City Hall aide running for office owes city money

With San Francisco government desperate for cash in this era of historic budget deficits, dozens of municipal collections agents have been scouring records and cracking down on those who owe the city money. The list of deadbeats includes parking ticket scofflaws; miscreants charged with crimes who owe court fees; and Bill Barnes, an aide to Supervisor Michela Alioto-Pier.

Barnes, who announced his candidacy in March to succeed termed-out Supervisor Sophie Maxwell in District 10 (Bayview-Hunters Point), owes $3,000 in campaign filing late fees from his unsuccessful supervisorial run in 2004. The city's Bureau of Delinquent Revenue even took him to small-claims court; in September, a judge ruled in favor of the city. Still, Barnes hasn't paid off his debt.

Barnes says it has been an "ongoing situation." The problems began, he said, when his campaign computer containing all his financial information was stolen the day after the 2004 election. It was never recovered.

The Ethics Commission's rules say that theft of campaign records can qualify candidates for late-fee exemptions. Barnes applied for a fee waiver after the 2004 race, but the commission apparently didn't think he had much of a case: Instead of granting the waiver, it forwarded Barnes' debt to collection agents.

Other campaigns have incurred similar fines, but currently only one other candidate for November's race has been taken to collections: Vilma Guinto-Peoro, who ran for District 2 in 2006 and will run again this year. She owes a whopping $10, according to the most recent executive report.

Since Barnes is quite visible in City Hall, why doesn't he just pay up and move on? Barnes declined to say how he intends to settle the outstanding fines, but commission reports reflect at least one payment of $160 in the past month.

Nonpayment of the debt renders Barnes ineligible to apply for public financing for his current campaign, but there's still time to pay up before the August 24 deadline. If he doesn't pay, the city can garnish his wages, but that measure is "a last resort," according to David Augustine, policy and programs manager for the city's collections bureau.