Unreported poll could dog Dozono

UPDATE: Mayoral candidate’s staff says he is ‘confident we have complied with the law appropriately’

By Chris Lydgate

LocalNewsDaily.com, Feb 4, 2008, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (40 Reader comments)

A telephone poll conducted late last year may pose problems for Portland mayoral hopeful Sho Dozono.

Dozono told the Portland Tribune that he did not commission the poll, and would not reveal what questions were asked or what it revealed.

Nonetheless, Dozono said he was familiar with the results. “I am knowledgeable about a poll that was conducted,” he said.

The poll could be important because Dozono failed to list it as an in-kind contribution in the campaign reports his committee has filed so far with the Oregon Elections Division or the City Auditor’s Office.

State election rules require that candidates report such polls as in-kind contributions, although the requirement varies depending on such things as the number of candidates mentioned in the poll and how far in advance of the election it was conducted.

Dozono and his campaign staff met Tuesday with City Auditor Gary Blackmer and Elections Officer Andrew Carlstom to “double-check the reporting requirements,” said Amie Abbott, Dozono’s campaign manager.

“We feel confident that we have complied with the law appropriately,” Abbott said. “If we made an error, we will absolutely and immediately correct it.”

Dozono released a statement Tuesday morning saying he wanted to “restore voter trust and faith in City Hall.” He also met with Portland attorney Michael Simon, a state election law expert, to make certain his campaign followed the rules on polls.

Mood of the electorate

Rumors about the poll and Dozono’s failure to list it in his campaign filing already are circulating within local political circles. Carlstrom said the auditor’s office has not received a complaint about it, however, and would not investigate an anonymous one.

“The office of the City Auditor does not respond to or become involved with elections rumor and innuendo,” Carlstrom said in an e-mail reply to questions from the Portland Tribune.

For his part, Dozono insisted that he he had not intentionally violated any state or city election rules.

“I’m trying to follow every one of the rules,” Dozono said. “If there are some errors I have to correct in my filings, I will.”

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