Wood under fire

TUESDAY, Aug. 4 — Lansing City Councilwoman Carol Wood has apparently been violating state election law for years by including her campaign web address in an ad that she paid for with city funds.

Ingham County Clerk Barb Byrum notified state election officials today that Wood used taxpayer dollars to pay for the ad in the May issue of Lansing Association of Human Rights’ newsletter.

Wood is seeking to be nominated in today’s primary election.

Byrum only cited the ad in the May newsletter, but the same ad has run for several years at a rate of $25 per ad. The ad was paid for out of Wood’s office account, she said.

“It’s been out there for some time,” Wood, an at-large member, said Tuesday. “I didn’t realize having that website on it was a problem.”

“I’ll address the issue,” she said. “I’ll make sure the website’s off there and I will be glad to reimburse the city for the expense from my campaign account.”

“I’m totally surprised,” said Penny Gardner, president of LAHR. “We’ve appreciated her support over the years of LAHR, our community and the Walnut Neighborhood.”

Gardner said she hopes the situation is an oversight and will be corrected quickly.

Wood, who is running for reelection, is not alone in facing campaign questions. Byrum also referred A’Lynne Boles, the Third Ward Councilwoman also up for reelection, to the state election bureau for failing to put a “paid for disclaimer” on a piece of campaign literature she was distributing at doors. She’s also been cited for failing to record the expense for printing the literature piece. She bought it from a union print shop in Illinois in June. Boles was also under fire for sending a newsletter to absentee ballot voters and a select list of voters using taxpayer dollars to fund it. While that is not a violation of Michigan Campaign Finance Act, or the city’s ethics ordinance, experts called on the city to fix the loophole and prevent it from happening again.