PORTLAND, Maine — Portland officials and the Maine Ethics Commission said they will not investigate the campaign finances of groups that successfully opposed a local referendum to add new zoning restrictions in areas deemed to offer scenic views.
Referendum supporters organized as Save the Soul of Portland in late October requested an investigation into fundraising for an issue of Old Port Magazine that advocated a vote against Question 1 on the local ballot.
City Clerk Katherine Jones wrote to Save the Soul of Portland’s president, Peter Macomber, saying the city found no violations in the 11-day finance reports filed by the political action committees Maine Media Collective and Portland’s Future.
The group argued that the magazine issue should have included disclosures that Maine Media Collective — a political action committee set up by the publishers of Old Port Magazine — received a contribution from Portland’s Future that it used to increase distribution and the page count of the issue.
Jones wrote to the group on Nov. 5 that she did not find any such violation.
“I have reviewed Maine law and spoken with the Ethics Commission, and am in agreement with the commission’s preliminary finding of no violation, since there haven’t been ‘expenditures’ made by Maine Media Collective and Portland’s Future that would trigger the requirement for such disclosure,” Jones wrote.
Kevin Thomas, publisher of Old Port Magazine, said at the time that his company sought legal counsel before publishing its edition advocating a “No” vote on the scenic views ordinance and that they “went above and beyond” by registering a local ballot question committee with the city.
State law includes a broad reporting exemption for news stories, commentaries or editorials that are broadcast on television or published in newspapers or periodicals, unless the publications are owned or controlled by a political party, political committee, political candidate or spouse of a political candidate.
The referendum effort focused on development of the Portland Co. Complex at 58 Fore St. but would have dealt more broadly with zoning of waterfront property and other places in the city that offer scenic views.
The referendum would have created a 13-member board to identify areas offering scenic views and then allow greater scrutiny for development in those areas.