(La Porte County, IN) - Ethical questions are being raised over a man recently taking a seat on the La Porte County Election Board, which is looking into a campaign finance violations complaint involving him.
Former La Porte City Councilman Gautama “Goot” Logwood, who brought the complaint, said former LaPorte County Prosecutor John Lake joining the three member governing body seems to give an appearance of impropriety.
Logwood alleges the La Porte Democratic Civic Club had an operating budget exceeding $5,000 in five of the past eight years, but did not file the required paperwork required for a political action committee. Under Indiana law, he said an organization becomes a PAC after it goes above the $5,000 operating budget threshold.
“The only years they didn’t go over that $5,000 threshold, which would put them in the filing of a PAC, were off election years,” Logwood said.
PAC’s must also report the donors and recipients of their campaign contributions.
“There’s a lot of investigation that needs to be done,” he told the La Porte County Election Board during its meeting on Monday.
Logwood said he was not able to uncover the filing of any public campaign finance reports filed by the club in the years at question. He said Lake’s wife, Mary, was an officer with the club when it gave Lake a $1,500 campaign contribution during his unsuccessful run for reelection in 2022. If the Civic Club is not a PAC, he said the $1,500 contribution would still have to be reported because it exceeds the $1,000 contribution ceiling for an auxiliary organization.
Logwood, who served four years on the La Porte City Council from 2008 to 2011, was membership director for the club in 2023. He said he filed the complaint out of concern about transparency.
“Part of keeping ethics in politics and funding is you have to be able to show where funds are coming from. It has to be trackable. Voters have to be able to see who is funding candidates and from there make their decisions on them,” he said.
In February, the election board formally requested 12 years of the La Porte Democratic Civic Club's bank records as part of its investigation into the allegations. During Monday’s Election Board meeting, La Porte Democratic Civic Club attorney, Alan Sirinek, said he would comply with the request once witness fees related to the request are paid. In response, Lake said he will seek another person to occupy his seat on the election board during any proceedings involving the Civic Club complaint to avoid any conflict of interest. Lake indicated he might ask Teresa Massa, who he replaced on the election board, to serve in his capacity during those periods.
“I’ve been an attorney for 33 years and I’m very well aware of what my ethical obligations are. I will comply with that fully,” he said.
Lake was also critical of allegations whenever they're made publicly without merit or legal standing.
“I don’t believe that this board should be used as a sword. My philosophy has always been to promote positive elections. I just generally think that there is too much misinformation, too many people who are not trained in the law or have enough knowledge that they’re connecting dots that don’t connect,” he said.
Lake was appointed to the election board by the new La Porte County Democratic Party Chairman, Angie Nelson Deuitch, who is mayor of Michigan City. The two other members of the Election Board are Republicans Heather Stevens, who’s the La Porte County Clerk and Brody Shoffner, a local attorney.
