Dan Dunn

The quarterly newsletter of the Office of Campaign Finance is often a good read. The stories themselves are boring, but the “Recent Rulings” section is often full of gems. That’s where you see which candidates lost track of the details and which ones are more likely to run afoul of the law. (I was particularly interested in this one because I had heard there were complaints about unreported sign purchases in the recent special election of the 23rd Middlesex House seat. Either the report didn’t happen, or the ruling isn’t out yet.)

This edition has a real howler:

Robert Travaglini, Boston. The committee held fundraisers in 2005, but did not present approximately $80,000 in contributions to the bank for cashing and deposit because these checks were lost or misplaced. OCPF determined that the checks were not cashed by the committee or any other entity.

Our dear former President of the Senate went through the effort of having a fundraiser, convinced 160-plus people to write checks (at the maximum of $500 a pop, presumably), and then. . . . lost them? I must say, that’s a new one – he reported $80,000 in donations, but didn’t have the money!

I hope he hires a business manager for his new lobbying firm.