By Bridget Manley, publisher
Rockingham County School Board member Matt Cross faces another campaign-related fine of up to $500 — this time from the Rockingham County Registrar.
Rockingham County Registrar Lisa Gooden sent a certified letter to Cross, dated Oct. 16, informing him that the county had no record of his campaign’s amended Statement of Organization, which can carry a fine of up to $500. The Citizen obtained the letter through a Freedom of Information Act request.
The Virginia Department of Elections requires political committees that raise funds for candidates to file a Statement of Organization. This statement includes essential information, such as contact details like home mailing addresses and emails, as well as details about the campaign committee’s treasurer and other relevant items.
If the information for the listed committee members changes, they have ten days to update their Statement of Organization.
This comes as Cross, who is running for a second term this fall against candidates Hilary Irons and Lauren Mullen, has filed an appeal with the Virginia Department of Elections regarding fines for not submitting campaign finance reports.
Cross was fined $9,200 this summer for not filing reports dating back to 2021. When the Election Board didn’t receive a response from Cross after 60 days, the Electoral Board unanimously decided to refer the issue to Commonwealth Attorney Marcia Garst for help in collecting the fines.
According to the certified letter from the county’s registrar, when Cross filed his appeal on Sept. 3, the Matthew Cross School Board District 3 2021 campaign committee used different mailing and email addresses.
“Recent public statements indicate that contact information has changed for you (the candidate) and the campaign committee since your submission of the initial Statement in February 2021,” Gooden’s letter said.
Gooden also said her office had sent an email on Oct. 6 to the email address Cross had listed, which bounced back as undeliverable.
Cross has ten days starting from Oct. 16 to make the changes to the statement and provide the date when the changes are made, according to the letter. The amount of the fine will then be determined by the registrar based on how long Cross has gone without submitting the changes.
Meanwhile, documents obtained through another Freedom of Information Act request reveal that Cross has filed the appeal in an effort to lower the fines to $500.
Cross’s attorney, Michael Tolley Gwinn, stated in the document that after winning the election in 2021, Cross did not solicit or receive any additional donations.
In preparing for the fall campaign, he logged into his COMET campaign account on July 17 and realized that reports needed to be filed. After submitting those reports, he received the letter from the registrar the next day, July 18.
Cross’s position is that it’s the registrar’s responsibility to identify and enforce violations of the Campaign Finance Disclosure Act, and that the statute requires the registrar to refer all violations to the Commonwealth’s Attorney within 90 days of the violation. The letter argues that, of the last four violations, three could have been prevented if the registrar had taken timely action to enforce the penalties.
The letter also says Cross had “never received any written or other communication from the Registrar’s office regarding tardy or absent filings.”
But according to the original FOIA documents received by The Citizen in July, the registrar’s office noted 11 times they had sent reminders to Cross to file his reports and five other times they sent annual reminders.
“When Mr. Cross realized these shortcomings, he took it upon himself to correct the missing reports without any prompting from the Registrar,” Gwinn wrote in the appeal. “Allowing these fines to stand will send a clear message to candidates and campaigns across the Commonwealth: if you are late to file a report, don’t file it at all and hope the Registrar never notices.”
Since the fines were imposed on Cross in July, he has filed his campaign finance reports on time.
His July 17 statement shows he received $1,220 in donations, including $865 for the period between July 1 and August 31.
However, he received a surge of donations between Sept. 1 and Sept. 30. The report, filed on Oct. 15 — one day before the certified letter was sent — showed Cross raised $6,120, with several donations of $1,000 or more.
In comparison, Hilary Irons, the other conservative candidate running against Cross, raised $19,024 from July 1 through Aug. 31, and $5,201 in September.
Irons currently has $22,425 in the bank.
Lauren Mullen, the third candidate for the seat, raised $1,369 from Sept. 1 to Sept. 30, leaving her with $5,426.
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