Statement on Supreme Court Ruling
- In a surprise
ruling, the New York State Supreme Court, rejected a request by Tapia for City
Council for the New York City Campaign Finance Board to review expenditure
documentation from the 2009 election cycle. Ms. Tapia, who acknowledges that
her campaign was late in filing the documentation, will appeal the ruling in
the hope that CFB will review all her expenditures.
Tapia’s elections lawyer, Leo Glickman, issued a statement on the matter:
“During the 2009
campaign, the Tapia for City
Council campaign committee submitted to the CFB’s routine audit, was found to
be compliant and was cleared to receive
public matching funds. All
campaign money – public and private - was spent in accordance with CFB
rules throughout the campaign.
“During the CFB’s routine
post election audit, Ms. Tapia’s son, who was also her Treasurer, became very
ill and was repeatedly admitted to the hospital. As a result, the campaign was
late in submitting documentation in response to the CFB’s routine request to
substantiate the spending of public funds. The campaign made a request to the CFB to scrutinize the
documentation even though it was submitted late. The CFB determined that it would not consider the
documentation because it was late - not because money was spent
inappropriately.
“Certain that the
documentation shows that all money was spent in accordance with campaign
finance regulations, we commenced
an action asking the
Supreme Court to order the CFB to scrutinize the documentation. We are
disappointed that the Judge ruled that missing the deadline supersedes all
other matters.
“Our appeal will ask for
the same relief we asked the Supreme Court. The campaign has not asked that the penalties it has
received for its late response be overturned. We are only asking that the CFB
not proceed as if the documentation was never received, and perform its Charter
mandated audit to ensure that money was spent appropriately. If they do so, we are certain that
there will be no question about our full compliance with spending regulations.
Yudelka Tapia
reiterated her regret for having missed CFB deadlines in 2009, “I am, as I have
always been, sorry for not having submitted required documentation by the
deadline imposed by the Campaign Finance Board and I look forward to paying the
fine for this mistake. My only request is that the CFB review the paperwork I
have submitted so that we can put this matter to rest.”
--
Yudelka
Tapia has been a district leader or state committee person from the 86th
Assembly District since 2002. A leader in her community for 25 years and a
member of AFL-CIO Local DC37, Tapia founded the first Dominican based
Democratic Club in the Bronx. Yudelka raised four sons in the Bronx, served as
president of their PTA and lives in East Tremont with her husband, Tito.
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