The Portland Auditorâs Office is issuing Rene Gonzalezâs campaign a warning letter after the campaign displayed a campaign sign without disclosing who paid for the political sign. In response to a Sept. 2 complaint submitted to the Elections Division about the non-conforming sign near the Vista Bridge in Southwest Portland, the Auditorâs Office concluded it was missing the proper fine print.Â
Gonzalez, a current Portland city commissioner, is also a leading contender in the mayorâs race. Since it was his first campaign finance violation, Gonzalezâs campaign received a âletter of warning and educationâ from the city over the violation.Â
âCertain campaign signs equal to or larger than six square feet are required to include information on who paid for the sign under the Cityâs campaign finance law,â Deborah Scroggin, Portlandâs elections division manager, stated in a news release. âThe disclaimers provide transparency to the public on the actual sources funding political communications.â
In response to the notice, Gonzalez's campaign manager, Amy Wood, said the sign was from a prior campaign and was immediately removed.
"Upon receiving the complaint, we immediately requested that the volunteer remove the banner," Wood told the Auditor's Office. "This was an outdated banner from our previous campaign headquarters. The volunteer immediately removed it upon our request."
Thomas Orleck, who noticed the sign and submitted the complaint, said the decision to report wasn't personal or political.
"If Carmen or Viva or Mingus or whatever had the same thing, I would still be sending this email," Orleck wrote. "Nothing really against the commissioner."
Scroggins said auditors found just one violation related to the Gonzalez signage complaint. The decision is the latest out of the Auditorâs Office regarding the Gonzalez campaign.Â
The office is reinvestigating a separate complaint regarding Gonzalezâs use of $6,400 in taxpayer funds to spruce up his personal Wikipedia page as his campaign was well underway. In that case, complainants argued the expenditure amounts to an improper campaign contribution.Â
The Auditorâs Office initially said it lacked sufficient evidence to confirm any campaign finance violation, but called it an âexceedingly close call.â
On Wednesday, the office announced a reversal of that determination in light of new information related to the Wikipedia edits complaint. Auditors, who investigate elections-related complaints, withdrew their prior determination and said a new decision will be made by the end of October.
It isnât the first campaign in which Gonzalez has been accused of campaign finance violations. During his initial bid for Portland City Council in 2022, the cityâs Small Donor Elections program said Gonzalezâs use of a deeply discounted downtown office space owned by Jordan Schnitzer should have been reported as a campaign contribution. The Small Donor program issued hefty fines to the Gonzalez campaign. The fines were later dismissed after a judgeâs ruling.Â