Peoria candidate cleared in campaign investigation

• An investigation found no evidence Peoria candidate Ben Toma illegally coordinated with an independent expenditure committee
• Toma's relatives are involved with the expenditure committee, which sent mailers attacking opponent
• Political opponents were skeptical investigators uncovered the truth considering circumstantial evidence

A Peoria City Council member running in November's election did not illegally coordinate with a campaign committee that sent mailers to voters attacking a rival candidate, according to the results of an investigation.

A private law firm hired by the city to look into the claims found that Councilman Ben Toma was not involved in the effort, even though the committee treasurer is his brother-in-law and the committee's listed address is Toma's parents' house.

The committee, called the Best Peoria Can Be, sent mailers slamming a rival candidate days before the primary election in August.

"Although the circumstances appear on the surface to be suspicious because of the close relationships of some of the parties, we found no evidence of coordination or even of contact between Ben Toma, (Toma's) candidate committee and the (independent expenditure) committee prior to the mailers being sent out," attorney Phyllis Smiley wrote in a letter to Peoria City Attorney Steve Kemp.

Toma said he felt vindicated by the findings, but political opponents were skeptical that investigators uncovered the truth.

Toma is running against Bridget Binsbacher, the target of the attack mailers, and Ken Krieger for the Mesquite District council seat.

Investigators reviewed all campaign filings by the expenditure committee and Toma, Binsbacher and Krieger; conducted sworn interviews with the chairmen and treasurers of Toma's candidate committee and the independent expenditure committee; and conducted telephone conversations with the residents who filed the complaint, according to the letter.

Toma, who said he didn't know about his brother-in-law's involvement in the committee until after the mailers went out, said he was happy the investigation is over.

"It was ridiculous that they even did the investigation," he said. "There was nothing there, and it was just an epic waste of time and taxpayer money."

The city has not yet received a bill from the law firm.

Binsbacher said she wasn't so sure that Toma wasn't involved.

"Although I am sure the investigators did their best, it seems hard to believe that so many of his family members could be involved without my opponent's knowledge," she said.

Investigators found that Toma's brother-in-law and sister, who are temporarily living with Toma's parents, contributed money to Toma's campaign and volunteered to help him gather nomination signatures, but that was prior to the formation of the expenditure committee.

They also found that although the brother-in-law was listed on the Toma Partners website as an information-technology manager, he never has been an employee and was paid only twice in 2012 for work he did as an independent contractor.

Investigators found no evidence the brother-in-law or expenditure committee were compensated by Toma or his candidate committee. They also determined through sworn testimony that Toma and his brother-in-law have not talked with each other about the committee or mailers. Both are illegal.

"There is nothing in the statute prohibiting a family member of a candidate from forming an independent expenditure committee or from making an independent expenditure," Smiley wrote, "as long as the family member is not an agent of the candidate or the candidate's committee and as long as there is no coordination between the committees."

Marvin Shadman, a Peoria resident and supporter of Binsbacher who filed the complaint, said he "just can't see how they came up with those results." Based on the evidence, though circumstantial, he thought "there should have been something."

Binsbacher's campaign manager, Robert Johnson, who worked with Shadman to craft the complaint letter, said he believes Toma "got away with one."

"People just looking at it from the outside read that the attorneys did in fact confirm many connections to the family," Johnson said. "It's hard to believe that his mother, his father, his sister, his brother-in-law — none of them said anything to him about this."

Toma called the investigation "frivolous" and said Johnson "instigated" it to "use the law as a tool to harass my family."

"The city was obliged to investigate — at taxpayer expense — my mother, my sister, my brother-in-law and my family business for no purpose other than scoring political points," Toma said.

Johnson dismissed that, saying, "We didn't base it at his parents' house. We didn't make his brother-in-law the treasurer. We weren't involved in any of that. The circumstantial evidence that the law was broken is pretty strong and that, we think, is good enough to raise the question."