By Margaret Bauman
Alaska Journal of Commerce

An Anchorage political consultant filed a complaint June 15 with the Alaska Public Offices Commission alleging companies that worked to defeat a ballot measure last fall committed campaign finance law violations.

The complaint was filed less than a week after an APOC investigation concluded that the consultant, Art Hackney, and three others violated campaign finance laws.

Both complaints came in the wake of a multi-million dollar media campaign trying to sway voters on ballot measure 4, the so-called clean water initiative, which led to numerous radio, television and newspaper ads, as well as scores of mailed leaflets and flyers.

If passed, the measure may have impeded work on the Pebble mine. Voters rejected the measure in the November 2008 election.

As a result of these complaints, the issue of the financing related to ballot measure 4 is now under intense scrutiny.

Hackney, who worked with Alaskans for Clean Water and other groups in support of the initiative, filed the June 15 complaint, targeting money spent opposing the ballot measure.

APOC staff issued a report June 4 that found that Hackney and others should have registered as a group with APOC and reported all contributions and expenditures, and that the case be referred to the state's attorney general to investigate whether state laws were violated.

APOC staff will now study Hackney's complaint and make a recommendation to their board of directors on whether Hackney's complaint merits an investigation. If it does, those named in the complaint will have 15 days to respond.

Hackney's complaint alleges that Alaskans Against the Mining Shutdown, the Council of Alaska Producers, and NANA Regional Corp. conspired to hide the true amount spent in opposition to ballot measure 4, and that more than $3.5 million in expenditures and over $1.3 million in contributions were concealed until after the election, in violation of state law.

"In total, the opponents of ballot measure 4 spent nearly $13 million for the purpose of defeating the initiative," Hackney said in his complaint.

According to the complaint, Alaskans Against the Mining Shutdown concealed more than $1.3 million in contributions and over $2.2 million in spending until after the election.

The complaint also alleges that the Council of Alaska Producers, composed primarily of mining firms, failed to properly report over $6.3 million in contributions to Alaskans Against the Mining Shutdown, that the Council of Alaska Producers failed to properly report nearly $500,000 in expenditures, and that NANA Regional Corp. failed to properly report over $400,000 in expenditures.

The complaint further alleges that the three groups "clearly collaborated in a scheme by which they concealed large sums of contributions and expenditures until after the election had been decided. This scheme was based on the premise of falsely claiming that obligations to pay vast amounts of campaign expenses were not incurred until after the election. This scheme is a clear violation of Alaska's campaign finance laws and regulations."

"State law requires financial obligations to be disclosed when they are incurred," Hackney said in a written release June 15. "This was a purposeful effort by those opposed to ballot measure 4 to hide more money than the total amount spent by the Yes on 4 forces. It is a very clear cut violation that makes a mockery of disclosure requirements."

In a telephone interview June 16, Hackney denied that his complaint was made in retaliation for the earlier APOC staff report, which blasted his participation in groups supporting ballot measure 4.

"That's exactly what you would expect them to say, because they can't confront the issue" (of what they did), he said. "APOC records show that every dime spent by us on the clean water initiative was disclosed. Every debt was exposed. The public knew exactly what was spent by our side promoting ballot measure 4. The complaint against them has to do with actually concealing money used to influence an election."

The APOC report released earlier this month against Hackney and other proponents of the ballot measure found that 89 percent of the $2.9 million that Alaskans for Clean Water used to push ballot measure 4 came directly or indirectly from Anchorage money manager Bob Gillam, and that 91 percent of that $2.9 million was controlled by either Hackney or media consultant Michael Dubke, who was the sole employee of Americans for Job Security for a decade.

APOC identified Americans for Job Security is an Alexandria, Va.-based nonprofit corporation whose sole purpose is to allow individuals and corporations to financially support various causes without having to disclose that financial support.

According to the APOC report, Gillam, who owns a home on Lake Clark near the Pebble prospect, gave $855,000 directly to Alaskans for Clean for Water -- more than he previously disclosed.

The report says Gillam funneled another $1.6 million through a Washington, D.C., group called Americans for Job Security, plus $150,000 through the Anchorage-based Renewable Resources Coalition.

"The use of another organization to hide the true source of a contribution would violate the basic tenet that voters have a right to know where the money is coming from," the report says.

The report says Gillam recruited Hackney, Renewable Resources Coalition President Richard Jameson, and Dubke, to further his cause. Hackney is among the original directors of the Renewable Resources Coalition and a board member of Americans for Job Security.

"However, as might (be) expected when the staff and directors of these organizations were so intertwined, the corporate boundaries were blurred, crossed and ignored. These actions have resulted in numerous violations of the campaign disclosure laws," the report states.

Gillam and the three men essentially functioned as a political campaign group, but never registered as one, and should face the maximum penalty for failing to do so, according to the report.

Gillam and the Renewable Resources Coalition, Alaskans for Clean Water, and Americans for Job Security responded June 5 with a written statement, saying "The APOC staff report misstates the facts, disregards the law, and ignores an advisory opinion issued by the Alaska Public Offices Commission last spring that reached a very different conclusion on these issues. The respondents are confident that substantial evidence, ignored by APOC staff, will prove that they carefully complied with the law."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.