By Yolanda Woodlee
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, August 5, 2006

An audit by the D.C. Office of Campaign Finance issued yesterday said that the 2004 campaign of D.C. Council member Marion Barry (D-Ward 8) did not report more than $24,000 in contributions and $11,000 in expenditures and committed several other errors that violate city code.

The auditor's findings have been referred to the campaign finance office's general counsel, Kathy S. Williams, to determine "whatever action is deemed appropriate," according to the report. If Barry is found to be in violation, the campaign could be fined.

Barry's 2004 campaign committee withdrew more than $8,000 in cash and wrote 19 checks "paid to cash" totaling nearly $3,000 without filing the necessary paperwork to explain what the disbursements were used for.

In addition, the audit found that the campaign committee accepted cash donations exceeding the $25 limit and that nine contributions, totaling $4,400, were in excess of the $500 individual contribution cap for ward council seats. Even after the campaign was made aware of several errors, the auditor said the money was not refunded to the donors and in other cases steps were not taken to make proper adjustments.

Barry could not be reached for comment after the report was released, but his chief of staff, E. Faye Williams, said Barry's office had reviewed a copy of the audit Thursday. Williams said she has not talked to Barry about the audit and was sure he had not seen it. She said a volunteer, who has since left the city, had been working on the preliminary report. "We've been trying to get this straightened out," Williams said. "We're working on it, but no one on his staff now worked on his campaign. We're trying to get the information to resolve the challenges which were bought to our attention yesterday. I don't think there's anything there that cannot be resolved."

The report on Barry's campaign was referred to the finance office's audit division in August 2004 after Barry filed a report showing that he received $17,242 in contributions. The report did not list the names of donors as required by campaign finance regulations. According to a filing in January 2005, Barry raised $95,803 in his campaign to unseat a former supporter, Sandy Allen, an incumbent who represented the ward in far Southeast for nearly eight years. Allen raised $174,792 in her reelection campaign, according to her campaign finance report.

The audit said Barry's campaign appeared to accept contributions amounting to $24,079 that were not reported by the campaign.

In addition to the unanswered questions about the campaign contributions, the audit found that the committee did not report 40 expenditures totaling $11,635 and bank charges of $188.31.

The campaign was also cited for not providing proper invoices or vouchers for several disbursements paid by the campaign. The audit said the campaign's bank statements and its campaign finance reports did not reconcile. The bank statements showed that the campaign had deposited $136,845, $16,939 more than was reported to the city's campaign finance office. The expenditures were underreported by $18,054, according to the audit.

According to the bank statement, the audit said, the campaign had $578 left after Barry's bid for office ended, but the report showed the closing balance as $1,693.

Barry's financial report was a point of contention throughout the campaign. Barry blamed his campaign manager, Dion Jordan, for problems with the campaign finance report. He said Jordan, who left the campaign because of a salary dispute, had taken the campaign's checkbook and canceled checks. Jordan denied the accusations and later sued Barry in small claims court for $3,700 in back pay. The campaign's bank account, which contained $2,220, was frozen at the time.

In February 2005, a D.C. Superior Court judge ordered the District to garnish Barry's $92,520 salary to settle the debt. Jordan could not be reached to confirm if the debt has been settled.