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Detroit City Council President Brenda Jones apparently violated pay-to-play rules when she accepted campaign contributions from bank officers doing business with a pension fund whose board she sits on, the Intercept reports.
During her 2017 bid for reelection to city council, Jones accepted $5,500 in campaign contributions from then-First Independence Bank Chair and CEO Barry Clay, and an additional $4,000 in campaign contributions from First Independence Bank board member Douglas Diggs. The donations occurred as First Independence had a contract with the Detroit police and fire pension fund, of which Jones, as president of the city council, is a trustee. First Independence runs a loan program for the pension fund.
State rules cap campaign contributions from senior leadership of contractors with public pension funds at $350 per election. For the 2017 primary and the general election combined, then, the cap was $700.
Jones did not reply to a request for comment by the Intercept. A representative with First Independence said they would look into the donations.
An lawyer formerly with the Securities and Exchange Commission who authored the book “Who Stole My Pension?” explains the value in the rules:
“Pay-to-play rules are commonplace and they are created in recognition of the fact that campaign contributions from would-be vendors can undermine the management of pensions,” said Siedle. “The concern in the pension context is does pay-to-play undermine the protection of the assets? In other contexts, pay-to-play rules can be created to ensure that roads don’t get built by poor contractors — here the goal is to ensure that the assets of retirees are protected.”
Jones recently announced a bid for Rep. Rashida Tlaib's 13th District Congressional seat. Jones held the seat for two months before Tlaib in a quirk resulting from the resignation of longtime Congressman John Conyers.
