By Adam Kramer
Democratic mayoral candidate Alan Hevesi was denied more than $2 million in matching funds by the city Campaign Finance Board until he answers questions about his relationship with his chief political consultant.
On Monday the board withheld the matching funds from the Hevesi campaign because it wants the city comptroller from Forest Hills to clear up some spending irregularities and the volunteer status of Hank Morris, Hevesi’s chief political consultant and owner of the firm Morris, Carrick & Guma.
The Hevesi camp has claimed that by keeping spending to a minimum and by running a skeletal operation it has been able to conserve funds to use for television advertisements. Hevesi and Morris have said that the high-powered political consultant is donating his time as a campaign volunteer.
The board’s decision to deny Hevesi the funds is not considered a major blow to his campaign because he has enough money to last until the primary.
The board could reverse its decision on the matching funds if Hevesi resolves the questions about Morris’ status during its next meeting on Aug. 16.
In a hearing Monday before the Campaign Finance Board, Morris contended that he was allowed to volunteer his services to the Hevesi campaign. But the board disagreed and said Morris’s time constituted a campaign contribution.
“The next step for the Hevesi campaign is to respond to the questions asked by the board,” said Mike Glickman, a spokesman for the New York City Campaign Finance Board.
“The board said one way he could do that is to provide documentation of the contract that exists between Morris, Hevesi and Friends of Hevesi, showing they are charging a commercially reasonable rate,” Glickman said. “One way to do that would be to look at the 1993 and 1997 campaigns and the fees that occurred.”
Morris was Hevesi’s chief political consultant for his two campaigns for city comptroller.
Josh Isay, a spokesman for Hevesi, did not return phone calls for comment on the board’s decision.
Glickman said board members questioned Morris about his volunteer status and wanted to know how working as a volunteer could be separated from the role he plays as owner of his political consulting firm.
In rejecting Morris’ claims, the board said he is not permitted to donate services because he owns the firm, which has been billing the Hevesi campaign for only $15,000 a month — far below prevailing rates for political consulting.
The three other Democrats in the race all received their matching fund allotment from the board. Public Advocate Mark Green got $2,347,146; City Council Speaker Peter Vallone (D-Astoria) was given $2,089,730; and Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer received $1,899,554.
On the Republican side, media mogul and billionaire Michael Bloomberg is not participating in the matching funds program and former Bronx Borough President Herman Badillo has not raised enough to qualify.
Vallone has claimed that Morris, who has been a friend of the comptroller for more than 30 years, has provided Hevesi with in-kind contributions by foregoing his usual fee to run a campaign.
According to the city’s campaign finance laws and matching funds program, which many political insiders view as one of the best in the country, corporations are not allowed to donate to a political campaign. In addition, in-kind contributions have to be listed as campaign contributions, which they are not on Hevesi’s filings.
The campaign finance program limits individual contributions to a mayoral campaign to $4,500 and caps total spending for the primary election and for the general election at $5,231,000 each. The city matches donations by four-to-one for donations up to $250 by city residents. The cap on matching funds per election is $2,877,050.
The program was designed to lessen the influence of campaign contributors on the candidates, level the playing field and make the information on the candidates’ finances readily accessible.
Hevesi, who uses the Manhattan office of Morris’ firm as his campaign headquarters, has saved a large chunk of money because he has not been forced to lay out money for office space. Ferrer has dropped $63,303 for rent on his campaign office, Green has spent $115,969 for rent and Vallone $51,000, according to the latest filings.
Hevesi has spent only $3,686 on office supplies — far less than Ferrer, who has shelled out $157,549 to keep his office outfitted with pens and paper. Green has spent $195,601 and Vallone $156,240.
On Monday the board gave out a total of $17,549,332 in matching funds to 90 candidates who qualified for the matching funds on the first payment date. The next two payment dates before the Sept. 11 primary are Aug. 16 and Sept. 7.
Reach reporter Adam Kramer by e-mail at Timesledgr@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 157.
