Newly elected Dearborn Heights Mayor Mo Baydoun faces at least $500 in fines for not yet filing two previously due campaign finance reports, according to Wayne County records.
A letter sent to Baydoun Oct. 2 notified him of a $500 fine assessed for failing to file his post-primary campaign finance report, which was due Sept. 4. The letter was signed by Amirah Jackson-Barrett, Wayne County’s campaign finance manager.
He received another notice on Oct. 27 for not filing a pre-general election campaign finance statement by Oct. 24. Baydoun received a previous notice of failing to file a post-primary campaign finance statement, dated Sept. 5. The letter said the fee is $25 for each business day the report is not filed, up to $500.
Baydoun served as City Council chair until his appointment as acting mayor in October, when former Mayor Bill Bazzi resigned to serve as the U.S. ambassador to Tunisia. Voters elected Baydoun to a four-year term in last week’s election, over Councilwoman Denise Malinowski Maxwell.
Baydoun referred The News to his campaign’s treasurer, Hussein Dabajeh, for comment. Dabajeh said the missing filings were an oversight due to a campaign volunteer responsible for submitting them who gave birth in August. The filings due through the cracks after that, he said.
Dabajeh said the post-primary filing was submitted Monday, and he plans to submit the pre-general election filing before the end of the week.
“It was something we should have jumped on earlier,” Dabajeh said. “Unfortunately, we didn’t. But we will have our pre-general report submitted this week, and our next report will be submitted on time as well.”
Maxwell, the councilwoman opposing him in the race, paid a $225 fee for filing a quarterly campaign finance report late after the July 25 deadline, records show, as well as a $25 fee for filing a post-primary report a day late after the Sept. 4 deadline. She spent more than $3,800, according to a campaign finance report covering a period that ended Aug. 25, and transferred $4,000 from her City Council campaign committee to her mayoral campaign July 1.
Another deadline for a filing a post-general election campaign finance report, covering Oct. 19 to Nov. 24, approaches on Dec. 4, the latest filing reminder notice in Baydoun’s records in the Wayne County campaign finance portal.
The most recent report filed by Baydoun’s campaign, which covered a period ending July 20, showed he had raised more than $210,000 and spent almost $132,000.
jcardi@detroitnews.com
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