Anti-tax crusader Douglas Bruce didn’t show up for a court hearing today, but the campaign finance case against Active Citizens Together – the charity he runs – went ahead anyway.
Attorney Mark Grueskin, representing opponents of three tax-slashing ballot measures connected to Bruce, argued before Administrative Law Judge Matthew Norwood that ACT and Bruce broke the law by not filing campaign finance reports outlining expenditures to place three tax-slashing measures on the November ballot.
“ACT could not have been more involved,” he argued. “It’s clear that Mr. Bruce controlled the checkbook.”
Bruce did not respond to a request for comment.
The three ballot measures, Amendments 60 and 61 and Proposition 101, were trounced by voters, but it’s never been clear how they got on the ballot in the first place.
After months of evading attempts to have him testify about the matter, Bruce in October finally sat for a deposition in which he described his involvement. That testimony revealed Bruce wrote more than $100,000 in checks from ACT’s bank account just for circulation of the petitions and kept the signed petitions in his house in Colorado Springs.
Based on that deposition, Coloradans for Responsible Reform, the organization Grueskin represents, filed a campaign finance complaint against ACT, which is a tax-exempt 501(c)3 charity.
But Grueskin in December also deposed Dan Kennedy, the president of Kennedy Enterprises, the signature-gathering firm Bruce used for the petition drive. Kennedy’s testimony, submitted to the court today, showed that Bruce was deeply involved in directing signature gathering, personally writing ACT’s checks to individual petition circulators and even directing them to use “medium point” ballpoint pens.
Grueskin said that it now appears ACT spent at least $212,250 on the measures.
If the judge rules there was a campaign finance complaint, Bruce’s organization could be facing tens of thousands of dollars in fines.
The judge made no ruling today, and has 15 days to issue an order. Parties in the case have 30 days after that to appeal the order.
Proceedings today also included testimony from a Colorado Springs process server who said he tried to serve Bruce court papers 12 times in May, sometimes observing lights on at night or a TV on in the house. The state tried a total of 30 times to serve Bruce court papers compelling his testimony that month.
It’s unlikely Bruce will face penalties for not appearing today since the hearing was in an administrative court and not a district court where judges have contempt powers.
Tim Hoover: 303-954-1626 or thoover@denverpost.com
