Progressive Dane, a local political party, has asked the Dane County
district attorney to investigate corporate contributions raised by the
Madison Area Apartment Association in last spring's City Council
elections.
The complaint follows a similar one filed last week by Helen Marks
Dicks, who narrowly lost a City Council race to Judy Compton in the 16th
District.
A Progressive Dane letter delivered to District Attorney Diane Nicks
this week claims the apartment association, acting through a group called
Citizens for Reasonable Government, received corporate donations in
violation of state election law.
The association denied wrongdoing.
"Everything that was done with the fund was within the law,"
Noah Fiedlier, executive officer of the association, said.
The fund was properly used to discuss issues, not candidates, in this
case the political history of Progressive Dane, Fiedler said.
The letter is the latest shot in an ongoing war between Progressive
Dane, a left-leaning party, and the association.
David Austin and Sheila Crowley, who co-chair Progressive Dane, wrote
to Nicks that the association should be forced to return the corporate
contributions or donate an equal amount to charity.
Austin and Crowley also claimed that the association's July 1999
campaign finance report failed to list the specific purpose of
expenditures.
In July, Nicks fined the association $600 for failing to file earlier
campaign finance reports on time. Her action was based on a complaint by
Progressive Dane.
The association got involved in last spring’s campaign due to
concerns over tenants’ rights proposals.
Also this week, Compton responded to a complaint filed by Dicks, who
claimed that Compton misused a real estate agency’s bulk mail permit and
benefited from the apartment association's mailings and contributions.
Compton said she paid all postage, received money from individuals
through the association and had no knowledge of the association's mailing
on her behalf.
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