North Canton Council's Melissa Owens pays $50 fine for late campaign

NORTH CANTON ‒ City Council member Melissa Owens has paid a $50 fine for not initially reporting how much she spent on election signs and mailers nearly five months after the campaign finance report deadline.

In November 2023, about 62% of voters chose Owens over her opponent, Chuck Osborne, for the Ward 3 council seat.

Osborne filed a complaint against Owens with the Ohio Elections Commission in April. He alleged Owens’ campaign finance reports filed in October and December failed to disclose campaign expenses for her mail pieces sent to residents.

Owens claimed she had no campaign expenses in 2023 in reports filed last year with the Stark County Board of Elections on Oct. 18 and Dec. 15.

After Osborne filed his complaint on April 30, Owens filed an addendum on May 10 reporting $4,867 in expenses incurred with Canton Data Print to provide design, print and mailing services.

“She filed that addendum two weeks after she was served with my complaint. She was five months late in reporting any of this stuff,” said Osborne. “I was disappointed about the $50 fine. I was surely expecting a (fine of a) couple hundred dollars anyway.”

Owens in a letter to the commission received May 23 said she didn’t report any expenses on her first two reports because Canton Dataprint didn’t send her an invoice until Feb. 6. She said she paid the bill on April 1.

Owens at a recent council meeting declined to say why she filed an addendum more than a month after her payment to Canton Dataprint.

When the commission convened on June 13, its executive director, Philip Richter, without giving a reason, recommended the commission find no violation by Owens. Osborne who appeared in Columbus before the commission called for the commission to penalize Owens. The Ward 3 council member did not appear. Owens later said she had a scheduling conflict.

But a commission member cited an Ohio Supreme Court decision in finding that Owens should have declared the expense on one of her 2023 campaign finance reports even if she had not yet been billed.

The commission voted 6-1 to find Owens in violation and assessed a $50 fine.

Reach Robert at robert.wang@cantonrep.com. X formerly Twitter: @rwangREP.

This article originally appeared on The Repository: North Canton council member pays fine for late campaign expense report

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