HAMILTON - A Hamilton airplane owner violated state campaign finance law by anonymously flying an electronic billboard message promoting the recall of a Hamilton city councilor in 2006, according to Montana's top political cop.

In a nine-page ruling, Commissioner of Political Practices Dennis Unsworth said there was substantial evidence that Jack Vallance broke the rules by flashing "Recall Bully Scott - Help Our City" from his plane over several nights.

Unsworth's ruling, which said a civil penalty is warranted, forwards the case to Ravalli County prosecutors. If the county attorney doesn't prosecute, Unsworth can. Vallance couldn't be reached for comment Monday.

The state's investigation was prompted by a complaint from Hamilton resident Jim Olsen over the campaign to recall former City Council member Bob Scott in November 2006. Scott survived the recall effort by two votes, 152-150.

Olsen, who supported Scott, said at the time that Scott's opponents engaged in vicious "playground antics" that hurt the city and its residents.

Recall organizers accused Scott of official misconduct for submitting a $152 travel expense reimbursement in 2004.

The reimbursement, which was rejected by the city and later withdrawn by Scott, pertained to a trip where Scott attended a local government education session in Billings.

Scott denied he committed official misconduct and said he carpooled with another city councilor and asked for reimbursement on behalf of both of them.

***

Just before the recall election, Olsen filed a complaint about Vallance's airborne electronic message against Scott, and Unsworth ruled that the complaint warranted an investigation.

State campaign laws require political messages to include the name and address of who paid for or made the messages.

According to Unsworth's report, Vallance said he displayed the "Recall Bully Scott" and other electronic messages periodically for two weeks before the election.

He said he received no money for flying the messages, but later received two or three anonymous contributions of cash in the mail and some money from his sister-in-law, Suzanne Tout.

"Vallance claims he has an absolute right to compose and display messages about issues that concern him, including political issues," Unsworth said in his ruling. "He believes his display of the ‘Recall Bully Scott' message on his sky sign is no different than the act of creating and displaying a political message at his house."

A pre-election Ravalli Republic article quoted Vallance as saying: "I am getting paid to do this by people who slip me some money. It's a pretty effective way to advertise. ... I am just getting paid for it."

Vallance later told Unsworth that news stories are often incorrect and misleading, but he admitted the Republic article quoted him accurately.

Vallance said he didn't use "paid for by" attribution language on his sky messages because it would be impossible given the limited number of characters it displays.

Recent federal court decisions have affirmed the right of individuals to engage in limited anonymous political speech involving ballot issues and have declared statutes similar to Montana's to be unconstitutionally vague, Unsworth's report said.

But Unsworth said Vallance's actions were illegal, in part, because they dealt with a ballot issue but focused on a sitting elected official like a candidate campaign. Unsworth also said Vallance's airborne message consisted of "express advocacy," or urging a vote for or against a particular candidate or issue.

Ravalli Republic reporter John Cramer can be reached at 363-3300, or jcramer @ravallirepublic.com.