School District To Hillary Clinton: Please pay up

June 21, 2008

By Erica Erwin

Erie School District administrators have two words for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton: Pay up.

The Hillary Clinton for President campaign still owes the district nearly $4,000 in costs the district incurred during former President Bill Clinton's March 12 rally at East High School.

District business manager Rick D'Andrea said he will refer the bill to district lawyers if the campaign doesn't make good soon.

"I would imagine, if we don't get paid for it, that this is something we'll have to take into consideration next time campaigns come to Erie and want to use our schools," D'Andrea said.

The $3,887 bill covers $3,288 for snow removal, $274 in labor costs for building engineers and a $325 auditorium rental fee, according to an invoice dated April 16.

"If we bill other agencies … and they pay on time, it seems only fair that we take this as far as we have to take it to get paid," D'Andrea said. "I'm in no way writing it off."

Erie schools Superintendent Jim Barker said the now-suspended Hillary Clinton campaign assured district administrators the cost of the East High rally would be borne by the campaign, not by taxpayers.

"Let's see if they follow through on their commitment," Barker said.

The district has not yet billed Sen. Barack Obama's campaign for separate visits by Obama supporters Sens. Dick Durbin and Edward Kennedy to local schools on April 6 and 14 respectively, but will soon, D'Andrea said. The costs to the campaign of Clinton's former Democratic rival have yet to be determined, he said.

The Erie School District is one of a number of organizations, locally and nationwide, waiting to be paid by Hillary for President. The campaign is $19.5 million in debt, according to its May filing with the Federal Election Commission. About $9.5 million is owed to vendors, including schools, groups and organizations; the remaining $10 million is a personal loan Clinton made to the campaign.

Locally, Mercyhurst College, Allegheny College and Penn State Behrend are owed money by the campaign for services that include security, traffic control and portable toilets, officials said.

Mercyhurst is owed $5,800 for facility rental, sign-language interpreter services and other costs for Hillary Clinton's April 1 rally, college spokeswoman Deborah Morton said.

At Allegheny, the unpaid bill for Bill Clinton's rally April 19 amounts to "a little less than $2,000," which includes a rental fee and other services, spokeswoman Barb Steadman said. The college isn't complaining, yet.

"It's still within the normal range of when we'd expect to get paid," Steadman said.

Behrend officials would not release the cost of Bill Clinton's April 17 visit to the college, citing a confidentiality policy, but said the bill remains unpaid.

"We are still pursuing payment," spokeswoman Sue Scarpino said. "They were made aware of the ballpark of what the charges would be in advance, actually when they were still here on site, and were given the invoice when they were still on site. So we're still hopeful."

Chelsea Clinton stumped for her mother at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania on April 11, but the college's Student Government Association picked up the tab: $2,262 for police overtime and sound equipment.

Campaign spokeswoman Kathleen Strand said the campaign's Finance Department is looking into the bills, but said no complaints have been made. Payments take time to process, she said.

The campaign has paid a $726 bill for room rental, equipment rental and security for Bill Clinton's appearance at the Bayfront Convention Center on March 12, said Jeff Esposito, the facility's interim general manager.

No local organizations reported outstanding bills to the Obama campaign, aside from bills the Erie district has yet to send for the Kennedy and Durbin visits.

Candidates usually make a good-faith effort to repay bills, said Terry Madonna, a political analyst at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster.

But with the campaign's debt, local groups may have a long wait before seeing payment, Madonna said. School districts and private colleges might not be high on the priority list, he said.

"There's always the possibility that you don't get repaid," he said. "You sort of have to go into an event with some realization that you might not be recompensed for your services."

The Erie School District's D'Andrea has another solution for the district. "Maybe next time, we'll have to get the money up front," he said.

Source: Erie Times News

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