Common Sense For New Hampshire

these are common sense public policy issues,” said Doherty. “Jim (Reilly) and I are running on a platform of honest and open government and we believe that by enacting the points outlined here, we will be able to restore much of the public’s lost trust in their elected office holders.”*

*Matt Doherty in his 2005 race for state assembly.

“Fully disclosing campaign contributions is an integral part of an open and honest government.”*

*Matt Doherty as a councilman in 2007 pushing for more stringent campaign finance laws for Belmar.

“I believe that fully disclosing all campaign contributions is necessary because the people have the right to know who is financing politicians’ campaigns,” Councilman Doherty added earlier this week. “The more information voters have about a candidate, the better informed they are, and this will lead to a better decision at the voting booth. In addition, shedding light on the campaign finance system will ensure it is not abused by politicians at the expense of tax payers.”*

*Again, in 2007.

One provision of Belmar’s “toughest in the state” campaign finance laws is that all filings made with the state also have to made with the borough at the same time.  The 29 day pre-election report was due to the borough on October 6.  Here is a screen shot I took this morning, October 22, of Belmar’s campaign disclosure page.

The first link is to the Republicans’ 29 day filing.  Let’s click on it.

Filed October 6, exactly on time!  Further down it shows that some guy named Schneck contributed $200 worth of raw fish.  That’s weird!

The Democrats haven’t filed yet.  All that talk that opened this column was meant for other people.  Now that it’s show time, now that it really matters, their reports are completely AWOL.  This is a total violation of election law in Belmar that Doherty helped to pass.  When do they intend to file?  After the election?

BTW, his people have run gubernatorial and congressional campaigns.  It would be hard to believe this is some sort of oversight but I guarantee that’s what we’re going to be told.