Wisconsin & Southern CEO returns $43,800 in illegal donations
(The Associated Press circulated the following on May 20, 2010.)
MADISON, Wis. The head of the Wisconsin and Southern Railroad Company is apologizing for using company money to reimburse employee's political donations to Republican candidate for governor Scott Walker.
Walker has returned the $43,800.
Donating corporate money to political candidates is illegal in Wisconsin.
William E. Gardner, the railroad's president and chief executive, said in a statement Thursday that he didn't realize what he was doing was prohibited and he admitted making a mistake. Gardner says he has turned over all records to the Government Accountability Board, which oversees campaign finance laws.
Walker's campaign manager Keith Gilkes says the campaign has returned all the money.
Walker faces former U.S. Rep. Mark Neumann in the Republican primary.
The CEO of Wisconsin & Southern Railroad is apologizing for using company money to reimburse employee political donations to Republican candidate for Wisconsin governor, Scott Walker, reports the Associated Press.
Donating corporate money to political candidates is illegal in Wisconsin, and Walker has returned the $43,800.
Separately, Madison, Wis., television station WKOW reported that Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle received a $5,000 political contribution in 2005 from William E. Gardner, the Wisconsin and Southerns CEO. Doyle last week donated the money to a charitable organization, reported WKOW.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that Wisconsin Assembly Democrats are donating to local school districts $3,500 in donations from Gardner. Democratic lawmakers said they want to avoid any connection with Gardner, given his admission of the improper donations to Walker.
Gardner said in a statement that he didn't realize that what he was doing was prohibited and he admitted making a mistake.
Gardner said he has turned over all records to the states Government Accountability Board, which oversees campaign finance laws.
The Journal Sentinel said Gardner told state regulators that he illegally used company money to reimburse employees for making political donations.
Wisconsin & Southern is a privately owned, midsize freight hauler based in Milwaukee that operates mainly on some 700 miles of track in Wisconsin and Illinois. It has some 200 employees. It was honored by Railway Age magazine in 2001 and 2009 as the Regional Railroad of the Year.
The State of Wisconsin and Wisconsin regional commissions have made substantial grants to the railroad to upgrade tracks, said Ron Adams, chief of the state Department of Transportation's Bureau of Railroads and Harbors.
