Dickens Fined for Campaign Violations

Correction Appended

Council member Inez Dickens, D-Harlem and Morningside Heights, was fined $2,657 Thursday when the Campaign Finance Board found she had committed fundraising and spending indiscretions during her 2005 campaign.

Every campaign for New York City office gets audited by the CFB. Dickens’ was among three campaigns that received fines last week.

Along with fines for spending over the limit for the primaries and filing a statement 13 days late, she was fined $500 for spending $7,306 to print and send post-election holiday cards to campaign volunteers. This constituted an improper use of funds since she sent more cards than there were registered volunteers on her campaign, according to a CFB spokesperson.

The CFB also fined her for failing to report costs that she split with two other local candidates for palm-sized informational cards.

Calls to Dickens’ executive assistant for comment were not returned.

In the 2005 election season, candidates could match each dollar that non-corporate city residents donated with $4 of city money, up to $250. New legislation that will take effect in time for the 2009 mayoral race increased the matching ratio to $6 for every dollar of contributions, up to $175.

Correction.The original version of this article incorrectly stated that Dickens was the only candidate most recently audited by the CFB to have received public funds. Candidate Felipe Luciano also received such funds.