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March 04, 2010 --- Vol. 04, No. 09March 2010

Consent decree ends investigation of Pebble opponents

The Renewable Resources Coalition, Alaskans for Clean Water, and Robert Gillam have agreed, by way of consent decree, to pay the State of Alaska US$100,000 for alleged violations committed while campaigning for the approval of an anti-mining ballot measure during the 2008 Alaska primary election.

The admitted foes of the proposed Pebble Project in Southwest Alaska agreed to pay the fine in order to end a year-long investigation by the Alaska Public Offices Commission that revealed their violations of campaign finance laws in campaigning for Ballot Measure 4. The two groups and Gillam attempted to conceal about US$2 million in illegal contributions made by Gillam in support of the ballot measure, which Alaskans voted down.

Though the fine is the largest ever levied in Alaska for campaign finance law violations, Anchorage-based Resource Development Council of Alaska, a pro-mining group, protested the consent decree.

“Despite having to make one of the largest payments to the state resulting from an APOC investigation of US$100,000, the final decree resulted in no admission of wrongdoing, but rather a commitment by these parties not to repeat this behavior again,” wrote RDC Executive Director Jason Brune.

“With this ruling, it sets the precedent for future campaigns to simply budget 1-2 percent into their races for post-election fines as a cost of doing business. We are very disappointed with the actions of the APOC commissioners,” Brune added.

The APOC inquiry stemmed from a complaint filed in March 2009 by RDC and the Pebble Partnership that claimed the Renewable Resources Coalition, Alaskans for Clean Water, Americans for Job Security and Gillam committed 18 campaign violations during the 2008 Alaska primary election.

After investigating the allegations, APOC staff concluded that the Pebble opponents set up and used its various organizations “in an attempt to appear to comply with (campaign finance) rules.”

In addition to confirming 17 of the 18 alleged campaign violations, the APOC staff also found several more campaign law violations by the key players in the anti-Pebble groups.

The investigation revealed that Gillam contributed 89 percent, or US$2.6 million, of the US$2.9 million raised to promote Ballot Measure 4.

The APOC staff report, released in June, recommended that the anti-Pebble syndicate be levied the maximum civil penalties for multiple violations of Alaska campaign law. The staff report also recommended that the case be turned over to the Alaska Attorney General for a criminal investigation into the group’s activities during the campaign.

By accepting the consent decree, the campaign watchdog group agreed that “no further proceedings against respondents will be brought by APOC with regard to these matters,” relieving Gillam, Renewable Resources Coalition and Alaskans for Clean Water of any further probes into possible illegal activities conducted while promoting the ballot measure.


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