During an attempt to peruse Campaign Finance Reports for the Port Arthur Mayoral election on April 8, The Examiner discovered that only one of four mayoral candidates had submitted their report of campaign contributions and expenditures by the April 3 deadline: Charlotte Moses.
In attempt to gather said information from the remaining three candidates, The Examiner was met with a multitude of responses, including candidate Chuck Vincent, who said he “didn’t have time” to turn in the paperwork and that he would do it at his convenience. When asked if he possibly didn’t turn in the report because he hadn’t received any contributions to his campaign, Vincent said “no,” acknowledging that he had received “some” but said he knew it was due and “hasn’t had time to go to City Hall to file it.”
Upon conclusion of the call with Vincent, the mayoral candidate called back to say he didn’t usually talk to reporters and that if what was wanted was “a good story,” the media should instead find out why unnamed past candidates never filed campaign finance reports, “including the mayor that’s going out right now – and really do some reporting.”
In a candid conversation about his idea of “real reporting,” Vincent was asked respectfully how he had time to be mayor if he didn’t have time to turn in the proper paperwork.
“I have plenty of time to do it, ma’am; but, I do it at my convenience as far as paperwork goes… I’m not in office now, I’m just a candidate…
“I didn’t sign no ethics paperwork because I’m dealing with the city of Port Arthur and people who have no ethics, and that’s the truth. It’s not a mandatory thing that I sign – I researched it and I know it’s not mandatory that I sign that piece of paper.”
“I’m dealing with representatives inside the city of Port Arthur government that have no ethics, ma’am, so everybody wants me to play fair and play by the rules, but my own city government doesn’t do it. That’s the reason I’m running for freaking mayor,” Vincent continued. “Nobody over there has any ethics, nobody follows the guidelines – go ride around and look at the city of Port Arthur and see where signs can and can’t be put…our code enforcement has not removed ’em, they’ve been reported as being signs in the wrong places and they haven’t done anything…
“Everybody wants Mr. Vincent to play by ethics but, (huff) – I’m fed up, that’s why I’m running for mayor.”
That evening, Vincent turned in an incomplete campaign finance report showing receipt of $1,500 in contributions, stating $1,050 in expenditures, and absent of schedule F1, which is intended to report itemized expenditures.
Meanwhile, a call to Allen “Opie” Valka revealed that he had not yet received donations of campaign funds.
“I can’t expect people to give me funds when they’re already having a hard time with money,” said Valka. “I already talked to Ms. Sherri at the secretary’s office, and I told her it was nothing, I haven’t had not one dollar donated…I got a couple of shirts my wife made with her Cricut…I took my old city council signs and my wife put mayor on them.” Valka filed his campaign finance report April 11, reporting $0 in contributions and $0 in expenditures.
Charlie Lewis said he had given the city his 30-day report.
“The campaign manager said he did that last week,” said Lewis, but, upon learning the city had not yet received the report, said, “He’s usually on top of everything…I’ll light a fire under him and get ’em on up that way – must have been an oversight.”
The next day, April 9, a campaign finance report was turned in and signed by Lewis absent any numbers in the contributions and expenditures fields.
Moses reported a total of $28,090.16 in political contributions and $21,933.12 in political expenditures as of the deadline April 2, with her largest campaign contributor being Faddi’s Development Group LLC, contributing $3,000. Kaprina Frank serves as Moses’ campaign treasurer.
Finance reports are governed by the Texas Ethics Commission and, while it is the Ethics Commission that holds candidates accountable for following the laws, delivering the basic information is the responsibility of the Port Arthur City Secretary Sherri Bellard.
“I gave them all of that information when they applied,” said Bellard.
Moses submitted her campaign financial report April 2; it was scanned and put on the city of Port Arthur website April 8.
Campaign Finance Reports, when filed appropriately, are available online at: https://cityhall.portarthurtx.gov:444/WebLink/Browse.aspx?startid=8429&row=1&dbid=0.
State Representative Dade Phelan recently introduced several campaign finance bills aimed at boosting “transparency, accountability, and fairness” in elections. These bills target concerns centered on financial transparency, namely out-of-state donations, and altered political ads.
• House Bill 366 requires political ads using altered or A.I.-generated media to include disclosures stating the content “did not occur in reality,” and creates a criminal offense for violators (with exceptions for ISPs and broadcasters).
• House Bill 3592 limits campaign contributions from individuals outside of Texas to candidates for state, district or county offices.
• House Bill 4406, the P.A.C. Transparency and Accountability Act, mandates detailed reporting of PAC spending, closes loopholes and ensures public access to campaign finance info.
• House Bill 4958 requires political ads about officeholders not on the ballot to disclose funding sources.
“These proposed bills are a crucial step toward ensuring greater transparency and accountability in our political system,” Phelan said. The bills are set to take effect Sept. 1, if passed.
The Port Arthur municipal election will be held Saturday, May 3, 7 a.m. – 7 p.m. Early voting will be conducted each weekday from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. Tuesday, April 22, through Tuesday, April 29, with extended voting hours at City Hall and PA Public Library until 6 p.m. April 28-29. Polling locations can be found online at portarthurtx.gov.