Sen. Gaffey must pay a fine

I spent much of yesterday writing about Sen. Tom Gaffey, D-Meriden, and local attorney Dennis Ceneviva, who served as treasurer of Gaffey's political action committee.

I attended the state Elections Enforcement Commission meeting where the agreements between the state and Gaffey and Ceneviva were approved. Gaffey must pay a $6,000 fine for misusing political action committee money and for billing both the state and his committee for a variety of expenditures. Ceneviva was fined $3,000 for failing to require documentation prior to approving Gaffey's expenditures, for not itemizing expenditures and for not providing receipts on time or not at all.

Gaffey cannot control or establish a political action committee for one year, and Ceneviva cannot be treasurer of a candidate, party or political action committee for one year. If they wish to resume these roles in the future, they will have to attend a course on campaign finance law.

Gaffey's mistakes were outlined in his lengthy agreement. There was the double-billing. He also received reimbursement from his committee for personal use, which is against state law. According to elections enforcement, one cannot charge a hotel room upgrade to a political action committee. There's a whole host of other issues mentioned in the agreements, which can be found on www.myrecordjournal.com. A longer story about the agreements can also be found on the Record-Journal's Web site.

What do you think about the agreements? Are they fair? Did the Elections Enforcement Commission, which investigated four years worth of the political action committee's records, handle the situation well? Will the outcome hurt Gaffey's chance for reelection if he decides to run again in 2010?