by David Safier
A few days ago, I posted about the candidacy of Tammy Caillet-Falbaum for Catalina Foothills School Board. Unlike most school board candidates who spend $500 or less on a campaign, as of September 13, Tammy had received $5,275.17 in contributions, which accounts for her expensive and extensive street signs, complete with a large color photo. Most other candidates have very few, very simple signs, if they have any at all.
I pointed out one contribution in particular, from Chris Whitson, who gave $2,000. At the time, I knew nothing about Whitson, except that his company is T&R Investment Properties.
A comment on the post today, from Sjwhitson, said,
What you failed to mention is Chris Whitson is Tammy's dad, and we are very proud that she wanted to get involved.
I didn't mention that, because I had no idea. It's nice of Chris to support his daughter's efforts.
But $2,000? I was told by someone who knows about these things there is an upper limit on individual contributions to school board candidates, as there is on other campaigns. John Munger and his wife each gave the campaign exactly $410, which makes me think that may be the limit.
If that's true, was the $2,000 contribution an error? Or was it a way to put more money in the campaign now, which can be paid back to Chris when the campaign is over? [See Update to the Update below]
UPDATE TO THE UPDATE: I received a comment about this post from Vance. It states that Caillet-Falbaum "thought family members were not subject to the $410 limitation. Once I realized my error I corrected the mistake by refunding the excess contribution of $1,590 back to my father-in-law." I appreciate the clarification. You can read the entire comment by going to the Comments section.
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Vance, thank you for the clarification. I added an Update to the Update to the post which contains the information you supplied about the reason for the excess contribution and the fact that it was returned.
Dear Mr. Safier,
I am Vance Falbaum and serve as the treasurer of my wife’s campaign for the Catalina Foothills School District Governing Board. I felt it appropriate to address your questions regarding the $2,000 contribution listed in her September 13th Campaign Finance Report filing. As you are now aware, the donor was her father. Thank you for clarifying that in your recent post.
I misinterpreted the booklet I received from the Secretary of State’s office on Campaign Contributions, and thought family members were not subject to the $410 limitation. Once I realized my error I corrected the mistake by refunding the excess contribution of $1,590 back to my father-in-law.
That fact is reflected in the aforementioned filing on line 4e of the Detailed Summary page (page 2) and on the Refunds and Offsets to Contributions Received (page 8) of the report.
Tammy is honored to receive, and proud to accept, the endorsements over 85 respected members of our community, including 20+ supporters who have not only offered their names, but also supported her financially. If elected she will serve as a non-biased advocate for all stakeholders in our District; students, parents, teachers, administrators and tax payers alike. No other candidate brings the educational background (Tammy has a Master’s degree in Educational Leadership) or, in my opinion, the passion for such an important duty.
I am sorry you did not contact Tammy or me with your questions prior to posting them. Either of us would have been more than happy to have spoken with you. In the future, please feel free to contact us if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
Vance L. Falbaum
Treasurer
Tammy Caillet-Falbaum for School Board Committee