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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2019
Former lawmaker made ‘pass-through’ donations
Boone described
the practice as
commonplace
By ROB DAVIS
The Oregonian
On paper, two dona-
tions to Northwest Ore-
gon political candidates
last year came from former
state Rep. Deborah Boone,
D-Cannon Beach.
She wrote the checks.
Her name is listed as the
donor.
In reality, Boone told
The Oregonian , the money
came from donors who
asked her to pass it on
under her name, creating
a set of transactions and
reports that may have vio-
lated state law.
Boone described the
practice as commonplace
among legislators.
Alma Whalen, a com-
pliance specialist with the
Oregon State Elections
Division, said if candidates
know the true source of a
donation but don’t report
it, they “would appear to be
violating” Oregon’s prohi-
bition on contributions in
a false name. The same is
true for donors if they don’t
tell recipients where a con-
tribution really came from,
Whalen said.
A violation is a felony,
punishable by up to 5 years
in prison and a $125,000
fi ne.
Boone said John Helm,
the husband of state Sen.
Betsy Johnson, D-Scap-
poose, gave Boone $2,500
in April with instructions
to give it to Tim Josi. The
former Tillamook County
commissioner was running
for Boone’s seat at the time.
Asked whether she told
Josi the money was actually
from Helm, Boone replied:
“Yes I did. I asked Helm,
‘Is it OK to say who it’s
from?’ He said, ‘Yeah.’”
Josi listed the donation
in campaign fi nance dis-
closures as money from
Boone, not Helm.
Josi did not respond to
an email and two voice-
mails requesting comment.
Helm told The Ore-
gonian he
did
not
recall giv-
ing Boone
instructions
about what
to do with
the money
Deborah
he contrib-
Boone
uted to her
campaign.
Separately, Boone said
she took $1,000 in April
from the Oregon Health
Care Association with
instructions to give it to
Henry Heimuller, a candi-
date for Columbia County
commissioner.
“The money was given
to me specifi cally for that,”
Boone said.
She said she assumed
Heimuller knew where the
money really came from.
But she said she didn’t tell
him.
Heimuller told The Ore-
gonian he was unaware
of any effort by the health
care association to fund his
campaign. “I wonder why
they wouldn’t just send me
a check if they wanted to
contribute to my campaign?
That seems off to me,” he
said.
The Oregon Health Care
Association, which lobbies
for senior care companies,
denied telling Boone to
pass along the contribution.
A spokeswoman, Rosie
Ward, said no one from her
organization “has ever had
any conversation with Rep.
Boone in regard to any
county commission race.”
The donation was made
before an April fundraiser
for moderate Democrats,
she said, which included
Boone.
Boone’s account is
extraordinary in a state
whose campaign fi nance
system emphasizes trans-
parency in place of limiting
how much money donors
can give.
State records show mil-
lions of dollars have moved
between Oregon politicians
in the past decade in what
look like straightforward
gestures of support. Law-
makers also routinely give
money to committees run
by legislative leaders, who
‘IT’S SO PREVALENT. I WOULD
THINK IF IT WAS ILLEGAL, THEY’D
CITE YOU ON IT.’
Deborah Boone, former state representative
then redistribute it to candi-
dates in tough races.
According to Boone, the
transactions are not always
what they seem. She didn’t
like the practice of rerout-
ing donations, she said, but
found it was common in
Salem.
“It’s so prevalent,” said
Boone, who served from
2004 until last month. “I
would think if it was ille-
gal, they’d cite you on it.”
Boone said she believes
the law needs to be tight-
ened to restrict the practice
or to make it more obvious
to the public.
Boone made her asser-
tions in interviews with
The Oregonian . She was
explaining why she raised
money from donors after
announcing her retirement
from the Legislature in Jan-
uary 2018.
In the Capitol, the prac-
tice is called a “pass-
through.” Boone said she
also engaged in the practice
as a donor.
She said she intended to
give $1,000 to Rep. Caddy
McKeown, D-Coos Bay,
in her race last year. But
Boone said Rep. David
Gomberg asked her to give
the money to him instead,
so he could pay fundraising
dues owed to his caucus.
Then,
Boone
said,
Gomberg directed the
money
to
McKeown
through the House Demo-
cratic caucus committee,
Future PAC.
“Gomberg said, ‘Give
me the money, and I’ll give
it to her,’” Boone said. “I
wanted to support her.”
Future
PAC
and
Gomberg, D-Otis, denied
being involved in a directed
pass-through.
Boone gave Gomberg’s
campaign $1,000 on June
20, according to cam-
paign fi nance records. He
reported the donation on
July 17. He donated $3,500
to Future PAC on July 26,
one of many donations he
made to the caucus in 2018
totaling $87,500. Future
PAC
gave
McKeown
$2,500 each month from
One high-profi le case
involving charges of contri-
bution in a false name came
in 2004.
Multnomah
County
prosecutors alleged Port-
land developer Tom Moyer
made donations to may-
oral candidate Jim Fran-
cesconi under the names of
his granddaughter and his
executive assistant, who
were also charged.
Charges were dropped
against everyone after
Moyer, then in his 90s, was
found unable to aid and
assist in his defense. Fran-
cesconi was not accused of
any wrongdoing.
July through October.
“Everybody in the cau-
cus understood Caddy was
one of the priorities for
Future PAC,” Gomberg
said. “I absolutely gave
them no instructions on
how that money was to be
spent.”
McKeown said in a
written statement: “To
the best of my knowl-
edge every contribution to
my campaign either from
an individual, organization
or Future PAC was above
board based on their trust
that I would faithfully rep-
resent the people of the
South Coast.”
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