Political Campaign Ad of Saginaw, MI, Fire Captain Probed

Apr. 8—Three months after a complaint alleged that advertisements for Democratic state Senate candidate Chedrick Greene violated the law by using Saginaw fire equipment in campaign materials, the complaint has not yet been resolved by the Secretary of State's office.

A complaint filed Jan. 5 by advocacy nonprofit Michigan Forward Network alleged that an advertisement showing Greene, a Saginaw fire captain, in uniform at a Saginaw fire station violates the Michigan Campaign Finance Act.

Greene is running in a May 5 special election for the 35th District Senate seat against Republican candidate Jason Tunney and Libertarian candidate Ali Sledz.

The Greene campaign has disputed the allegations, saying it went through the proper channels to make sure the law was followed.

"As a Marine and Firefighter for decades, I know how important it is to go through the chain of command and follow rules and orders," Greene said in a statement. "Before planning any video or photo shoots, our campaign sought permission to use the fire station from the City of Saginaw Fire Department Chief, City Manager and City Attorney."

The investigation into the matter is "still pending," according to Cheri Hardmon, senior press secretary for the Department of State, who wrote in an email Monday that she does not have a timeline on when the investigation will be complete.

A second complaint filed by Jerome Goldberg, the attorney for the campaign of Greene's Democratic primary rival Pamela Pugh, was combined with the original complaint, according to Hardmon.

The complaint has been the subject of a video ad by the Tunney campaign and fliers sent by the HOMES PAC. It is unclear who is funding that PAC, according to a report by WJRT ABC12 News in Flint.

The City of Saginaw has not expressed concern over the advertisements, according to the Greene campaign, and Saginaw Fire Chief Brandon Hausbeck told WJRT in March that as far as he was aware, the campaign materials did not violate the law.

"Our campaign was approved after meeting all required criteria," Greene said in his statement. "In the months since the ads featuring the fire station began circulating, the Fire Chief, City Manager, and City Attorney have raised exactly zero concerns about how our campaign used equipment, trucks, or the station itself."

"Fire Chief Hausbeck's email gives the example of swinging an axe (equipment) as being allowed because no public taxpayer dollars would be expended. In the same way, sitting inside a fire truck (also equipment) was allowed because no taxpayer funded fuel was consumed," Greene continued. "In both scenarios, neither axe nor fire truck are in the service of responding to a call, and not expending taxpayer dollars."

Once an investigation is complete and the complaint is resolved, results will be posted online by the Secretary of State at https://www.michigan.gov/sos/elections/disclosure/cfr/complaints/campaign-finance-disclosure-resolved-complaints.

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