Issaquah School Board candidate Lisa Callan said she and her campaign treasurer, Alisa George, misunderstood when the expense report for her campaign was due to the Public Disclosure Commission.

Callan is seeking the only open seat on the Issaquah School Board, facing Alison Meryweather who was appointed to fill the seat vacated by Chad Magendanz earlier this year.

A first time candidate, Callan said once she was aware of the oversight, she filed the expense report right away. Janet Suppe, a budget analyst with the Bellevue School District, filed the complaint with the Public Disclosure Commission in September.

Suppe said her complaint was made as a private citizen, and had nothing to do with her job with the BSD.  She said she saw several of Callan’s signs, so she decided to “check out” her campaign.

“I am interested in good education policy and good government,” Suppe said. “I was just curious who was donating to her campaign.”

Suppe said Callan missed three deadlines. She said the PDC web site is easy to maneuver.

“You’ve got a first time candidate and first time treasurer,” George, an attorney, said. “There’s two different tracks for candidates — primary and general. The PDC instructions are confusing. From the very beginning Lisa was planning to file all the expenses.”

George said they had everything together to file Oct. 15, only to find out they were supposed file Sept. 10. Right after they realized they missed the Sept. 10 deadline to file expenses they caught up on Oct. 10.

“If I was running for office, I would have someone explain the site to me. The PDC rules are out there for a reason,” Suppe said.

George said she has no idea why Suppe would file the complaint since she is with the Bellevue School District.

“We totally believe in the Public Disclosure process,” George said. “Lisa always intended to be transparent.”

George said the campaign has filed contribution reports weekly.

“It’s a very technical process, but it’s the right thing,” she said.

Callan’s campaign committee, “Friends of Lisa Callan,” has received $9,386.54 in cash and in-kind contributions as of Oct. 14. Callan started the account with $500 of her own money and has raised $8,999.88 in cash. Her expenses have been $8,403.25 through Oct. 14.

Yard signs, flyers and copies have made up the bulk of the expenses, very normal campaign expenses, George said.