A campaign slip-up could land 43rd Ward aldermanic candidate Michele Smith in some hot water with the state’s election board.

Smith, who is the 43rd Ward’s democratic committeeman and a contender in the ward’s upcoming aldermanic race, is currently awaiting a decision from the Illinois Board of Elections regarding a complaint against her campaign committee issued by a member of current 43rd ward Ald. Vi Daley’s own election team.

The complaint, filed on September 21 by Friends of Vi Daley treasurer Barbara Guttmann, alleged that Smith used documents from Daley’s 2007 aldermanic run to solicit donors for her own campaign in the upcoming election — a violation of election law.

Daley, who has served as alderman of the Lincoln Park ward since 1999, will retire from her aldermanic post in May.

Guttmann became suspicious a week earlier when she learned that her mother, Louise Guttmann, had received an invitation to a fundraiser for Smith. The complainant claimed that her mother had “no association with any group and is not listed on any other financial disclosure list except for one contribution to Friends of Vi Daley.” Election board records indicate that Louise Guttmann made a $500 donation to Daley in March 2007.

Upon reaching out to other past Daley contributors, Guttmann found two other instances in which residents received mail from Smith without a clear answer as to how the names and addresses were obtained other than through Daley’s documents.

According to state election code, it’s considered a misdemeanor for any person to sell or utilize information from statements and reports filed with the election board and the county clerk.

In response to the allegation, Richard Means, an attorney for Smith’s committee, stated that the candidate had hired the California-based firm Progressive Solutions Consulting to manage the campaign solicitations.

On October 22, the owner of the firm testified before the board that consultants on the team had downloaded a copy of Daley’s D-2 form, which lists the names and addresses of campaign donors, but maintained that the committee could attribute the information from two of the three donors listed in the complaint to other sources.

Regarding Guttmann’s invitation, Means acknowledged that the committee had committed an accidental violation in that instance. At a subsequent hearing before the board on December 16, the attorney said that Daley’s list had been obtained by the committee for research purposes.

In light of this explanation, Hearing Examiner Tara Cachur suggested that it was no coincidence that the three individuals listed in the complaint received invitations by accident, “but there is reason to believe Friends of Michele Smith targeted those supporters based upon Friends of Vi Daley’s D-2.”

A final decision from the board is expected on February 23, the day after polls close in the city’s general election.

It’s unclear what Smith can expect if the board rules against her, as there doesn’t appear to be a state precedent for penalties for this violation.

“It’s certainly not one of the more common ones,” said examiner Mark Greben, who presided over the December hearing. During the October hearing, Means requested that the board “issue an order or fine as they deem appropriate.”

In regard to the alleged violation, Smith’s campaign manager Rick Bohn said he didn’t think that the deed had been done maliciously.

“It was more that [the firm] couldn’t say for a fact that they hadn’t seen those three names on a D-2,” said Bohn. He said the consulting firm had been let go after the October hearing.

As for Smith, he said, her hands were clean on the matter.

“Michele didn’t know anything about it, we didn’t even know about it until we got the first complaint,” he said.

Daley, who is of no relation to Mayor Richard M. Daley, defeated Smith in an April run-off election for the 43rd Ward aldermanic post in 2007.

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By Patrick Sullivan from Lincoln Park
Posted: 02/10/2011 6:28 AM

MICHELLE SMITH IS A CRIMINAL!!!! Well, at least she can prosecute herself! AND AND AND she can easily clean up the corruption she talks so much about by getting rid of herself!!!!!!!!

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By Patrick Sullivan from Lincoln Park
Posted: 02/10/2011 6:27 AM

MICHELLE SMITH IS A CRIMINAL!!!! Well, at least she can prosecute herself! AND AND AND she can easily clean up the corruption she talks so much about by getting rid of herself!!!!!!!!

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By Boyee from Mid-North in Lincoln Park
Posted: 02/05/2011 3:41 PM

Michele Smith is the best candidate for the 43rd Ward.

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By Mike from Lincoln Park
Posted: 02/04/2011 9:33 PM

Michele Smith is billing herself as the anti-corruption candidate, she is now a criminal

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By Robert Kirkwood from Old Town
Posted: 02/04/2011 3:46 PM

So what basically happened is an outside consultant made a clerical error - without the knowledge of the candidate or her campaign manager. For this small oversight, Barb Guttmann took the time and expense of making a legal case of the situation. All this sounds like to me is that current Aldermanic employee Guttmann does not prefer to work for Michele Smith and is creating issues so she is not elected. Tempest in a teapot folks - lets stay focused on the real issues.