative to maximum contribution limits. The fact he slipped-up and one of the four checks he got from the same source was a corporation instead of partnership is the smaller issue although still illegal.
Even the city attorney appears unwilling to defend his actions. Now the city should asses a penalty for the misdomeanor crime while investigating the more important issue. Failure to act in accordance with enforcing the charter may confirm the suspicions of some that city hall is openly corrupt.
Perspective John – good people in public office or cheats who are also incompetent? Clark has served under the tutelage of our Mayor the plagiarist. Both men demonstrate an absolute contempt for the public process and the public they are supposed to serve.
Question what is wrong on LP (as I have done in the past) but don’t post silly messages that only reveal your own lack of knowledge or understanding of the issue.
An honorable man would resign from this race and acknowledge public office is no place for liars and cheaters.
I hope this jackass stands on a corner where i can see him. I will stop my car and give him a piece of my mind!
You know the saying all it takes fro evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing. Stop doing nothing people and start telling Clark his illegal ways don’t belong anywhere near city hall!
Not a bad idea Zack. What if the 912 group stopped at his corner to protest against his crooked candidacy for office. What a great day for Loveland that would be.
Get the bums out before they giveaway any more of our taxes to their Chamber buddies.
I have a question for everyone. Please let me know before I fill-in my ballot because I really want to know.
1. Who do you think is the dumbest person running (and why) and who is the smartest (why).
2. Who is the most tightly associated with slippery Chad McWhinney?
3. Who should I vote for in Ward 3 besides the Mayor and school board?
Thanks guys
Deb
Anyone else notice Bill Beierwaltes listed FIRST among the Walt Skowron for mayor campaign contributors.
Ha! Who was that guy on this blog pretending Walt Skowron didn’t get support from Beierwaltes! If he is willing to give Walt money maybe signs on his property are no big deal.
FYI: for you who still don’t know Bill Beierwaltes is a local millionaire that got almost a million dollars from city council to subsidize his business to bring more jobs to town. He has until 2012 to bring I don’t know but maybe 250 jobs or pay back only $340,000. He is also Walt’s longtime friend and neighbor.
Thanks councilman Skowron great job protecting our public funds. Maybe Walt should give Bill’s campaign contribution back to the city treasurer so at least $100 of the million he got from the city gets returned to the hardworking people who earned it.
I see in the Reporter Herald that Dave Clark is returning some of the money he received. Dave was on the council when 2C was passed and I can’t believe that he didn’t fully understand the rules. Also when you pick up a packet to enter a race for Mayor or City Council the City Clerk gives you an indepth training so there shouldn’t have been any doublt about who you could receive money from and how much. Dave Clark has also been Mayor-Pro-Tem and he doesn’t know the rules? Give me a break! If he would have us believe that, would we want someone so uninformed to be our Mayor? I don’t understand why Mrs. Volk also did not understand the rules.
FYI everyone – we just posted a new story after verifying all the facts. Clark appears to be spending other money not reported in his campaign finance report. Here is a link to the story:
http://www.lovelandpolitics.com/illegalcampaigncontribution1.html
Ed raises a great point — why don’t the Glenn Beck loons in the “9-12 project” protest the corruption in Loveland city government? (Answer: because the 9-12 guys are a bunch of hypocrites)
Here are Glenn Beck’s supposed 12 values:
* Honesty
* Reverence
* Hope
* Thrift
* Humility
* Charity
* Sincerity
* Moderation
* Hard Work
* Courage
* Personal Responsibility
* Gratitude
Does that sound much like the Loveland City Council? Because I gotta tell you, I’m really not seeing a resemblance there.
The local Republican Party is now officially the party of corruption and corporate welfare, and the 9-12 Nutjob Society is inextricably entwined with these crooks. What a bunch of hypocrites these 9-12 guys are.
I spotted a new Clark campaign expense that doesn’t show up on that report. Somebody is driving around town with a huge roof-top campaign sign for Clark on their car. This doesn’t seem to be something that you can grab off the shelf the same day at the store. It must have been designed and ordered well ahead of time.
What else is Dave Clark hiding?
The report says that he bought “yard signs” from Daleeco, but what about those huge billboards he’s got up all over town? Those were up long before the reporting deadline. They weren’t cheap and it is within the law for Dave Clark to report when and from whom he bought them. Is this also a case where Dave used his company to put them up, and didn’t report that in-kind contribution (from a corporation, also illegal)?
Since we’re on the subject of dishonesty maybe the administrator of this blog would like to explain why the administration contact information for this blog is a post office box in California, and not a valid address in Loveland, CO, where you claim to reside.
If the PO box in California is not valid then you have committed a criminal offense, because all domains must provide valid contact information.
Legislation passed by the United States Congress in 2008 requires this.
Herb, Wow, a little upset about something? I’m a member of the Loveland 912 Project. There has been limited involvement in the City government, but nothing formal and definitely nothing overwhelming. The main reason most people got involved was what was happening at the federal level, so most people’s resources have been going to the health care issue, etc. Just know that if the federal stuff slows down there will be a lot of people that will start looking at the way things are being handled a little closer to home. For me personally – my three kids, wife, full-time job, car maintenance, yard maintenance, house maintenance, etc I can only put 4 to 5 hours a week into this stuff – and that might be more than most. 9-12ers are regular people with regular lives and limited resources – if you can turn your passion into something constructive – we can sure use some help. I used to be like you, I used to criticize the wrong people – through the 9-12 project I’m learning to direct my voice in the right direction. If you’re interested, reply back and then I’ll give you my contact information.
Hey, A.J. — That’s a classic attack-the-messenger strategy. How much are the McWhinneys paying you to do that? It’s also a blatant attempt to manipulate the facts. Are we really supposed to think you’ve established that the California PO box is “not valid”? That’s pathetic. Give it up.
Neil, gosh, thanks for the invitation, but where did you get the idea that I would want to join a group that worships a raving lunatic cult leader like Glenn Beck? … Rest easy, 9-12 guys, the Mothership will be here soon to carry you all to the big Hale-Bopp rendezvous. She got a little tied up in intergalactic traffic on the dark side of Jupiter.
OK, that was a little too harsh. I apologize. I know that some of the 9-12 people, such as Neil, are good, honest, intelligent people who genuinely care about doing the right thing. … But seriously, why do you follow an egomaniac monster like Glenn Beck? You know he’s a complete psycho and a charlatan, right?
“But seriously, why do you follow an egomaniac monster like Glenn Beck?” Herb, That’s funny. I’m only a member so I don’t speak for the group, but comments like that are so far off they aren’t even worth replying to. Have a great rest of your day!!!
Please stay on topic. If you want to debate national politics there are thousands of website where you can do that.
We want to keep this channel open for people who want to comment on Loveland politics. Anymore off-topic comments will be removed.
Thanks
Herb,
I generally prefer to read rather than write on this blog, but felt compelled to respond.
You may not be aware of this, but Neil and at least one other person connected to the local 9-12 group DID speak out at Council recently, to protest local corruption and argue that Council should stop letting McWhinney get off of their obligations.
Having many times in the past been the only citizen to go to the podium on such matters, I was greatly cheered to have these thoughtful citizens taking several hours of their time to address these wrongs.
I agree that there have been some rather dishonest people trying to manipulate public anger towards their purely partisan ends; but I get the sense that many people in the local 9-12 movement are sincerely trying to apply the values and principles; and are really trying to rise above mere partisanship. So I applaud them for looking into local government, where it’s still possible to make a real difference.
Dave Clark stated that he made a mistake and was going to return the money he received from corporations. Seems he is very slow to act. The latest report states he collected 100 in donations and spent no money. So returning the money was not very high on his list of things to do and reporting on known expenditures defined by Ralph T also slipped his mind. Way to go Dave.
And no one has heard from Volk about the possible mistakes on her report.
I guess both candidates for the council don’t think it is important to follow the rules.
Lets make sure neither of these folks gets on conucil
Clark apparently doesn’t have ANY expenses for his campaign other than his yard signs. You can check it out on the city clerk’s website.
This website is a crock and nothing else. It is so obvious that it is out to get someone!!!! Dave Clark is an outstanding individual and has contributed to this town in a great way. To make him look like a crook is sickening. Your website needs to identify who is doing all this slander. Funny how you can hide and do anything and say anything. Guess I can do it too.
Nothing about this website is a secret. We appear regularly on radio interviews and have been well covered by newspapers.
David Clark shows nothing but contempt for the process of local government and has a long public history to prove he believes rules don’t apply to himself and his friends.
Clark has met secretly with McWhinney many times to negotiate his vote on particular issues before city council. He has voted to appropriate city funds in closed session, ignored honest government initiatives like Amendment 41 by supporting a loophole, voted for eminent domain for private purposes, supported Mayor Pielin in preventing the public from addressing council on important issues and more recently tried to secretly skirt our recently passed campaign finance laws.
If you want to pass laws for Loveland citizens on council you must be willing to abide by the laws you want to have a say in enforcing and passing. His style of government makes the Mexican City Council in Tijuana, Mexico look upstanding.
Yes, we clearly are biased. Biased towards an open and clean city government that responds to the citizens it represents instead of making secret deals to subsidize McWhinney. Just because he is a goof-ball doesn’t make him an honest person.
We don’t like people who abuse their power on city council. It really isn’t very complicated Barney. We judge people by their actions and not who their friends are.
I have to laugh every time I see a comment like Barney’s. Complain about the website, the authors, etc., but can never offer 1 instance of factual error. I’m biased too… I believe public service means just that – for the public, not self or croneys.
I regularly watch the Council meetings. And I’ve been shocked.
In addition to the wrongs the Administrator mention, Mr. Clark has no qualms about voting for things based on how they benefit or affect his business; failing to recuse himself from conflict of interest (of which there’s certainly the appearance.)
He’s also extremely dishonest and cowardly. Whenever a member of the public speaks against something that he’s already apparently decided to support, he takes notes; then after the public can no longer speak, he attacks them or their positions, safe from further rebuttal. NOT ONCE have I ever observed him actually listening to or considering what someone with a different opinion said. Lord help us if he gets to be mayor.
Hi. Very nice Post. Not really what i have searched over Google, but thanks for the information. Really hard to believe but I don’t live in your city.