Lynchburg City Council hopeful Tom Shahady discloses expenses

Contrary to an earlier report, City Council candidate Tom Shahady has put some money into his pursuit of public office.

Shahady, who’s vying for the Ward I seat, said he’s spent around $569 of his own money on campaign signs and a Web site. No outside contributions have been accepted, he said.

“People have offered money to my campaign, but I didn’t feel that was what I wanted to do,” he said Friday. “I feel money corrupts politics. … I didn’t want to owe anyone anything.”

Shahady said he disclosed his spending in a campaign finance report filed in mid-April that covered January through March.

An earlier article stating he was claiming no expenses was based on an incomplete set of reports.

City Council candidates have, so far, been required to file two finance reports accounting for their activity up until April 25. Shahady’s first report, however, was not made available with the others because it has not yet been received by local election officials.

Registrar Pat Bower said Shahady sent his first filing directly to the state Board of Elections, which should have forwarded it to her office. The documents had not arrived as of Friday, though.

“I’ve been trying to trace that down,” Bower said.

The second reports, which were filed April 28, covered only the weeks between April 1 and 25. For that period, Shahady issued a “No Activity Statement” declaring he neither spent nor took in anything during that time.