Russo Campaign Fails To Report Billboard Truck Expense

The brightly lit digital billboard that has been cruising our city for nearly 2 weeks has advertised not only Bill Russo for mayor, but also the council and treasurer candidates running with him.

Who is paying for that Russo truck? 
None of the campaign committees reported this as an expense, depriving voters of information on who is supporting the Russo campaign.

A share of the expenses for the billboard truck should have been reported on the Bill Russo for Mayor, the For All Middletown, and the Gerry Daley 2019 committees' campaign finance disclosures.

The Eye has previously reported that the truck is owned by DeMartino Fixtures. If DeMartino donated the use of the truck, each of the campaign finance statements should have reported an "in-kind" contribution corresponding to a share of the fair market value of the truck.

None did in their September 3rd filings, although the advertising began on August 23.

This is a substantial oversight. The cost for renting a digital truck billboard is about $2,000 per day; if the truck was in use from August 23 to September 3, a share of more than $20,000 should have been reported as an expense or an in-kind contribution by each of the 3 campaign committees.

An in-kind contribution poses another issue for the Russo campaign, as DiMartino has already donated the maximum permissible amount ($1,000) to the campaign.

The State Elections Enforcement Commission is very clear that expenditures must be reported in a timely manner, "Once a committee becomes legally obligated to pay an expense, even if the expense will be actually paid in the future, the expenditure must be disclosed in the reporting period during which the expense was incurred."

The treasurer of the Bill Russo for Mayor campaign committee, Tina Gomes, did not return a call for comment.