MADISON, Wis. — State Representative Bob Donovan’s attempt to funnel thousands of dollars from his political campaign to help pay for his housing costs isn’t the first time he’s found himself in hot ethical water. As detailed in a story in Urban Milwaukee, Donovan (R-Greenfield) was previously investigated by and reached a deal with the office of the U.S. Attorney in Milwaukee for mixing campaign funds and personal and family business.
“You’d think Rep. Donovan would have learned his lesson after the first time he got in trouble for mixing his personal and political finances,” commented A Better Wisconsin Together Deputy Director Mike Browne. “But until he got exposed in the media he was doing it again, funneling thousands of dollars in campaign cash to himself for his housing expenses.”
As first reported by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
In November, Donovan, 69, narrowly defeated Bird again in an expensive reelection battle. He voted using the address of his new, in-district apartment, while his wife used the old, out-of-district residence to vote.
A month after his victory, the GOP lawmaker began paying himself $850 a month from his campaign account for “staff lodging” at his old house. In all, he paid himself $5,950 in the seven months after the election, according to campaign reports.
The item was made even more confusing by the fact that he didn’t even list a campaign staffer during any of that time.
Donovan’s previous ethical episode was recounted yesterday in story by Urban Milwaukee:
… Donovan had used his position as alderman to help get $50,000 in foundation grants to create the Milwaukee Alliance, whose initial mission was to connect community groups, churches and businesses in his district to the city. That is, by definition, what an alderman is paid to do anyway. So why was Donovan using foundation money to create this group, and why was the Alliance in turn paying for the heat and electricity for the neighborhood alderman’s office that Donovan maintained?
More troubling questions were later raised by Journal Sentinel reporter Georgia Pabst, who reported that Donovan had pushed to get a federal grant for the Milwaukee Alliance, though he was its non-paid president and chairman, and his grown stepdaughter was a part-time employee of the Alliance for four months. By the time this was reported, Donovan had resigned as president and chairman and moved his aldermanic office out of the building, in response to conflict-of-interest concerns raised by federal officials.
Stephen Biskupic, then serving as the U.S. Attorney for Milwaukee, investigated Donovan and found that the alderman’s wife Kathy Donovan had received nine checks of $300 each from the Alliance, that there was a blurring of interests between the Alliance and Donovan’s campaign fund, and that records regarding payments to his wife were falsified.
Donovan subsequently reached an agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s office that included him paying thousands of dollars as a penalty and disassociating himself with the group in question.
While dodging questions about his latest campaign finance scam, Donovan has filed multiple revisions to his campaign finance reports in an apparent attempt to cover up his housing scam. According to state law, politicians are prohibited from using their campaign funds to pay for personal expenses.
In a related development, at a meeting of the state Ethics Commission today a formal opinion was adopted unanimously and without any debate that campaign funds may not be used to purchase computer equipment or pay for cell phones if any portion of the usage is personal.
