Chad Christensen fined $4,500

Cy Ryan and Kirsten Searer

Thursday, April 15, 2004 | 9:04 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Freshman Assemblyman Chad Christensen of Las Vegas has been fined $4,500 by Secretary of State Dean Heller for failing to detail campaign loans, expenses and contributions.

The investigation was trigged by a complaint sent by Las Vegas resident Vanessa Nordyke, who was concerned about reports that Christensen used campaign funds for his own consulting business.

The investigation found no evidence that Christensen used the money to set up an office. The Republican spent "nominal" amounts of campaign money for personal expenses, investigators found.

Instead, the office found other problems with Christensen's January finance report, including:

Christensen said Wednesday he will pay the fine and that he has decided to use a CPA to fill out future campaign forms.

"At the end of this, I made very honest, simple mistakes as the report was filled out," he said. "These were errors that anyone could have made. These financial reports are as complex as doing a business' taxes.

Questions first arose about Christensen in January, when he filed the finance report showing he wrote himself $18,679 in checks from his campaign funds. Much of the money was paid to himself in August, when he incorporated his own business.

Heller said that while the checks Christensen wrote to himself might have covered legitimate expenses, Christensen should have itemized anything that cost more than $100.

Chief Deputy Secretary of State Renee Parker said the investigation revealed there was a "nominal" amount of campaign money that Christensen may have used for personal expenses such as lunches at Burger King and a few car washes.

But Parker said it would require an extensive investigation to determine whether these were legitimate campaign or legislative duty expenses. She said it "would not make sense to expend taxpayer resources" for a major investigation into these small amounts.

State law allows legislators to use campaign money for campaign or for legislative office expenses.

But there are no specific statutes that address whether some expenses can be listed as campaign or personal expenses, according to a memo written by Securities Administrator Charles Moore and Chief Investigator Jackie Reese.

Christensen could have faced a maximum of $15,000 in fines, though Heller decided on $4,500 -- $1,500 for each type of reporting violation.

Heller wrote in a news release that he felt it important to show to Christensen and other candidates "the need to follow this state's election law."

The secretary of state told Christensen to pay the fine by April 30 and wrote that it would be "inappropriate" to use campaign funds for the fine.

If Christensen doesn't pay the fine, the case will be turned over to the state attorney general's office to file suit to collect the money, plus court costs and attorney fees, Heller wrote.

Christensen said Wednesday he should have payed closer attention to the January finance report, which was prepared by a staff member. He said the finance forms are complicated.

"I don't cut my own hair -- I leave that up to the experts," he said. "And I also will leave the financial reports up to the experts."

His Democratic opponent in this year's election, Justin Jones, pointed out that the secretary of state's office found more than 50 individual violations in the way Christensen detailed his campaign expenses.

"Certainly, integrity is an issue in campaigns," Jones said. "The voters in the district will have to decide whether this is something they care about."

Christensen said he doesn't think the finance flap will register with voters.

"I think that they'll look at this and say, 'Wow, OK, he had to pay a pretty steep fine. He made some mistakes that anyone could make,"' he said. "These reports aren't self-explanatory at all."