LeRoy Burcoff, mayor of Romulus, secretly changed his campaign fund and made a significant personal contribution.
In October, Mayor LeRoy Burcoff and other state representatives were the focus of an investigation.
According to Michigan law, personal use of funds is prohibited, but expenses related to a candidate’s campaign or role as an elected official are permissible.
Burcroff routinely mentions his family in his campaign speeches. For office rent and campaign office upkeep, more than $6,000 has been given to his children, brother, and even son-in-law.
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According to Reports, the Campaign Resulted in “Charitable Donations” for a Number of Family Members.
There have been approximately $4,400 in payments made by the Mayor to the nearby Belleville Yacht Club, including over $3,800 in recurrent “memberships” and thousands more claimed as “donations”.
In November of last year, Burcroff dodged questions about whether the fund had ever covered any of the costs associated with his daughter’s wedding and whether his spending had always been legal.
Additionally, his campaign recorded over $10,000 in enigmatic credit card payments to American Express and US Bank. Burcroff routinely violated Michigan law’s requirement that credit card payments be itemised.
If you don’t have the data, you won’t be able to figure out, says campaign finance attorney Steve Liedel, “there could be something that explains all this, or perhaps there isn’t.”
When some Romulans learned of the mayor’s extravagant spending, they became concerned.
William Maze, a local and longtime employee, remarked, “I was disappointed to see that the Mayor of Romulus was implicated in this.”
The silence, Maze said, was deafening when he failed to respond to questions about the funding of his campaign.
The Mayor put $25,000 into his account two days after beginning to voice concerns, followed by another $15,000 four days later for a total of $50,000.
Burcroff’s role as campaign finance recordkeeper has been replaced by Dan Wholihan, an attorney with experience in campaign finance compliance.
Wholihan would not explain why Burcroff hired him or if he was handling any potential campaign finance violations when reached by phone.
Wholihan said those as his Final Words before Hanging up the Phone.
Ross Jones attempted to question Burcroff about the adjustments to his campaign during last week’s Zoom meeting of the Romulus City Council. Despite being present, Burcroff opted not to utilise his camera and remained unresponsive to questions about his whereabouts. Burcroff.
Maze continued, “Since he opted to not react to those queries while he was on the phone, we were left with an awkward, extended pause.”
Mayor Burcroff’s wife resigned from her post as record keeper, according to David Forsmark, a political consultant hired by the campaign, because she discovered more effective ways to assist her husband. Requests for comment from Burcroff and his attorney went unanswered.
Forsmark asserts that Burcroff’s donation of $40,000 was not an admission of guilt but rather an effort to “get ready for the fight” when Mayor Michael Bloomberg runs for reelection in 2014.
Records reveal that throughout his previous seven years as mayor, Burcroff never contributed more than $1,000 to his own campaign.
Final Words
Maze said, “At the end of the day, he serves at the pleasure of the public and is answerable to the public.” He must answer your questions and give you a response as soon as possible for the benefit of the public.
