Board of Ethics fines Greg Paulmier and Verna Tyner

The Philadelphia Board of Ethics has fined two former Eighth District City Council candidates for violating city campaign-finance-law.

Democrats Greg Paulmier and Verna Tyner did not properly disclose certain contributions made to their campaigns during a two-week period in May.

Under city law, all campaign contributions received through May 2 – the last day of the pre-primary reporting period – must be reported to the City Commissioner’s Office and the city’s Board of Ethics.

Between May 3 and May 17, the Municipal Primary, candidates must report contributions of $500 or more within 24 hours of receiving the money. Paulmier and Tyner violated that provision by not electronically filing with the Board of Ethics.

The two were vying for the Democratic nomination in the district race. Incumbent Donna Reed Miller is not seeking re-election. 

Paulmier is facing a $2,000 fine for failing to report 12 contributions that total $16,251. More than half of that amount came directly from Paulmier’s pocket.

“We had filed all the reports we thought we had to file,” said Paulmier, who has now run for the seat four times. Paulmier has worked out a payment plan to cover the fine.

Verna Tyner, a first-time candidate, will also incrementally pay off her fine of $1500. Tyner did not properly report 14 contributions worth $23,000.

“We accidently missed the reports and as soon as we found out, we did what we needed to do to fulfill our obligation,” said Tyner. She said the task got lost in the shuffle during a busy campaign.

The money collected from Paulmier and Tyner will go to the city treasury.

The Ethics Board fined a total of six candidates and three political action committees for various campaign-finance-law violations.