Attorney for Jobs for Newport Thomas Carter (Left) and Dawn Euer of Concerned Citizens Against Casino Gambling talk during the hearing infront of the Board of Elections. Photo by Andrew Augustus WPRO News
WPRO Newsroom
The fight over the rights to build a casino in Newport continued Monday as the Board of Elections ruled both sides must disclose information or face consequences.
In the hearing, the Board ruled anti-casino group Citizens Concerned About Casino Gambling must disclose the information of two donors by Friday or face sanctions.
Earlier, pro-casino group Jobs for Newport complained the CCACG had not disclosed the occupations of all their donors. Attorney for the Newport Entertainment and Leisure Mike Kelly was made to keep the CCACG compliant with the law. “We obviously have no problem with them exercising their First Amendment rights, but it has to be in conformance with the law and we want everyone to be on a level playing field,” said Kelly.
Jobs for Newport asked for CCACG to return an $8,500 dollar donation from Dr. Patricia Bilden of Hong Kong, China to be returned because her husband is a senior advisor at a firm investing in casinos. As of now the board says CCACG does not need to return that money.
Conversely, Jobs for Newport must prove to the Board that their $600,000 in funds was contributed before their campaign started in order to keep their donor’s contribution anonymous.
Dawn Euer, Political Director for the CCACG said the problem is corporations should not be treated as people. “For Jobs for Newport to start with forming a corporation in January and then forming a DBA two days before their campaign finance disclosure and then having a single donation and to have over $600,000 being funneled through that corporation, to me that’s why we need to have campaign finance disclosure laws,” said Euer
She feels as if this is a way Jobs for Newport can keep their donors anonymous.
However, General Consultant for Jobs for Newport, David Preston, says Jobs for Newport contacted the board earlier this year and all they are doing is following their orders. “This entity has been existing for nearly a year. There’s a lot of business due diligence that goes into this,” said Preston.
Preston says Joe Paolino, Peter De Savary and Paul Roiff are shareholders in Newport Entertainment and Leisure.
The Board ordered a continuance scheduled for Monday.
