[05/31/01] The campaign finance report of a South Ward candidate has become available with the candidate saying it was submitted on time and City Clerk Walter Osborne not so sure.

Vickie Bailey said her campaign spending report was turned in by Tuesday’s 5 p.m. deadline but “mishandled” by the City Clerk’s Office.

Osborne said Thursday morning that Bailey’s report was found on his desk in an unmarked, brown envelope Wednesday morning. He said the report had not been stamped as received by the clerk’s office and that none of the deputy clerks knew when the report was brought in.

“When I was cleaning off my desk, I found it under some things,” Osborne said.

Candidates who spend more than $200 on a campaign are required to file a series of reports with the clerk’s office. The most crucial pre-election report was due at 5 p.m. a week before election day. The only penalty for failing to turn in a report is that a candidate cannot take office or be paid until a report is filed.

Osborne said that when a report is taken to his office, the receiving clerk stamps the date, marks the time and signs the document. Bailey’s report was not among those made available to the public Tuesday and The Vicksburg Post reported it as not having been filed.

According to her report, Bailey raised $25 and spent $1,786 on her second bid for the alderman’s seat.

She spent $936 with Budget Signs Inc., $50 with the City of Vicksburg, $360 with The Vicksburg Post, $186 with WRTM Radio and $254 with AA Sign Service. Her donations indicate that she received $25 from Velma Bunch.

Of the others in the race, reports showed Republican nominee Sidney H. Beauman Jr., 53, spent $9,201 and raised $10,325 while Democratic candidate Pam Johnson, 35, spent $4,962 and raised $2,375 in the race.

Of the 10 candidates whose names will appear on the June 5 ballot, North Ward independent candidate Sylvester Walker, 40, and South Ward independent candidate Ashlea Mosley, 18, had not turned in reports.

Vicksburg aldermen receive a salary of $45,491-a-year.

In other races to be decided by Vicksburg voters Tuesday, independent candidate Laurence Leyens, 37, spent a record-setting $88,066 and raised $89,068 on his bid for mayor. Mayor Robert Walker, 57, the Democratic nominee, spent $17,313 and raised $18,867 while independent candidates Eva Marie Ford, 63, spent $1,715 and raised $925 and former mayor Joe Loviza spent $5,876 and raised $6,015.

In the North Ward race, incumbent Gertrude Young, 45, won the Democratic primary May 1. Reports indicate that she has spent $5,229 and raised $5,535 in efforts to secure her third term.