Board of Ethics settles with Kenyatta Johnson

Philadelphia's Board of Ethics and City Councilman Kenyatta Johnson settled a complaint Friday over $3,900 wrongfully contributed to his reelection campaign.

Johnson received the money before he announced his campaign and failed to apply campaign contribution limits to it when he directed the money to his reelection bid, the board said. In the settlement, Johnson agreed to transfer that money out of his campaign coffers, and pay a $1,000 fine for other misstatements and omissions in his finance reports.

Johnson, a freshman councilman, is being challenged in the Democratic primary for his Second District seat by developer Ori Feibush.

In a statement, Johnson's campaign spokesman, Mark Nevins, called the violations "fairly trivial items."

"The board asked us to segregate less than $4,000 in excess pre-candidacy funds, which we did, and there was a disagreement about whether the correct date for recording a contribution is the date it is received or the date on the check," Nevins said. "These minor issues have been resolved already."

Feibush, in a statement, said the transgression is "not one isolated incident."

"How many passes does he get?" he asked.

The excess contributions were made to Citizens for Kenyatta Johnson between January 2012 and January 2015.

Campaign finance law allows candidates to receive contributions above the city's limits - $2,900 from individuals and $11,500 from political action committees - before they announce a bid for office, so long as they quarantine the excess money during the election.