Two rivals of GOP gubernatorial candidate Allan Fung, Democratic Gov. Gina Raimondo and Republican Patricia Morgan, filed complaints Monday against Fung with the state Board of Elections about questions surrounding Fung’s campaign headquarters in Cranston. The non-partisan good government group Common Cause of Rhode Island also filed a complaint against Fung.
The complaints by the rival campaigns ask the Elections Board to probe the issue, which includes how Fung wound up for not paying rent to developer Carpionato Group for his Chapel View campaign office in 2016.
“Mayor Fung’s failure to pay rent for his campaign office and to report other important campaign transactions points to a pattern of corruption that needs to be investigated,” Raimondo said in a statement. “Beyond breaking the law, Mayor Fung’s rent-free deal is an insult to every Rhode Islander who works hard and plays by the rules. I’m sure many of Rhode Island’s small business owners would like to not have to pay rent too, Mayor Fung.”
The story involving Fung’s campaign office was reported last week by WPRI-TV. Fung’s campaign said its checks went uncashed for rent in 2016, but a Carpionato spokesman said the checks were held due to repairs made by Fung’s campaign after a leak at the office.
Fung campaign spokesman Andrew Augustus characterized the matter as a non-issue.
“This is nothing but a desperate attempt at grabbing headlines from candidates who feel threatened with recent poll numbers,” Augustus said in a statement. “This is about $2500 in rent that the campaign has paid; nothing more and nothing less. We will have no further comment on this non-issue of a matter. Mayor Fung’s sole focus is addressing the actual crisis Rhode Islanders are facing daily.”
But the complaint by Common Cause of RI “alleges that over a six-year period Fung received illegal contributions from Carpionato Properties,” the group said in a news release. “Those contributions came in the form of free or below market rent at Chapel View shopping center in Cranston, Rhode Island for his campaign headquarters during two gubernatorial and one mayoral campaign.”
“Our campaign finance laws must be vigorously enforced,” said John Marion, executive director of Common Cause Rhode Island. “Voters must have faith that candidates for office are not receiving special deals, and that powerful developers are not currying favor with elected officials.”
Morgan, one of two Republicans vying with Fung in the September 12 GOP primary, said the issue raises serious questions that need to be examined by the Elections Board.
“Recent reports outlining the Mayor’s failure to disclose debts and unpaid payables related to his Carpionato Group-owned headquarters, including the fact that he’s paid zero rent since opening a public office in October 2017, are not mere mistakes, as Mayor Fung has claimed,” Morgan said. “They are intentional, gravely serious, and offer compelling evidence that Allan Fung has engaged in a pattern of unethical behavior over the course of six years and three election cycles.”
This story has been updated.