Ethics Board fines 3 political committees

The Philadelphia Board of Ethics has imposed fines on the political committees for two City Council members, including President Darrell L. Clarke, and a state senator for violations stemming from missed deadlines for publicly reporting campaign money.

The fines are part of settlements reached between the board and the committees.

"None of this appears to be deliberate," said Shane Creamer, executive director of the board. "I think these are just mistakes of omission, and just bookkeeping and filing mistakes."

The political committee for State Sen. Vincent Hughes (D., Phila.), the ranking Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, was fined $1,500 for failing to file a campaign-finance report by a June 18 deadline, according to the agreement. The committee filed the report July 26, about a month after being contacted by the board.

Councilman Bobby Henon's committee and its treasurer were jointly fined $3,000 for failing to file four reports in the days leading up to the May 19 primary. The reports were due between May 5 and 15, for contributions that had to be accounted for within 24 hours. The committee also filed a report in June that left out "a substantial amount" of the contributions received during the filing period, according to the agreement.

Clarke's campaign committee was fined $1,500 for failing to report two contributions that had to be reported within 24 hours of receipt.

Clarke and Henon were reelected with little opposition this year. Hughes has been a state senator for 20 years, and his seat is up for election in 2016.

Creamer said settlements related to missed filing deadlines have been fairly common this year. He said the board has entered 44 settlements this year, 31 of which involved missed reporting deadlines.

tnadolny@phillynews.com

215-854-2730 @TriciaNadolny