One of my jobs is to enforce campaign finance laws. In that regard, I often send letters to candidates and their political committees asking them to file something or charging them a fine for filing something late. It's all laid out in the law. I get what the Sec. of State calls a "reasonable cause determination" and I basically enforce it. We don't get that many, about 2 or 3 each reporting cycle.
I sent a letter to this state representative in May asking for some documentation for his campaign finance report. He blew me off. I talked to my boss and she said to give him a "second notice" and to notify our lobbyist that I was having trouble getting a response. I drafted up the "second notice" and called our lobbyist. He said that he'd give this rep. a call and see what was going on. The lobbyist called me back and told me that the rep. said that he'd send me the stuff by next week. I've had some experiences with this particular representative so I told our lobbyist that I was still going to send out the certified letter. Our lobbyist told me that I should contact him if I didn't get any documentation by the end of next week. He said that, if he doesn't give you the stuff, "I'll call his mother." What? CALL HIS MOTHER? (We ARE talking about a representative in the Arizona House of Representatives!) I laughed and told the lobbyist that he was being pretty funny. The lobbyist told me in all seriousness that he definitely WOULD call this representative's mother if he didn't comply with our request and that his mother would make sure he gave us the necessary documentation. Apparently everyone knows everyone in this state. Isn't that crazy? I think that should be our strategy for everything going forward....."don't make me call your mother...because I will."
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