A Pukalani resident has filed a Campaign Spending Commission complaint against unsuccessful County Council candidate Don Couch alleging he exceeded limits for out-of-state contributions, The Maui News reported Monday.

Executive Director Barbara Wong said the commission is investigating the complaint filed Jan. 28 by Sean Lester.

No more than 20 percent of the money a candidate receives in each campaign spending reporting period can come from nonresidents, according to state law. Lester claims Couch exceeded the limit, while Couch's spending reports indicate he did not. The disagreement appears to stem from a dispute over which donors were truly nonresidents.

Lester's complaint claims Couch received 29.9 percent of his money from nonresidents for the final election period of Oct. 21 to Nov. 4, and 51 percent nonresident donations in his late contribution report filed Nov. 3.

"It's not over by a little bit; it's over by a lot," he said.

He was concerned the bulk of Couch's nonresident donations were reported in his last two filings. Couch met deadlines of Dec. 4 and Feb. 2 to file the reports, and Lester noted that was too late for voters to see the information before the Nov. 4 election.

According to Couch's campaign spending reports, he did not exceed the 20 percent limit for any of the periods.

Couch reported:

* 17.7 percent nonresident donations for Jan. 1 to June 30 ($1,600 out of $9,020).

* No nonresident donations for July 1 to Sept. 5 (zero out of $13,462).

* No report on donors for the Sept. 6 to 21 period ($1,650 received. Candidates may file a short form, without a list of donors, if they collect less than $2,000.).

* 11.3 percent nonresident donations for Sept. 22 to Oct. 20 ($2,000 out of $17,660).

* 19.5 percent nonresident donations for Oct. 21 to Nov. 4 ($8,600 out of $44,021).

* 19.7 percent nonresident donations for Nov. 5 to Dec. 31 ($3,000 out of $15,217).

Couch stood by his reports and said the Campaign Spending Commission's online reporting system warns candidates if their reported donations exceed the limit.

"We've always complied with the Campaign Spending Commission," Couch said last week. "This was news to us, and we're working with the commission as we speak."

Wong said the commission was waiting to receive Couch's response to the complaint, and would later schedule it for discussion at an upcoming commission meeting.

Couch narrowly lost Nov. 4 to returning Council Member Wayne Nishiki in the race for the council's South Maui residency seat, getting 40.9 percent of the vote to Nishiki's 44.8 percent.

Couch outspent Nishiki by a wide margin, spending $87,558 on the race, to Nishiki's $3,181.

Nishiki made Couch's financing one of his campaign issues, frequently calling attention to the donations Couch received from businesses and developers.

After the election, Nishiki's own finances became an issue when it was revealed that he had taken a $100,000 personal loan from development firm Dowling Co. in 2005. The loan is being reviewed by the county Board of Ethics.

On Campaign Spending Commission reports, candidates check a box to indicate which of their donors are nonresidents.

Lester said his complaint was based on counting the donations from all donors who listed addresses outside of Hawaii, even those who Couch did not mark as "nonresidents."

"If it says California on the listing, that's a nonresident," he said.

But Couch said some of his donors were people who are registered to vote in Hawaii, but who live on the Mainland part time. Those people may have listed a Mainland address on the report, but they are Hawaii residents and voters, he said.

For example, donor Stephen Goodfellow listed a Washington state address. However, state elections records indicate Goodfellow is registered to vote in Hawaii, making him a resident.

Spending commission chief Wong confirmed that just because a donor lists an address outside of Hawaii, it doesn't necessarily mean the person is a nonresident.

To decide whether a donor is a nonresident, the commission uses the state's rules for determining residency for voting purposes, Wong said. Criteria include establishing that Hawaii is the person's primary residence, and that the person does not vote in another state.

Couch stood by his reports and said that, to the best of his knowledge, he did not exceed the 20 percent nonresident limit. He said Lester's complaint was filed to distract people from Nishiki's ethics controversy; Lester is a supporter of Nishiki.

"This is one of those things Mr. Lester is doing to divert attention from the real issue," he said.

But Lester said the amount of out-of-state money used to finance Couch's campaign remains a concern, because it reflects attempts by outsiders to influence a local election.

"It was a close election, and I believe that was one of the reasons, the large amount of funds from out of state," he said.

* Ilima Loomis can be reached at iloomis@mauinews.com.