GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – Green Bay Mayor Jim Schmitt has requested an audit of his campaign finance reports from the city clerk.
This comes after a report this past weekend in the Green Bay Press-Gazette which said Schmitt may have illegally accepted $10,000 in his campaign fund.
On Sunday, three Green Bay city council members asked City Clerk Kris Teske to perform an audit of the mayor’s campaign finance reports after the paper’s story surfaced.
“Really we need election integrity and fairness, everyone wants clean elections,” said Alderman Chris Wery. “We needed to look further into this.”
Wery, along with Aldermen Guy Zima and Andy Nicholson, say they will also seek an investigation on other campaign-related items in the future. Wery believes the clerk’s audit can be completed within a week.
Green Bay Mayor Jim Schmitt says he wants his campaign finance reports to be audited to put to rest any questions of illegal activity.
Following state statutes, an individual is not supposed to contribute more than $1,047.57 to Schmitt’s campaign. FOX 11 reports at least 17 people contributed more than that amount. It is also illegal for corporations to contribute to a campaign. At least two corporations are listed as contributing to Schmitt’s campaign.
In a statement Monday, Schmitt said, “if there were errors made, they were made with no malicious intent whatsoever, and they will be promptly dealt with, as all past errors have been.”
Schmitt adds that this push from the 3 city council members is done to smear his character, not to inform the public.
“This theatrical ploy is an attempt to take voters eyes off of the issues that will be debated over the next few months, and take the focus off of the great things that are happening in Green Bay,” said Schmitt.
