In Peoria, new election complaints and campaign sign controversy
Three Peoria City Council contests intensified in the final weeks before the election.
Five campaign finance complaints have been filed against five candidates, and a resident who posted political signs opposing two candidates said most have been stolen.
The complaints and theft claims are the most recent examples of fierce competition between two city factions — essentially newcomers vs. longtime-elected or appointed officials — vying for control of the City Council.
Who wins Tuesday's election could alter how the city handles public safety, economic development and infrastructure spending. Newcomers argue massive improvement is needed. Their opponents contend residents are mostly satisfied and criticism is overblown.
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The newcomers vs. longtime leaders are:
Jason Beck vs. Bridget Binsbacher for mayor.
Jennifer Crawford vs. Vicki Hunt to represent part of south Peoria.
Diane Douglas vs. Brad Shafer to represent north Peoria.
Stolen and damaged signs
Longtime Peoria resident Traci Kinney installed signs adjacent to Binsbacher and Hunt's signs that showed an arrow and the words "Failed Peoria."
Out of the 200 signs Kinney said she installed, she estimates about 160 have been stolen. She's angry since they're about $13 apiece, she said.
At first, it was the city taking the signs, citing noncompliance.
"They did not include required contact information for the party responsible," Peoria Communications Director Briana Cortinas told The Republic.
But that only accounted for seven signs, and Kinney got them back.
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Peoria resident Steve Copus told The Republic he took three of Kinney's signs because he believed they were illegal. "To me, it was no different than removing a piece of trash," he said.
Copus is a longtime friend of Binsbacher but said he hadn't told her he was going to take down Kinney's signs. "If I had … she probably would've told me not to," he said.
Binsbacher did not respond to The Republic's request for comment.
Copus said he's grown frustrated with the Beck campaign misrepresenting Binsbacher's political positions and character, specifically when she's compared to national Democrats.
An ad paid for by Beck's campaign compared Binsbacher, who is Republican, with U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
The ad, which calls Binsbacher a "liberal insider," is unusual for a municipal contest where the City Council positions are nonpartisan, and campaigning typically strikes a more subdued tone.
Kinney said she filed a report with the Peoria Police Department. The department did not respond to The Republic's request for comment.
In addition to the removal of Kinney's signs, both Beck and Binsbacher have acknowledged damage to their signs.
Council candidate Crawford has also noticed damage to her signs. On social media, she took a laid-back approach to the vandalism.
"We have a Picasso in south Peoria!" Crawford wrote in an Instagram post showing one of her campaign signs where someone colored in her teeth. "It brings me laughter and that's always a good thing," she wrote.
Five campaign finance complaints
Campaign finance complaints have been filed against both mayoral candidates and Crawford and Dunn.
A complaint was also filed against Hunt by her challenger's husband, Stephen Crawford, but the city might not accept it.
"Upon initial review, the latest complaint is missing required information in order to be accepted. As a result, it is being returned to the complainant for review," Cortinas told The Republic.
The complaint argues much of Hunt's campaign finance reports are "falsified," though it doesn't offer any evidence or explanation. Stephen Crawford declined to talk about it.
The complaints against Dunn and Crawford question the legality of Dunn donating $1,500 of her campaign funds to Crawford.
State law typically bars candidates from donating to other local candidates except when a candidate is closing out their fundraising committee and has "surplus monies."
Dunn and Crawford did not respond to The Republic's request for comment.
The complaint against Beck questioned why he created a limited liability company to run for office and why he didn't disclose expenditures, such as a truck with a digital billboard that was driven around promoting his campaign slogan.
The complaint against Binsbacher questioned whether she accepted too much money from one donor and several reporting inconsistencies, for which city officials in part took the blame, citing a software error.
Reach reporter Taylor Seely at tseely@arizonarepublic.com or 480-476-6116. Follow her on Twitter @taylorseely95 or Instagram @taylor.azc.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Peoria City Council election: Campaign finance spats, stolen signs
