Former City Council member and 2017 mayoral candidate Larry Grohn has until Feb. 17 to close his campaign account if he wishes to run for a school board position. Mr. Grohn left the county midway through his 2017 campaign, and never closed his campaign bank account. The county’s Election Commission voted to move the matter on to the district attorney’s office and the state election finance committee, since those two bodies have subpoena power.
“For six weeks, I’ve been trying to obtain assistance from my former treasurer and my former campaign manager,” Mr.
Grohn said. Those were listed as Dalton Temple and Austin Sans. He said, “It is not pleasant getting up here in front of you and telling you I’ve failed in my responsibilities as a candidate to close this account down.”
Mr. Gruhn told the Commissioners that he gave all of his documentation to District Attorney Neal Pinkston. He said that he had contacted nine different banks, and that none of them said they had an account of any kind under his name.
“He has refused to cooperate, and he makes a lot of accusations,” Mr. Grohn said of his former campaign staff. “I’m unaware of what accusations he may have made to this body. He claims I closed the account down and absconded to another state.”
Mr. Grohn claimed it is impossible for him to have closed the account in the first place, since he does not even know what bank the funds are in.
“I’m saying that he had complete control, and here’s where I have to admit my complete foolishness in putting my total trust in this individual,” Mr. Grohn said. “I never had the checkbook or check register.”
Mr. Grohn said he is trying to find old checks, but said it is difficult for him to find records that are four and a half years old at this point. After Mr. Grohn was finished with that portion of his statement, the Commissioners remained skeptical that he could find and close the account before the deadline.
“You understand that Feb. 17 is the cutoff date, and there’s no way you’re going to qualify,” one of the Commissioners said, while Election Administrator Scott Allen said, “You’ve missed four years of disclosures, and if you have a $18,000 balance, you have to continue to file disclosure statements of the last four years.”
In order to meet the deadline, Mr. Grohn will need to disclose those finances and close the account before Feb. 17. By voting to hand this matter to the district attorney’s office and the state election commission (a move supported by Mr. Grohn), the investigators will be able to subpoena parties they need to talk to.