A Colorado Springs nonprofit must pay a $1,000 penalty after the deputy secretary of state found the organization violated Colorado campaign finance laws when it made prohibited campaign donations last year to two El Paso County commissioners running for reelection in November.

Last September, civic nonprofit Colorado Springs Forward made campaign donations of $5,000 each to commissioners Holly Williams and Cami Bremer, who are running for reelection in districts 1 and 5, respectively. 

Campaign finance complaint against Colorado Springs nonprofit moves to administrative court

Colorado law prohibits corporations from contributing to candidates or political parties. Additionally, the $5,000 contributions were over the $2,500 campaign donation limit a county candidate may receive under state law.

The Secretary of State’s Rules on Campaign Finance stipulate that at least a $100 fine and 10% of the amount contributed be assessed to organizations or individuals who make prohibited campaign contributions. In this case, the recommended fine would be at least $1,100.

But “given (the nonprofit’s) efforts to cure and responsiveness to the (state Elections Division) … the Division finds that a $1,000 penalty is consistent with the rule,” the Oct. 4 settlement agreement states. “Accordingly, the Division finds that a penalty of $1,000 is sufficient to further the purposes of Colorado campaign finance law.”

Colorado Springs Forward (Elec Divn No 2022-30, OAC No OS2022-22) – Settlement Agreement

Lynette Crow-Iverson, chairwoman of the Colorado Springs Forward nonprofit board, said Tuesday she thought the nonprofit shouldn’t be subject to any fines. The Secretary of State’s Office dismissed other similar complaints against the Colorado Springs Forward political action committee and against Williams and Bremer, she said.

“But we are glad it’s finished and put behind us,” Crow-Iverson said.

Both Bremer and Williams returned the contributions before the June 28 primary election, and the state Elections Division requested Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Beall dismiss the complaint against Colorado Springs Forward. Both candidates won their primary races.

The nonprofit had a related political action committee, known as Colorado Springs Forward State Political Funding Committee, that could have legally donated to the campaigns, Katie Kennedy, the political action committee’s registered agent, told secretary of state officials in a letter. This likely caused confusion about the source of the contributions to the candidates’ campaigns, she said.

The prohibited donations “were made in error by volunteers for an organization that had not made a contribution to state candidates since 2016 and did not realize that the contributions were prohibited,” Kennedy wrote.

Former El Paso County Republican Party Treasurer John Pitchford filed an initial complaint over the donations in February focused on the committee he thought was the donor based on campaign finance records. He later filed complaints against the commissioners for accepting the prohibited donations from a nonprofit, among other violations, when additional information came to light through the secretary of state’s investigation.

El Paso County commissioners possibly cleared of campaign finance violations, nonprofit faces investigation

The Secretary of State’s Office ultimately dismissed the complaint against the political action committee, as well as the complaints against Williams and Bremer.

Beall said in his Aug. 12 order denying a motion to dismiss the complaint against the Colorado Springs Forward nonprofit that Kennedy’s assertions were “not plausible on their face.”

The checks were signed by Phil Lane, the registered agent of the Colorado Springs Forward nonprofit. Lane, who is also the CEO of the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Museum, signed the checks “as an officer of the corporation, not a ‘volunteer,'” Beall wrote.

The state’s investigation also found the nonprofit Colorado Springs Forward, through an independent expenditure committee, made two donations of $180,000 each to Springs Opportunity Fund in support of electing certain school board candidates last November.

Beall said in his Aug. 12 order those contributions show the nonprofit understands how to legally spend money to support political candidates.

Once the secretary of state issues a receipt of payment for the $1,000 fine, the state Elections Division will move to dismiss administrative proceedings against the nonprofit, the settlement agreement states.