Dems Blast Luciano for Late Campaign Finance Reports

A Cranston Councilwoman's late campaign finance reports was the subject of a press release this week by the chairman of the Democratic City Committee that labeled her an "embarrassment to every resident of the City of Cranston."

The councilwoman, Leslie Ann Luciano, responded by saying that she fell behind in filing her reports due in part to her battle with breast cancer and she has appealed the $13,000 fines and is awaiting her hearing date before the Board of Elections.

In the release, Michael Sepe had harsh words for Luciano, saying she is one of the "biggest political deadbeats" in the state and questioned her ability to review city finances when she has trouble filing her own campaign finance reports.

"If Leslie Luciano is an example and member of the “quality team” that the Mayor Fung wants to run the city with for the next two years then God help the city of Cranston.” 

In an e-mail message, Luciano said "While I have done my very best to stay on top of every facet of my life during this time, this matter did fall through the cracks.  I take full responsibility for my failure to file the reports.  I am and have been working closely with the BOE to resolve this matter and am only awaiting a hearing date."

Luciano was diangosed with breast cancer at age 30. Now 35, she has been given a clean bill of health.

She said she hopes the matter will be resolved soon.

Her most recent campaign finance report was filed on July 2 of this year covering the period beginning Jan. 1 and ending March 3 of this year. She reports a cash balance of $0 and assets of $0 with no money coming in or spent.

The Board of Elections campaign finance website indicates that Luciano is past due with her second-quarter report covering April 1 to June 30 and the report due 28-days before the election. Lucanio filed a flurry of reports in April of this year to clear past due issues dating back as far as Oct. of 2010.