State looks into billboard election donations

      The secretary of state's office is investigating Las Vegas City Councilman Matthew Callister's contention that billboard companies have violated a new campaign finance law cap of $5,000 by undervaluing their billboard donations to Larry Brown.
      "We'll investigate the allegation that the value on Mr. Brown's campaign disclosure statement is too low," Deputy Secretary of State Dale Erquiaga said Tuesday about Callister's opponent.
      The office has never investigated a complaint that an in-kind donation is undervalued, he said, so this is uncharted territory. Erquiaga said the probe is challenging because Nevada law doesn't say how in-kind contributions must be valued, nor does the law say such donations must be assigned fair-market values.
      "If that ends up being the case," Callister said after learning about the fair-market question, then, "I believe the law ought to require a fair-market valuation; they ought not to be able to discount."
      Traditionally, someone who makes an in-kind donation assigns a value to it and reports it to the candidate, who then discloses it on a finance report.
      Brown reported in-kind donations of $29,316 in billboards from seven billboard companies: Connell, Donrey Outdoor Advertising, Image Rich, Martin Media, OMG Outdoor Media Group, Vegas Outdoor and Young Electric Sign Co.
      All the donations are listed as less than $5,000, which is the maximum amount per election under a new campaign contribution law. Brown also paid $5,000 for some of the production costs of the billboards, which is listed on his report filed Monday.
      "Everything we've done is legal," Brown said. "These are multimillion-dollar companies. I don't think they're going to jeopardize their licenses over a City Council race."
      Callister said that based on his experience with in-kind donations, he believes the $5,000 cap is being violated by the billboard industry.
      He said he believes the nine billboards donated by Donrey Outdoor Advertising are worth more than $5,000 and he believes other companies also may have donated more than they should. Donrey Outdoor is owned by the Donrey Media Group, parent company of the Review-Journal.
      Frank Keyser, general manager of Donrey Outdoor, said there is no violation.
      "We all (the outdoor companies) know what the law is. I'm really surprised Matt raised this red herring, particularly since he and his law firm do work for Donrey and know well we comply with state and local laws."
      Keyser said the nine billboards donated were valued as above the average market rate for poster panels for the past month.
      "Mr. Brown didn't get any secret rate; the rate was above our average market rate all advertisers are currently paying," he said.
      Billboards rent for as low as $700 a month to as high as $18,000, depending on location, Keyser said.
      Both Brown and Callister have opposed the proliferation of billboards. However, Keyser said the industry is supporting Brown because he is "somebody who will talk to you."
      Brown said the complaint about the billboards is "the sign of a desperate candidate ... a desperate attempt to try to shift the campaign to anything but issues."