Corrections needed on City Board candidate's campaign filing | Arkansas... https://www.arktimes.com/ArkansasBlog/archives/2018/10/31/correction...

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Corrections needed on City Board candidate's campaign filing

Posted By Max Brantley on Wed, Oct 31, 2018 at 7:26 AM

Perusing campaign finance filings yesterday, I discovered multiple problems on the click to enlarge

report filed by Valerie Tatum, a candidate for Ward 2 on the Little Rock City Board,
who already faces questions over her eligibility to run for the seat.

You can see her report in full here.

There were these obvious issues:

* She reported contributions of $10,500 from Sammy J. Baker Sr. and $9,051 from
McLarty Consulting. The state law limits individual contributions to $2,700. It also
prohibits corporate contributions.
VALERIE TATUM: Promises to correct initial
campaign filing.

* She reported $6,050 in "fund-raising donations" attributed under the "place of

business" column to Ugly Mike's Records. This sounds like a contribution kitty maintained at a place of business. That
method of fund-raising, without itemization, is frowned on by the state Ethics Commission. This issue remains unclear.
If a single contribution from the record store, it is illegal.

Other basic bookkeeping problems turned up. The report says she's made $43,261 in expenditures, but the report
breaks out far less — $6,060 in unspecified "fund-raising expenses" and $8,700 in payments to campaign workers. The
report claims more than $34,000 in "itemized" expenditures, but no others are itemized beyond the $14,760 worth.

The report summary claims more than $34,000 in "itemized" contributions though it includes that unsourced amount
from Ugly Mike's. The report said Tatum had also put $6,500 personally in the race. Candidates may spend an unlimited
amount of their own money, though they often do so in the form of a loan so that they might raise money to pay
themselves back.

I reached Tatum by telephone yesterday and her responses to questions were muddled. She said others prepared the
report, though she signed it and attested it was "complete, true and accurate." She said she'd be filing an amended
report today, but had wanted to meet "due diligence" by filing a timely report yesterday. "I'll get it cleaned up
tomorrow," she said.

I couldn't get direct answers to questions about several points. The McLarty "contribution" perhaps should have been
listed as an expenditure rather than a contribution, she seemed to suggest. It is a political consulting firm. The Ugly
Mike money? I couldn't get a clear response.

Tatum has had bookkeeping problems before. When she led the Covenant Keepers Charter School, a charter school
panel recommended revoking its charter because of governance, financial and management issues. The pro-charter
state Board of Education overturned the recommendation. Charter school backer, Claiborne Deming, the wealthy former
Murphy Oil executive from El Dorado, was an early contributor of $1,000 to Tatum's campaign. She says she's "retired"

1 of 3 10/31/2018, 8:22 AM
Corrections needed on City Board candidate's campaign filing | Arkansas... https://www.arktimes.com/ArkansasBlog/archives/2018/10/31/correction...

from the charter school, where she'd been accused in 2015 of self-dealing.

Tatum enjoys some campaign support from prominent members of the Little Rock business establishment  — $750
from John and Shayla Copas, $500 from Gary and Rebecca Smith and $1,000 from Gus Vratsinas, all in the construction
business.

City Attorney Tom Carpenter has said Tatum isn't eligible to run for Ward 2 against incumbent Director Ken
Richardson because when she filed she claimed a residence outside the ward. She moved to an address inside the ward
after that was reported, though Carpenter says the law requires proper residency to become a candidate. The City Board
has refused to take action over her candidacy.  She's been represented legally in fighting Carpenter's opinion by Jess
Askew, a lawyer who often represents charter school, school choice and similar interests of the powerful school lobby
led by the Walton Family Foundation.

I tried to find out from Tatum if she still owned the house in Maumelle that she has long claimed as a residence and on
which she has claimed a homestead property tax exemption this year. She declined to answer questions about it. "I'd
rather not," she said.
Tags: Little Rock City Board, Ward 2, Valerie Tatum, campaign finance law, illegal contributions, state Ethics Commission, Image

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Posted by wannabee conservative on 10/31/2018 at 8:03 AM

Posted by advocate on 10/31/2018 at 8:15 AM

2 of 3 10/31/2018, 8:22 AM
Corrections needed on City Board candidate's campaign filing | Arkansas... https://www.arktimes.com/ArkansasBlog/archives/2018/10/31/correction...

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