WARREN, Mich. – After a year and a half of investigating, the state has found Warren Mayor Jim Fouts and his public service director Richard Sabaugh violated Michigan's Campaign Finance Act.
The complaint was filed by Leon Drolet in May 2016, and from what Fouts said Wednesday, he and Sabaugh have been cooperating from the go, so they're not sure why the investigation took so long.
The violation is in regard to Fouts' 2016 State of the City address, which turned into a political fundraiser.
The city sold tickets to the event, and some of the money went to a political action committee tied to Fouts.
Notices for the event went out in city water bills.
The bottom line is that city resources and staff hours were illegally used in the amount of $761.90.
Sabaugh will be writing a check himself and reimbursing the money.
In a phone call with Sabaugh and Fouts, Sabaugh said he organized the event and the mayor had no knowledge of the situation.
Sabaugh also said he didn't realize a PAC was involved until after the fact.
Fouts said this will never happen again and that they plan to make future State of the City addresses into fundraisers for charity.